Female defence cadets are ” flabby, they smell of fish (and) are easy to get into” according to their male colleagues.
There were exclusive reports from News Limited journalist Tory Shephard yesterday that she had unearthed a guide to ‘cadets language’, which is promoted by the Australian Defence Force Academy Graduates’ Association.
And that guide paints a truly disgusting picture of the culture that has been allowed to fester within the Academy. It reveals extremely sexist, racist and abusive attitudes are not only accepted but promoted amongst the young recruits who will one day represent our nation.
News.com.au reports that:
DLA Piper, the lawyers who carried out the investigation, said the “racist and misogynist” statements in the document were very difficult to reconcile with claims that female cadets were treated with respect.
The LEGOLINGO guide was created in the 1980s but was available to ADFA Graduates’ Association members as DLA Piper were carrying out the review.
The lawyers said it was “possible” that ADFA – the location of the Skype sex scandal – was now entirely healthy, but that “the contemptuous hostility to women (and Asians and Aborigines) expressed in LEGOLINGO represents a significant indicator of abuse risk in the ADF”.
GROGAN: The type of ugly woman who is just better than a THUGLY.
GOOK: An Asian. See CLACK (A CLACK is an Asian person because Claymores (mines) were best used in Vietnam).
BASTARDISATION: The boys having fun. Nothing whatsoever as harrowing as the Press makes out. Simply character building.
Yesterday Defence Minister Stephen Smith released a damning report into abuse allegations within the Australian military. The report is equally as damaging to the reputation of our armed forces, as the revolting graduate’s guide.
And while the report stops short of recommending that a Royal Commission into alleged abuse be conducted, the report does suggest that perpetrators of assaults may now have progressed to senior ranks within our military.
It is now clear that recent allegations of sexual and physical assaults perpetrated on young women within the defence forces, were not isolated. That abuse was widespread and has been ongoing for many years.
The report also found that “from the 1950s through to the early 1980s, many boys aged 13, 14, 15 and 16 years of age in the ADF suffered abuse including serious sexual and other physical abuse”.
Is there any way that such a deeply entrenched sexist culture can be overcome? Are you or do you know any female members of the defence forces? What has been their experience? Would you advise a female friend or relative against entering the defence force?
Comments
61 Comments so far
Pingback: David Hurley accepted that women ‘ll not be comfortable till change | expresspak
I always remember when I was young the military was the place where the bad eggs were sent for reforming. I guess some things never change and these losers never learnt their lesson. In fact many committed hideous acts and stayed bullies, and the tradition perpetuated.
It makes me sick to hear about the coverups. Watch the mass resignations and retirements in Defence once this all comes out in the wash. Bring on the Royal Commission and expose these cowards.
loading...
Thank goodness the people in ADF treat people equally
loading...
These people represent Australia? Lord help us. They’re meant to be the protectors of freedom and equality.. and we’ve given them guns!!
If only there were a way to screen soldiers for this kind of thing, or if there was a way to make it a lofty ideal to be a soldier so that it attracted better kinds of people instead of the misogynist bunch the article speaks to. Meh.
loading...
I graduated ADFA in 2003. I am female. I cannot speak for anyone else, but I did not have an issue with gender bias or bastardization. It remains my firm belief that it is NOT a boys club, but instead a “competence” club. People (both male and female) who are less capable are ostracized, but that is how it should be. The defence force is not a charity, especially during training, when we should be weeding out the incapable.
ADFA underwent a Grey Review a few years before I arrived, and a few third and fourth year cadets were the last group of pre-grey graduates. From our discussions, it was clear the sweeping reforms had made a massive difference to the culture in three short years.
I would be very comfortable sending my two daughters to the ADF, and I actively encourage others to join too. It’s a hell of a life!
loading...
If this was World War II, would we be sending women to the front line? Of course not, and would we be concerned with bastardisation or any other so-called abuse? Of course not.
In that war, we were a country in peril, and young men went voluntarily to protect their country and kin. They took the rough with the smooth.
Now that we live in a society in peacetime, and yes, we are in peacetime, it behoves us to remember that this is what the military is for. It should not be an equal opportunity employer, it should not be a country women’s association or a feminist proving ground.
