Bullying in the Armed Forces
In civilian life, standing up to a bully is possible and can be quite effective too. Alternatively, one can walk away from the situation if confrontation is not a viable option. Unfortunately, in the armed forces, neither is possible due to the peculiar nature of military life. Bullying in the armed forces is quite a widespread phenomenon. Every one knows that it exists and pretends that it does not. No public outcry is ever made, and victims ending up committing suicide as they do not see any way of getting out of a vicious circle of bullying, overlooking, more bullying and finally, suicide.
In civilian life recourse in the form of legal measures, civil action, etc besides just standing up to the bully, are all available. In the armed forces, due to the very nature of their organizational structure and discipline, such recourse is not available to a victim. The honor code of not snitching on your peers and superiors, plus the hierarchical structure itself prevents such a possibility. What does an enlisted man do when his superiors bully him? Since they are isolated and live on military or naval bases, cut off from civilian life, and without understanding and sympathetic friends or family, victims take the only perceived way possible out – suicide.
Soldiers live on bases or in battlefronts or field postings for long periods of time and do not have any way of getting civilian counseling or help. The internal macho atmosphere, totally hierarchy driven, and the value system of having to be tough, no matter what, makes bullying a method of toughening up perceived weaklings. Such an atmosphere is indeed ideal for bullies, but there is really no logical reason as to why it should exist at all. Exist it does however and either damages or puts an end to many lives.
The length of service of the person concerned does not seem to matter. While mostly new enlistees are the ones most exposed to bullying, many senior personnel are bullied into doing things that they normally would not do. There are instances of bullying senior officers into taking early voluntary retirement to save on pension costs or to ensure that some other matter does not come to light. Few persons, serving or civilian, will accept that bullying exists in the armed forces. Due to this, bullying is overlooked, tragically leading to serious outcomes for the victims.
A good number of cases of suicides as well as suicides made to appear as homicides have been observed in the armed forces, as a direct result of bullying. Though the environment is conducive to bullies, bullying should not be allowed to exist in the armed forces. There are rules and regulations already in existence, that simply need to be followed to eliminate this scourge. Unfortunately they are not leading to an end to this unsatisfactory state of affairs and what is more alarming, many cases are either covered up or treated as minor offences to reduce the impact of the offense.