Posted on May 15, 2018
When I was in the USMC thirty years ago, there were no "battle buddies". Do they have them now? Do they need them? If they don't, why not?
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30 yrs ago, we were not losing 22 vets/day and 1 AD member to suicide. It was designed to make you a team, and to keep you from slaking off just because you were by yourself.
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I remember reading this: https://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/01/28/senator-urges-buddy-system-for-air-force-trainees.html
Sen Ernst from Iowa writing the Air Force doesn't have a mandatory buddy system but yet there's this response:
Capt. José Davis, spokesman for Air Education and Training Command, the service's leading command for basic trainees, on Friday told Military.com it is "aware of Senator Ernst's letter."
"We are in coordination with 2nd Air Force officials, the organization responsible for overseeing basic military and non-flying technical training for the Air Force, to evaluate what we have in place equivalent or not to the buddy pair system expressed in the letter," Davis said in an email statement.
"We take great measures to ensure a wingmanship culture in our basic military training. Today's trainees are assigned a wingman on day zero of training. If one trainee needs to go anywhere, his or her wingman is required to accompany the trainee.
"Additionally, each Airman carries a 'wingman card' on their person at all times. On the card, it has the name of their wingman as well as emergency phone numbers to the trainee/student hotline and their sexual assault response coordinator. Safety of our Airmen is always a top priority," Davis said.
Sen Ernst thinks buddy teams reduce sexual assaults - they don't. Most assaults are by someone the victim knows first off. Secondly, it really is a huge problem if we have to travel in pairs to avoid sexual assault. That speaks to a larger issue.
"A service member should be able to walk on a military base by themselves without the fear of being sexually assaulted. That should be the standard." (Retired Air Force Col. Don Christensen, a former chief prosecutor in the Air Force.)
We had "battle buddies" in basic for the Army and they still do. I think that's more to CYA the drill sergeants than anything.
Sen Ernst from Iowa writing the Air Force doesn't have a mandatory buddy system but yet there's this response:
Capt. José Davis, spokesman for Air Education and Training Command, the service's leading command for basic trainees, on Friday told Military.com it is "aware of Senator Ernst's letter."
"We are in coordination with 2nd Air Force officials, the organization responsible for overseeing basic military and non-flying technical training for the Air Force, to evaluate what we have in place equivalent or not to the buddy pair system expressed in the letter," Davis said in an email statement.
"We take great measures to ensure a wingmanship culture in our basic military training. Today's trainees are assigned a wingman on day zero of training. If one trainee needs to go anywhere, his or her wingman is required to accompany the trainee.
"Additionally, each Airman carries a 'wingman card' on their person at all times. On the card, it has the name of their wingman as well as emergency phone numbers to the trainee/student hotline and their sexual assault response coordinator. Safety of our Airmen is always a top priority," Davis said.
Sen Ernst thinks buddy teams reduce sexual assaults - they don't. Most assaults are by someone the victim knows first off. Secondly, it really is a huge problem if we have to travel in pairs to avoid sexual assault. That speaks to a larger issue.
"A service member should be able to walk on a military base by themselves without the fear of being sexually assaulted. That should be the standard." (Retired Air Force Col. Don Christensen, a former chief prosecutor in the Air Force.)
We had "battle buddies" in basic for the Army and they still do. I think that's more to CYA the drill sergeants than anything.
Senator Urges 'Buddy System' for Air Force Trainees
Sen. Ernst's concern stems from a recent visit to Fort Sam Houston, which focused on the investigation of military sexual assault.
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