It is a defence force ready to defend our country no matter what. And sometimes ‘no matter what’ may seem unpalatable to the cosseted citizens of our first world nation.
If women are traumatised by the current military culture, and I agree, it is regressive, why mix women with the men?
Military culture has always been traumatic for men. Yet that trauma has always been less than the real trauma they’ve experienced in a war zone.
In discussing our military, there is no room for hurt feelings or sensitivity, there is only the reality that our armed forces have no time for either. If they did, we would be in trouble.
loading...
I was at ADFA for one year in the late 80s, the nickname for female cadets was “squid” because it was said we were flabbly and smelt like fish. I once saw a newsletter distributed amongst the male cadets describing a particular female cadet as “let’s bury her in a y shape coffin”. As an attractive, high achieving teenager who was encouraged to go to ADFA by the Air Force recruiting team, I was disqusted by the misogynist culture there and only stayed for a year because I wanted to prove a point to my parents who were against me going to the Academy in the first place…….if my daughters ever expressed an interest in going into the military when they are older I would strongly discourage them from doing so.
loading...
So glad you got out. What an awful experience for a young bright woman. Hope your career got better.
loading...
“Bury her in a Y-Shaped coffin” is from Blackadder III. It was Blackadder describing Nelson’s girlfriend/wife.
loading...
Haven’t we heard all this before, absoute disgrace that still nothing is done
loading...
I have no recent experience but my high school boyfriend went to ADFA over 20 years ago. This language was commonplace.
The young cadets were “hazed” (ie tortured) by the older ones. Women were called disgusting names and the female cadets would have been mortified to hear what the males were saying about them. The culture was racist, sexist and cruel.
I would actively discourage anyone, male or female from going to ADFA. I now have teenage children and have told them that I will support them in any career choice except the military.
I am sure there are respectful and decent members of the Australian Defence Forces but I would say that’s in spite of, rather than because of, the culture of the training institutions.
loading...
I did Navy recruits in 2004 and was in for five and a half years, anything like what this talks about at ADFA got stamped on quicksmart.
loading...
I have been involved for a long, long time with the military at varying levels, including different training establishments and this does not surprise me at all. However it is vital that we do not tarnish every Defence member with the negatives of this report as they DO NOT all fall into the group that is associated with such actions.
What this report discusses is VERY FUNDEMENTALLY WRONG, I am not suggesting anything other than that. I do however know many Defence members that are extremely good men and women and would hate for them to be tarnished with the same brush as the primitive individuals this report discusses.
loading...
I think we need to start talking about this to our kids openly and honestly. I hesitate to say this, because I work in schools and I know teachers are already dealing with a ridiculously crowded curriculum, but I think we need classes on gender relations or something. Some schools probably already have programs in place, but it would be great if around Australia, secondary schooling (or even middle schooling) included comprehensive learning experiences focusing on gender equality, human rights, and respecting each other. I also think kids (and sadly, a lot of adults) need a solid introduction to words like ‘sexism’, ‘misogyny’, ‘violence’, and ‘rape culture’. I’m grateful for men like Stephen Smith who are unapologetically outspoken about vile stuff like this – the world needs more like him!
loading...
Hooray for Stephen Smith. For the Minister to be taking on the Defence Forces like this is really courageous. It would have been so easy to roll over and not make a big deal of this. He copped a lot of abuse for getting angry about the way the military handled the Skype business. If men who should have known better had called time years ago, it couldn’t have continued. i hope the senior officers get prosecuted.
loading...
My brother is currently applying to the ADF. This article is disturbing.
loading...
Essie, this was from the 80′s. It’s completely different now. Just as culture outside the ADF has moved on, so has our military. (Helped by sweeping reforms from the grey review.) As an ADFA grad myself, and a ten year officer who has had time at ADFA and RMC and as staff at Kapooka, I have no qualms in recommending the Army as a career to anyone. Best of luck to your brother!
loading...
Yeah, I wouldn’t discourage most people from joining either. Unless it was for the wrong reasons. But if they are fair dinkum, I’d be all for it.
loading...
I was at ADFA in the 90s when they are saying a spate of rapes occurred. In fact the report has said that 2 cadets in my year are suspected of multiple rapes in their time there.
