From the recent FaceBook Posts of a dear friend active duty Army Chaplain (LTC) Glenn Palmer. Glenn, a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) minister, is on his terminal assignment at the Army Chaplains School and has been a friend and mentor to several of our chaplains as they went through the Basic Course. He has been a real warrior for truth and justice — and it has cost him in terms of promotion. There are some real, conniving evil-doer “chaplains” in the Chaplain Corp and others are complicit in turning a blind eye to activities that ought to be reported and prosecuted to the fullest extent. I have been made aware of some of these activities and to the best of my ability I have reported what I was allowed to report and I have helped introduce chaplains and others to one another so that events may be investigated. In some of these cases, chaplains who were caught retired on the spot. In others chaplains and other have been and are being investigated. I applaud Chaplain Palmer, for his integrity and courage. Without further introductions, I will copy his postings and allow them to speak to you:

My Fellow Americans,

Sexual harassment and assault in the military is especially evil because it’s perpetrated by those who are supposed to lay down their lives for you and “have your back”. People say “report it and use the system but often the “system” IS the problem. Vanessa Guillen is dead because the “system” failed. I belong to a branch of the Army which fails epically in this area. My career ended at Lt. Col because I advocated and stood up for a sexual harassment victim who suffers significant moral injury. The Chaplain Corps is 85% white, male conservative/evangelical and as one of the Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention leaders on post said to me after thanking me for advocating, “you Chaplains are a culture of misogyny who victim shame and victim blame”. That sadly, is an earned reputation!!!”

Army Chaplain (LTC) Glenn Palmer, Facebook

Some comments on this post and some responses to them:

• [A Woman Chaplain] Not long ago I had a female in my office who had been told by a male chaplain not to report her sexual assault because she should instead celebrate how it affirms the gift of beauty God gave her and validates her attractiveness to men. When she reported it to SHARP anyway, they told her not to talk to her chaplain anymore (which is why she came to me). We as chaplains should be a safe place for this kind of stuff instead of the opposite!
  
  
  • [Chaplain Palmer] One of my peers recently made COL. He was vocally and loudly threatened by one of our female civilian contractors with an EO complaint if he didn’t stop being a sexist ass.
  
  
  • [Another Woman Chaplain] We have to find a way to expose the ones like this or they will keep causing harm.
  
  
  • [Chaplain Palmer] Sadly, those beliefs are still held by many Chaplains. We need more mainline Chaplains.
  
  
  • [Myself] We need more mainline chaplains AND non-mainline chaplains who are committed to real chaplaincy, providing pastoral care to all — regardless or race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, you name it! We need to jettison these government-paid missionaries in uniform only there to do their denomination’s bidding! Some of these folks are not only protectors of evil predators; they’re the perpetrators!

In a follow-up post Chaplain Palmer wrote:

My Fellow Americans,

Female Soldiers are more at risk of sexual harassment and abuse from their own than they are from being shot at by the enemy. Let that sink in!! I have spent my career as a Chaplain providing pastoral care and advocacy for these survivors. On more than one occasion I have closed the door and gotten in the face of a leader and threatened to “end your f***ing career if one more female Soldier complains to me about your unwanted attention”. I had great leaders supporting me (Fellow Chaplains, Not so much), especially a female Command Sgt. Major in Korea. Please support in spirit and financially Protect Our Defenders. They are telling the “sacred stories” of survivors and calling for reform with the Military Justice Improvement Act.”

Army Chaplain (LTC) Glenn Palmer, Facebook

• [A Chaplain responded] Glenn, I appreciate all that you do, and all that you post. My greatest concern about SHARP is the idea that the Army can train its way out of sexual assault. Too often that Army behaves as if soldiers just don’t know that sexual assault or sexual harassment is wrong, and if we just find the right PowerPoint presentation, these incidents will cease. I worked with plenty of leaders who really were committed to doing the right thing, but there are too many predators who are knowingly harassing and/or assaulting peers. Not to mention the bias that anyone who can run, do a lot of push-ups, wears the uniform well and shows up on time could not possibly be a predator.

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Dear Coalition Chaplains, if any of you are being harassed or observe others, ESPECIALLY chaplains, harassing folks, please speak up! If you wish to speak with me, feel free to reach out!!! We have made friends with several law firms and advocacy groups for real chaplaincy, by real chaplains. If we need to connect you, we will! This kind of evil must not be neglected or allowed to flourish. Not only is it wicked, the corruption on which it is built will destroy the Chaplain Corps and its relevancy.

Dave