August 20, 2012

Guest blog post submitted by Jennifer Norris. Jennifer Norris is on the Advocacy Board of Protect Our Defenders and is the Maine Director of the Military Rape Crisis Center. She served in the US Air Force and survived military rape and sexual assault. For those that have spent time in the military, you have at one point or another heard the phrase "Perception is Reality". This simple phrase rings so true given how the United States Air Force is currently handling the Sex Abuse/Rape scandal at the Lackland AFB Basic Training facility. Since watching this "scandal" unfold, I have witnessed a series of unfortunate missteps that I feel are most likely hurting the American public's perception of the military, which may have negative impacts on the recruitment numbers as well. We don't want that, if the Air Force is genuinely trying to clean house. We want to help civilians understand what is happening in order to educate them about the risks and the process.