On one level I am completely shocked.
On another, not at all.
Rape and what, as a young person, I might have thought of as “serious” sexual abuse, wasn’t something that I was aware was occurring. The tricky bit is that when you are immersed in that culture you don’t really understand the seriousness of things. So, I laughed along with everyone else about the stories of abuse that went around, because it wasn’t viewed as serious, it wasn’t viewed as sexual abuse. It was all just a bit of fun, and well, a particular sort of person had usually “earned” the labels and the treatment. You know, by being different. But phew! I fitted in, so it was OK.
3 years, where you a top shit, with no responsibilities, very little accountability, and very little interaction with adults and families and anyone other than other cadets. A different norm is created. I can’t see real change happening in defence training centres like ADFA until more interaction with society and social norms is introduced and kept in place.
Certainly upon graduating from ADFA, the “real world” of the Navy was very different. There was still an entrenched masculinity about everything, but inappropriate behaviour was much less tolerated, and there was a lot more support. Not perfect, but I can look at this with older, more experienced eyes, and say that working in the Navy on a day to day basis, working with a variety of ages, levels of experience and rank, people with families and normal pressures, things were very different to ADFA, and in general, the people that I met had a much better perspective on life in general.
I feel glad that I never perpetrated any abuse during my time at ADFA, but I know that I sat by, and, unwittingly at the time, supported such gross and unlawful behaviour.
loading...
What a thoughtful, realistic and honest comment. Thank you.
loading...
Gook is a carry over from the Vietnam war where the Vienamese were known as “gooks”. It’s not un uncommon term and is no worse than the things I’ve heard in civilian life.
Since Tory Shepherd chose not to publish the whole thing, only parts of it, then I’d be guessing that what she was looking at was a glossary of terms rather than an instruction booklet. Even 30 years ago when real bastardization existed the treatment of females was certainly nothing like what has been published. If anything then guys would get pissed off at the women for not having to do the worst of the duties that the guys had to do. We didn’t like having to put ourselves out on excersizes etc living like animals in the mud and rubbish of the North Queensland Jungle, to come home to find that some woman who hadn’t ever been on exersizes had been promoted.
The services are supposed to be tough, it’s tough physically and mentally, recruits need to toughen up and cop it sweet. They are generally treated much better now than we were in the early 80′s.
loading...
Having been young & female in these training establishments I would disagree. In the 18 months I was there, a young woman was violently gang raped by her “fellow” cadets, another was raped by a class mate – she was pysch discharged, he is still serving.
We were told that if we left our bedroom doors were left unlocked whilst we slept it meant we were “up for it”. Despite the fact I was married and never dated/ or slept with any of my classmates derogatory sexual slurs and stories were still spread about me. I had an colleague try to break into my room in the middle of the night. I was the only woman living in an accomodation block of 60 men. I could go on with further examples. All the women I know in the ADF have similar stories.
It is important to note however that I ONLY encountered this kind of attitude and behaviours in training establishments and after graduation and working in the wider army in locations like Darwin Townsville Sydney and operational tours I have never personally seen this occur. There IS something about the culture and the hyper masculinity in these training establishments that allows this toxic environment to flourish.
I don’t think any one should ever, ever “take” sexual assault and “cop it sweet”
loading...
A friend of a friend was sexually assaulted by her superior officer (who had previously been nice and trustworthy so she didn’t see it coming), then told not to worry about it and move on. She ended up leaving, having a breakdown and cultivating a serious drug habit. It took her years to overcome it.
loading...
Surely you are not suggesting that sexual assault is a legitimate way of “toughening up” recruits?
Here’s a scary thought…if these men treat their own colleagues and countrywomen with so little respect, can you imagine how they treat the local women in the counties that they’re posted to.
loading...
No, I didn’t say anything about sexual assault “toughening” anyone. I’d never suggest that.
What I did say was that the services aren’t a garden party, some forms of bastardization are needed and the training cannot compare to civilian occupations.
loading...
“some forms of bastardization are needed ”
What the HELL?? Utter nonsense.
loading...
You are so aptly named aren’t you?
