Army suspends drill sergeants amid sex misconduct probe

Fort Benning only recently has taken female recruits.

A number of U.S. Army drill sergeants at Fort Benning in Georgia have been suspended amid an investigation into sexual misconduct, the Army said in a statement on Wednesday.

The investigation began after a female trainee at the fort recently leveled assault allegations against a drill sergeant there. That led to a review that “revealed indications of additional allegations of sexual misconduct involving trainees and drill sergeants,” the Army said.

“Our initial actions are to ensure the safety and welfare of all of our Soldiers,” the statement said. “The drill sergeants have been suspended from drill sergeant duties, and will have no contact with trainees during the course of the investigation.”

Ben Garrett, a spokesman for Fort Benning, would not disclose how many sergeants had been suspended because the investigation, led by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command and Fort Benning’s Maneuver Center of Excellence, is still underway.

Fort Benning said in its statement that it had “made counseling, legal and medical services available to the trainees involved in the allegations.”

“There is no place for sexual harassment or sexual assault in our Army,” it added.

Fort Benning, where Army recruits complete basic training along with infantry or armor training, has only recently integrated women into its training programs for combat positions. Women graduated from the infantry program for the first time in May.

“When the first women did report, back in February, to their units to start their training, it was treated just like every other day,” Garrett said. “The trainees came in and drill sergeants were there to greet them, as they have greeted every class.”

He said all soldiers there are required to complete the Army’s “very thorough” Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention training program, known as SHARP, just as they were before women were integrated into combat training units.

A U.S. military ban on women serving in combat roles, including infantry, was officially lifted in 2013, in part because women were already serving in combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan but found it hard to advance their military careers because they had not technically served as members of combat branches.

In December 2015, the Pentagon announced it would open all combat positions to women, something the military had spent years preparing for.

The Pew Research Center said in a report this year that the presence of women in the U.S. military is growing. Women made up 14 percent of active duty Army personnel in 2015, and 15 percent of the active duty armed forces overall.