Vanessa Guillen: Update

                Earlier this week Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy made a massive announcement in connection with the pending murder investigation of Vanessa Guillen. McCarthy announced the suspension or relief from duty of fourteen different members of Guillen’s chain of command. The soldiers who served at or below the battalion level have not been named. However, those who were at the top have been rightfully hung out to dry.  

                Maj. Gen. Scott L. Efflandt the Deputy Commander of III Corp was relieved of duty. Col. Ralph Overland and Command Sgt. Maj. Bradley Knapp, the command team for the 3^rd Cavalry Regiment were also relieved of duty. And the command team for the 1^st Cavalry Division, Maj. Gen. Jeff Bradwater and Command Sgt. Maj. Tomas C. Kenny were both suspended.   

                Although, none of these men took any part in the vicious bludgeoning and dismemberment that Guillen faced in her final hours. But they were ultimately responsible for creating and maintaining a climate that allowed her initial request for help after being sexually assaulted to remain unanswered.  

                There is a very common phrase in the Army: “Shit rolls downhill.” It many not be an eloquent phrase, but it is one of empirical importance when dealing with the chain of command. This means that leadership is ultimately responsible for the actions of their subordinates. Such as it is nature, filth breeds filth if it is never cleansed. If you have leaders in place that are unwilling to be selfless and look after the lives which they have been entrusted, then what would you expect those that they have influenced to impart on future generations of soldiers and leaders? What kind of environment would you expect to flourish when the weeds are never pulled from the root, and only removed from the visible surface?

                The kind of environment where a young girl who was just trying to keep and maintain an armory as she was told, was brutalized and murdered by someone in the same uniform.

                The reprimand of these fourteen soldiers is not justice. But at long last, it is progress.