Military training is hard, it’s bloody hard. It’s the sort of thing that a lot of people can’t even comprehend. The crux of military training is teamwork, everything is about the team. Even if one person screws up the rest of the team will protect and defend them. That sort fo teamwork is something that I’ve not seen in civilian life.
The big thing that comes as a result of this teamwork is that if one person continually screws up, the rest of the team will take things into their own hands. We had a guy who was fat, lazy, a glutton, and worst of all, he was dirty. This guy was always the last to finish things and the first in line at the mess. The amount of times we scored punishments because of this guy couldn’t be counted. The final act was that he didn’t shower for a week, he stank, and we had to live in close quarters with him. So we gave him some attitude adjustment training. He found himself in a cold shower covered in boot polish with only solvol to wash it off. He learnt, and stopped being lazy and getting the rest of us in strife. It absolutely must happen in a military situation that the team takes precedence over the individual.
loading...
But these are the kinds of things the DLA piper report has discovered. Hundreds of allegations of serious assault. This is not making someone march on a drill square, or paint rocks, or even extra physical training. It’s not throwing someone’s personal belongings all over the parade ground if they don’t keep their room/ locker locked. It is not even pressure from a cohort to push someone who is not performing.
The difference with the officer training is that you are in the environment, living and breathing the culture 24/7 with very little contact with the outside world to moderate or change your perspective. And you are there for years. When ORs do their initial training, it is much more intense and focused on basic mil skills. You are there in the recruit training school for a matter of weeks, then you are sent to your unit for further training. There is not the same prolonged exposure to being a recruit or cadet where you essentially have no rank, and very little responsiblity beyond passing the course- I think this is part of the reason why the culture has been so hard to shift
loading...
where did he say anything about sexual assault being a legitimate way to toughening up female recruits? I didn’t read that in his comment. He ‘s saying being in the armed forces isn’t a picnic, neither should it be. We need the ones’ who can physically and mentally survive in war situations. It isn’t for everybody .
loading...
The document that was quoted was written in the 1980′s. Granted it was still posted up on the graduate associations website.
loading...
Yes, that is acknowledged in the Punch article. But I don’t think that means that it is just an historical artifact.
Certainly in the late 90s, heck yeah that was all still a part of the day to day language.
Small changes of course, in my day a Squid was “someone who lay on their back and squeezed”. (which requires you to look up the definition of Squeeze). And it was a term that was very readily flung around.
Bet your bottom dollar a cadet today would know what a squid was.
loading...
The equivilant term at RMC is ” apple” – for “being good to the corps” ( of staff cadets) .
loading...
Haha, in the late nineties, I was an apple girl. My friends and I would follow the adfa and rmc guys around the private bin and Mooseheads. We loved that they were young, fit and not into drugs. There were definitely times when we saw a culture of misogyny, but we bought into it because we liked it. I think it had something to do with my dreadfully low self esteem. There was a certain cachet in picking up a higher rank etc. horrible days. I remember going back to adfa once, and the guy I’d gone home with disappearing. He was down the hall with a big bunch of guys. When I went up to him, he ran away. It was dreadful, but I’d put myself in that situation.
loading...
My partner is an officer in the RAAF and girls weevil their way into the social scene after they have slept with one guy and they do the rounds. They aim to get into every dorm building on base, climb the rank ladder, or ‘service all forces’.
As a female I find it quite disturbing. I know the uniform is attractive but where has their self respect gone.
loading...
I know many people who have or still do work for the RAAF and I agree that everyone EVERYONE sleeps together and have very intimate unprofessional relationships. It’s disgusting.
loading...
I acknowledge that the majority of people in the ADF are good, upstanding people. However I applaud Minister Smith’s determination in addressing the problems of abuse that has been evident (though not prevalent) for decades. It needs to be investigated by independent body to iron out despicable practices once and for all.
I know three people who left RMC Duntroon in the 70s because they were victimised by a bullying group there. One was raped in front of her boyfriend (they were both cadets). Another bashed so severly he ended up in hospital with broken bones. He was threatened whilst in hospital by the perpetrators (who visited on the pretext of being the patient’s friends). It was devesting for them and their families.
