News-Story | Protect Our Defenders

Congress Will Hold Lackland Hearings

Sep 19 2012

Newsmonger reports for the San Antonio Current: …a congressional hearing must probe how trainers may be abusing the inherent power...

Hill Wants Sex Assault Cases Out of Commands

Sep 19 2012

Sarah Blansett reports for Military.com on a lawsuit filed against the government by attorney Susan Burke. Protect Our Defenders is...

In Lackland Trials, Fear Factor Crucial in Quest for Justice

Sep 17 2012

Karisa King and Sig Christenson report for the San Antonio Express-News on Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish: “It’s a...

Woman to Lead Air Force Training After Sex Scandal

Sep 16 2012

Paul J. Weber reports for the Associated Press on Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish: Protect Our Defenders, an advocacy...

The Enemy Within

Sep 15 2012

James Kitfield reports in this cover story for the National Journal, an in-depth exploration of the problem of military sexual...

Tailhook Sexual Assault Survivor Wants McKeon’s Ear

Sep 14 2012

Mark Archuleta reports for KHTS 1220 on Protect Our Defenders Advocacy Board Member Paula Coughlin-Puopolo: Coughlin is one of the...

Air Force Instructor in Texas Acquitted on Sex Charge

Sep 13 2012

Jim Forsyth reports for Reuters on Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish: Meanwhile, the House Armed Services Committee confirmed on...

House Committee to Hold Hearings on Lackland

Sep 13 2012

Stewart M. Powell reports for The San Antonio Express-News on Protect Our Defenders Honorary Chair Rep. Jackie Speier: “An open...

Editorial: Set Congressional Hearings Date

Sep 13 2012

The San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board writes: Seventy-eight members of Congress have signed a letter calling for congressional hearings on...

Statement from Protect Our Defenders in Response to House Armed Services Committee Announcing Lackland Hearings

Sep 12 2012

Statement from Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish on the HASC announcement of future Lackland hearings: The House Armed Services...

Editorial: Comments are an Insult to Recruits

Sep 12 2012

The San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board writes: To be clear, this is a problem more serious than just a few...

Lawmaker’s Secret Lackland Visit Upsets Advocates

Sep 11 2012

Karisa King and Sig Christenson report for San Antonio Express-News on Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish: “It’s disheartening that...

McKeon Expresses Confidence In Air Force Base Sexual Assault Internal Investigation

Sep 11 2012

Mark Archuleta reports for Hometown Station AM 1220 on Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish: “His statements that only a...

Statement on McKeon’s Visit to Lackland Air Force Base

Sep 10 2012

Statement from Nancy Parrish, President of Protect Our Defenders, on Rep. Buck McKeon’s Visit to Lackland Air Force Base: It’s...

A Phone Call To Protect Our Lackland Trainees

Sep 10 2012

Today, Rep. Buck McKeon, the House Armed Services Committee Chairman, returned to Congress from his summer recess. More than 15,000...

McKeon Visits Lackland Air Force Base to Discuss Basic Training Sex Scandal

Sep 10 2012

Jeremy Herb reports for The Hill on Protect Our Defenders: Activists have criticized McKeon for not doing enough to address...

House Chairman Visits Lackland AFB Reeling From Scandal

Sep 10 2012

The Associated Press reports in USA Today: Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon spent three hours at the base, where he met...

Rape and the Ethics of Adultery, or How the Military Hides its Rape Problem

Sep 09 2012

Matt Collins reports for Tom Ricks’s Foreign Policy: Still, there is more that could be done to reform the military’s...

Col. Axelbank Exits Lackland for the Pentagon

Sep 06 2012

Sig Christenson reports for the San Antonio Express-News on Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish: “The abuse at Lackland and...

Trainer’s Trial is Put Off; No Explanation

Sep 06 2012

Sig Christenson reports for the San Antonio Express-News: A basic-training instructor’s trial on charges of having sex with a young...

Editorial: Military Needs a Battle Plan to Stop Sexual Assaults

Sep 04 2012

The New York Daily News Editorial Board writes about reform needed to stop military sexual assaults and mentions Protect Our...

Video: Veterans Bike Across 12 States Including Kansas City

Sep 02 2012

KSHB Action News reports on Colleen Bushnell’s Long Road Home bike ride, supported by Protect Our Defenders:: The Long Road...

Majority of Sexual Assaults and Rapes Committed in Military in 2011 Were Against Men

Sep 02 2012

Heidi Evans of the NY Daily News reports on Protect Our Defenders Board Members Advocacy Board member Geri Lynn Matthews...

San Antonio Express Editorial: Abuses Call for Hearings in Congress

Sep 01 2012

The San Antonio News-Express Editorial Board writes: The abuse of military authority to seek or force sexual favors from trainees...

Navy Vet: Policies on Sexual Assaults Must Improve

Aug 29 2012

Craig Currier of The Antelope Valley Press covers Protect Our Defenders Advocacy Board Member, Jenny McClendon’s story and the fight...

Why Pentagon’s Progress Against Sexual Assault Is So Slow

Aug 29 2012

Anna Mulrine reports for the Christian Science Monitor : Today, failure to prosecute some prominent sexual-assault cases is a key...

Cross-Country Bike Ride Fights Trauma of War

Aug 28 2012

Nancy Gaarder reports for the Omaha World-Herald on Colleen Bushnell’s Long Road Home bike ride, supported by Protect Our Defenders:...

Rep. Jackie Speier: Assaults in Armed Forces Must Stop Immediately

Aug 27 2012

Protect Our Defenders Honorary Chair Rep. Jackie Speier writes for the New York Daily News: Women, and men, join the...

San Antonio Express News: Air Force Finds More Trainers, Victims in Sex Scandal

Aug 26 2012

Sig Christenson and Karisa King report in the San Antonio Express News reports an increase in the number of victims...

Huffington Post: Lackland Sexual Abuse Survivor Bikes Cross-Country to Deliver Petitions to Rep. Buck McKeon

Aug 25 2012

Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish writes in the Huffington Post: We hope Congress acts before Colleen arrives in our...

The Latest on Lackland

Aug 23 2012

News has been breaking almost daily this summer about the Lackland Air Force Base sexual abuse scandal, and to help...

Editorial: Hearings Needed in Lackland Scandal

Aug 21 2012

Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish writes in an op-ed for the San Antonio Express News: What happened during those...

Rape Victims Advocate on Akin: It Was a Huge Kick to the Gut

Aug 21 2012

Diana Zoga reports for KMOV St Louis News about Protect Our Defenders Advocacy Board member Terri Odom: Odom was raped...

Perception is Reality: What’s really going on at Lackland?

Aug 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.