The Air Force has launched servicewide inspections of all work places and public areas looking for material that objectifies women, such as the sexually explicit and violent content that Tech. Sgt. Jennifer Smith says she found on a server at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. You can read about that in this week’s issue of Air Force Times.
A retired senior Air Force official and fighter pilot said the Air Force has a long tradition of using women as “motivators,” such as inserting images from Playboy into briefings to get the attention of fliers. Most of that has disappeared – but not all.
Also in this week’s edition: Airman 1st Class Mitchell Imlah was told he needed to lose 100 pounds to join the military. Army recruiters laughed him out of their office, but an Air Force recruiter worked with him for a year to get him in shape for basic training.
In other news, police have arrested an explosive ordnance disposal technician at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and charged him with breaking into a home and raping a woman at knifepoint.
And the Air Force is issuing airmen pocket guidebooks to Asian culture as part of the U.S. military’s focus on the Asia-Pacific region. The books are meant to help airmen navigate the trick terrain of unfamiliar countries and cultures.
The issue is on newsstands now. To read it immediately, subscribe to our digital edition.
1 Comment
I read the article about TSgt Smith. I also read her official complaint against the USAF. There are surprisingly a few things we agree on, like the fact that when we women do inform someone of a sexual assault, we usually end up getting screwed over in the process. Most of what she said though, I do NOT agree with. It is part of the AF culture whether we like it or not. Going through our workcenters and making us get rid of all that stuff that is public is fine, but do you think that is really going to stop what is going on? Also, when she found that stuff in her squardon’s (the 55th) drives, why did she creep on the other squadrons’ drives? Just to find more? She says in her official complaint that she had to see the lewd and pornographic stuff on her computer while doing her normal daily duties. But no, that can’t be true, she clearly was looking for it.
Being a woman in the Air Force sometimes can be a struggle. I do not let things like she talked about bug me. I am a woman who has morals and I know that no matter what people say or do it won’t change anything about me.
All I am saying is, there are many other things she could have done instead of this.