The recent Skype incident and rape accusations show that this behaviour continues in 2012. I do not consider ADFA a safe environment and would discourage my children from pursuing education/career in that field. The “Lord of the Flies” mentality displayed by some ADF cadets in establishing their pecking order disgusts me. Where is their so-called honour when they pick on those who are perceived as vulnerable or different, amongst their ranks?
loading...
The problem with ADFA is that it’s a university. The cadets have never been part of a military unit and have no experience in Defence life at all. They are a product of society. Their behaviour is what they learnt in school, at home and from their friends. They are not a reflection on the rest of Defence.
My husband is a soldier, he holds a senior rank and has been in for 17 years. I also work with soldiers of both sexes and have done for the last 7 years. Both of us have never seen any of the behaviour that is mentioned. I personally worked in a male dominated unit and the Commanding Officer didnt allow even swearing in front of me let alone anything else. Unfortunately a lot of what has been reported is from decades ago and the Defence force members of today wouldn’t dream nor would they want to act like that. There are something like 80,000 people working in Defence and, as often happens, the behaviour of a few reflects badly on them all.
loading...
I decided to delete most of my comment because it seems like I am saying the same thing as you are Bec.
Approximately half of my extended family (men and women) are in, or have been in the ADF. Some even went to ADFA. I will eventually join as an officer in the next few years, but already with my degree.
As much as I an horrified by the levels of abuse seen in the report (i read the whole damn thing yesterday), I dont think it should ever be seen as representative of the ADF as a whole.
loading...
Joining with your degree would be the best possible way to join. You already have some life experience of university (and maybe working etc) that give you a perspective that a 17 year old heading to ADFA simply doesn’t have, and which the environment doesn’t cultivate.
loading...
Thanks Katyberry!
Admittedly Im going in with a degree that they dont even offer at ADFA, so there were no other options for me. In saying that, the training and academic schedule can be full on at times, so i think thats why so many people study outside and then join.
loading...
“a lot of what has been reported is from decades ago and the Defence force members of today wouldn’t dream nor would they want to act like that”.
Unfortunately, as the article says, “the report does suggest that perpetrators of assaults may now have progressed to senior ranks within our military.” That’s a problem.
loading...
Lulu, I would suggest that those particular ‘senior members’ will have a hard time fighting for their roles, and their freedom if an enquiry finds that they did indeed perpetrate assault on another ADF member.
The report was commissioned to help ‘weed out the bad’ and Im confident that they will do it. Noone wins if detrimental practices are identified but ignored, and Im sure that heads will roll.
loading...
No they won’t Cait, the more senior the member, the more like he/she is to get off. The military are remarkably good at laying blame for everything at the feet of the lowest ranking person involved.
All a Royal Commission will do is get a young private sacked for calling someone a skank, the worst of the perpetrators, who may well now hold flag rank, will get nothing at all.
loading...
Maybe once upon a time those people would have been protected by their peers but no anymore. There is fierce competition to be promoted in the ADF and it can take only one bad report to end a person’s career progression. I can’t imagine people with such weak character and disgusting behaviour being able to progress very far. I have encountered “old dinosaurs” who have been around forever and have old fashioned ideas (women shouldn’t be in the military etc) but they are the minority and they don’t usually get promoted much beyond Major which is hardly a senior officer.
loading...
A Major is a senior officer.
Captains and Lieutenants are junior officers.
Sort of blew your argument away since you don’t know what rank a senior officer is.
loading...
I agree with Bec. While Major is technically a senior officer, it’s also the rank people tend to rise to and stop – and they don’t hold all that much power. They are still very supervised and directed.
loading...
I respectfully disagree Bec.
I knew some young boys before and after they went to ADFA and I can assure you that the racist, sexist, violent language and behaviour was learned there. The other guys in the same school year who went to university did not change in the same way. Their language and behaviour continued to reflect their upbringing.
Of course I can’t speak for any other Defense Institution or workplace but the ADFA culture definitely had a negative impact on the young men I knew. They were very young, away from home for the first time and badly wanted to fit in so they conformed to the institution.
loading...
We cannot have a military trained in the image of what women want them to be. We want soldiers who will put themselves in harms way if they have to. You won’t do that by making them smell the roses.
