It was my first week in a new city, a new state, 1200 miles from where I had called home for the first 18 years of my life. I spent my first week in Tallahassee, Florida, participating in New Midshipman Orientation. We met the rest of our unit, our peers, who led us through our first week as NROTC students. Once the hot, muggy, tiring week was over, a few of the older midshipman needed some help moving. Eager to make friends with the people I’d be spending the next few years with and serving in the Navy with, I happily obliged. I had no money, so all I had eaten after moving large furniture into a second story apartment was a Chick Fil A sandwich one of the older guys bought me as a thank you. Of course, at a part school like Florida State, they had a housewarming party with some of the other midshipman and friends from school. I was drinking with the rest of the 21-22 year old men, trying to “fit in” by keeping up with them – at 18 and 118lbs. As soon as I was too drunk to realize what was going on one of the peers who led us through Orientation found it appropriate to touch and kiss on me in front of everyone. He then led me to a bedroom in the very back of the apartment and took advantage of me. Eventually, I came to in the middle of what was going on and started to yell at him to get off of me. The person who lived at the apartment heard the yelling and came in to kick him out. My assailant, sober, was asked to leave and drove home. The next day the person who lived there took me back to my dorm, bought me some breakfast and asked if I wanted to go to the police. Of course not, I thought, because I didn’t remember what happened and what if I was part of the problem? I now realize that I was so traumatized at the time that I did not even accept that what had happened was rape until 6 months later. I was in the dining hall and received a call from my mom, who still lived 1200 miles away and had not seen me since I had moved. She knew something was up. I, deep down, knew I had been assaulted. This eventually led to me filing reports, and my assailant was quietly removed from the unit under “poor performance”. This allowed him to go on into the Air Force and commission as an officer, with whom he still serves with today. He was allowed to commission after being found guilty of sexual assault in a Title IX case at FSU. His AFROTC command saw the results and still allowed him to commission. Meanwhile, I left the NROTC unit due to severe harassment and retaliation from my command following the incident, and a lack of support that left me suicidal. I decided that if I was going to commission, it would not be under them. Today, I am still working toward earning a commission, in my own time. I want to protect young women like myself from the predators the DOD proudly endorses.