I and BG got married in San Antonio TX. I flew back to Fort Riley on cloud nine. I was so excited that I was now married.
About a week after I had got married I was walking down the hallway of my work building. There were a few vending machines in a row on the left side of the hallway. There was a supervisor Sergeant Brown standing at one of the machines. As I walked past him he called my name and I walk back to see what he needed.
As I approached him he pushed me between 2 of the machines. He said “Your married I am married let’s have an affair” I was so surprised this was happening. I kind of chuckled because I was uncomfortable and was trying not to show fear.
I pushed him so that I could get from between the machines. Sergeant Brown was known as being a jokester but I did not think this was funny. I decided to go to the Sexual Harassment Supervisor to let her know what happened and how I was uncomfortable.
The Sexual Harassment supervisor basically blew it off saying Sergeant Brown was probably joking. He did not even get talked to. I was so upset. I felt like it was being swept under the rug.
I called BG that night crying and telling him what happened. He took a flight the next day to come support me. My chain of command caught wind that BG was coming to Ft Riley. They put Sergeant Brown in hiding for the weekend. I guess they were fearful of BG’s intentions.
Nothing happened. BG just supported me that weekend. He went back to San Antonio on Sunday. Monday I was called into my supervisor’s office. I basically got reprimanded for getting my husband involved. REALLY??? They felt like this could have been taken care of without my husband flying in from San Antonio. Why shouldn’t my husband get involved? He is my husband and also no one else was taking this seriously. I felt alone. So BG was letting me know that I was not alone.
Sergeant Brown was ordered to apologize and that was it. I honestly feel like this only happened because BG was “involved” If I would not have told him I don’t think my chain of commander would have done anything about it.
I used this situation to validate the reason why I did not report my gang rape about 6 months before. If this is how sexual harassment is handled I figured Rape would have been treated the same way.
I definitely got a thick skin from this situation. But over time I let go of the frustration. Because all it was doing was holding me back from being the best me I could be. Take Care. Much Love.
