COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Recruiting: Women
Airmen court-martialed
Bob Fowler, KNOX Local
August 25, 2007
OAK RIDGE The two sergeants who staffed the U.S. Air ForceRecruiting Office in Oak Ridge have been court-martialed for having
sex with female recruits or young women seeking to enlist.
Staff Sgts. Brandon M. Donovan and Jonathon M. Fehl of the Air
Force's 332nd Recruiting Squadron pleaded guilty to all charges in late May.
Their ranks were reduced to airman basic, and they were kicked out of
the service with bad-conduct discharges.
They have appealed their courts-martial and are on appellate-leave status.
During the appeal, the men aren't paid, "nor do they work for the Air
Force," Senior Master Sgt. Bob Blauser of Randolph Air Force Base in
Texas stated in an e-mail.
The Air Force recruiting office in Oak Ridge remains closed, but
efforts to staff it are under way, Blauser stated.
The office was shut down when Donovan and Fehl were relieved of their
recruiting duties in February, Blauser stated.
An investigation into allegations that the officers were having sex
with recruits or applicants was under way then, according to Blauser's e-mail.
Both men were never relocated as recruiters and were assigned to
their squadron's flight chief in Knoxville "with duties other than
recruiting," Air Force Maj. Sean S. McKenna, also of the Randolph
base, stated in an e-mail.
Fehl, in court-martial proceedings May 30, pleaded guilty to having
sex on several occasions between June and November 2005 with a female
who was applying for the Air Force.
Donovan also pleaded guilty the same day to having sexual relations
several times with a female Air Force applicant during the same time
frame, McKenna stated.
Donovan "was also charged and found guilty of committing adultery
with two different females, but the females were not
applicants/recruits ," McKenna's e-mail stated.
An e-mail from Blauser offers a different version of charges against
Donovan, stating he was involved "with three recruits."
Donovan joined the Air Force in December 1996 and Fehl enlisted in
October 1994.
Donovan began recruiting duties in Oak Ridge in June 2004, and Fehl
was assigned to that office in May 2005.
No criminal or civil charges have been filed over the incidents.
Air Force spokesmen wouldn't reveal whether any of the women with
whom Donovan and Fehl had sex subsequently enlisted in the Air Force.
"The incidents occurred with either women in the Delayed Enlistment
Program or with women interested in the Air Force," McKenna stated in
an e-mail.
The spokesmen declined to say where the incidents occurred and said a
Freedom of Information Act request would have to be filed to obtain
other details, including the ages of the men, the women, and Fehl's
whereabouts.
Donovan, who now does maintenance work in the Cappiello Office
Building where the recruiting office was located, has declined
comment on his case.
Tenants of the building reported seeing Donovan and Fehl frequently
keeping the office open and hosting visitors after normal business
hours. The News Sentinel's Oak Ridge office is located in the building.
Blauser described the charges against the recruiters as "an extremely
isolated case, but even one person is one too many."
"Recruiters must never mislead, lie or take advantage of a recruit,"
Blauser stated in an e-mail.
"These recruiters failed in their mission."
Reports of incidents of military recruiters charged with sexual
misconduct with potential enlistees and young recruits have surfaced before.
Following a six-month investigation last year, The Associated Press
reported that more than 80 military recruiters were disciplined in
2005 for such infractions.
n Blauser said 25 Air Force recruiters received administrative
punishment, non-judicial punishment or faced a court-martial for
sexual misconduct with "applicants/ recruits" between January 2004 and
July 2007.
The Air Force has 1,640 recruiters based in 1,390 offices, Blauser reported.
n From Oct. 1, 2005, through June 30, 2007, the U.S. Army had 16
cases of sexual misconduct where various punishments were
administered, said S. Douglas Smith, public affairs officer.
Action is pending in two other cases, and three allegations remain
under investigation, Smith stated in an e-mail.
He said the Army and Army Reserve have 8,493 recruiters nationwide.
n There were no cases in 2005-2006 of U.S. Navy recruiters charged
with sexual misconduct with enlistees or recruits, deputy public
affairs officer Steve Hendrickson said.
Eighteen recruiters were disciplined in 2005 for fraternizing with
enlistees or recruits, he said.
There are 5,068 Navy recruiters, Hendrickson said.
Repeated efforts to obtain similar information from the U.S. Marines
were unsuccessful.
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