Source:
trArmy Anti-Discrimination Officials Pressured Soldiers Not to File Discrimination Complaints
Monday 23 August 2010
by: Matthew Harwood, t r u t h o u t | Report
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After being punished by cleaning the barracks, Smith and another soldier that night organized approximately 20 of the punished soldiers to complain to the fort's Equal Opportunity (EO) office. According to the Army's Deputy of Chief of Staff's web page, the EO program "formulates, directs, and sustains a comprehensive effort to maximize human potential to ensure fair treatment for military personnel, family members, and DA civilians without regard to race, color, gender, religion, or national origin, and provide an environment free of unlawful discrimination and offensive behavior."
According to Smith and another soldier, they were clearly discriminated against because of their beliefs. "Why do Christians get to celebrate their religion while we get to clean," Smith said. "That's the f**ked up part."
By the next day, only nine soldiers met with their EO platoon sergeant. Subsequently, seven of the nine soldiers decided not to press forward with the complaint, although Smith and another soldier were determined to file the complaint despite pressure from EO advisers not to.
The first EO adviser they met with tried to persuade them that nothing was wrong, according to Smith.
Both soldiers said EO advisers pressured them to not file a formal complaint. According to Smith, advisers he consulted with told him a formal complaint would create a paper trail as well as "a timeline." The adviser also told him that the complaint would become "a statistic." Smith believes this wasn't a lie. He said formal complaints are "100 percent useless."
Read more:
http://www.truth-out.org/spiritual-fitness-concert62563
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