They are supposed to be aggressive. If they aren’t aggressive they will not survive in a battle field. And I use that term “survive” in it’s true sense, not the female definition which is having to ‘survive” a bunch of bitchy women at work.
They are soldiers, not namby pamby sooky boys. They will one day be in a position where they have to kill. Do you get that? Civilians sticking their noses into what the military does will only weaken the military.
Please note, that I’m not advocating rape, sexual assault or lack of respect for women, I’m saying that women should stay the bloody hell out of it.
loading...
That’s the crux of the matter.
loading...
Don’t be so patronising.
Aggression is no use to anyone without self control and a level heads. Battlefield or not.
Soldiers does not automatically have to equal being an asshole.
A level head, common sense, quick decision making, physical and mental strength is what will get you through the midst of a chaotic bloody battle. Pure aggression is likely to get yourself and your mates killed.
loading...
Umm no I would call a Brigadier, Colonel, Major General and General senior officers. Major is the 3rd rank and achieved after about 12 years of service. A Major does not even come close to a senior officer. A Major has not completed staff college etc. Perhaps you don’t quite know what you’re on about 19 8 1 1 45.
loading...
Just to set the record straight. Major is not a senior officer. However Major and equivalent ranks do attend and complete staff college. This whole sorry saga at ADFA is so hard for those hard working members and partners of the ADF. Things do need to change but please do not tarnish the whole ADF with the same brush.
loading...
Have to clear this up military wife… Not all majors make it to staff college, if they aren’t competitive they don’t get there. I know good majors who have missed out as they weren’t considered to be the best. If they aren’t chosen to attend staff college then they don’t progress past major.
loading...
Of course Bec. I didn’t say all attend. But some do. It probably read like that now looking back
loading...
Bec, those ranks you quote are Flag Officers. I know I’m being pedantic but there are 3 classes of Officers, they are Junior, Senior and Flag.
I did my time during the 80′s so I do have some idea of what I’m talking about. That was when women first joined the general training that the guys did, and the guys training was dumbed down so that women could keep up.
That is my objection, it has nothing to do with gender, it is all about dumbing down the training so that a group of people could get through courses that they otherwise wouldn’t. The weak should and must fail in a military training situation.
loading...
This is not about what ” women want” it’s about the basic community standards. We hold our ADF personnel to a high standard and for very good reason- they are the protectors of our country – they take a sacred oath to protect this country and the citizens of this country.
With respect, you served in the forces in a time of peace. Myself and the men and women I have served with have not had that luxury. The young women in our forces serve with courage, honor and competency to match any man- and often above and beyond their male colleagues.
The DLA piper report are about allegations of serious sexual abuse, assaults and harrassment. There is NO place and NO excuse for these behaviours in our defence forces. You will note it has not only been women who have been the victims of these horrendous actions.
So no, as a woman, an officer, the wife of a soldier and the mother of a daughter, I won’t ” stay out of it”.
loading...
Zelicat, I did 3 tours to the Sinai with the UN peacekeeping force, it wasn’t full on war but was pretty close. It certainly wasn’t a place to have a nice walk down to the creek for a picnic.
I agree with nearly everything you say, sexual assault, harrassment and assault don’t belong,
loading...
I’ve been to the sinai too. It’s not fun, but it ain’t no Afghanistan either. It annoys me to hear myself and my colleagues ( and gender) referred to in such derogatory terms as you have used – surving a “bitchy day at the office? ” . You seem to think that anyone who objects to bastardization, harrassment and bullying is weak. I understand very well the nature, reasons and psychology of military training. And I still maintain that there is no place for the methods you advocate for ( some kinds of barstardisation are nessacary etc)
We train hard, anyone who doesn’t make the standards set doesn’t pass. We have progressed a long way from the blanket bashing days of old, and I for one, would never like to be part of an organization that condones such behavior.
My experience at a training establishment was that it was a hostile environment to women- ( in fact to anyone who was not a white male) and that needs to change.
We expect the ADF to reflect the community standards we must make sure that the ADF is a true reflection of our society- diversity in gender, race and religion all working towards a common goal and a common loyalty.
loading...
no Zelicat, I’m not advocating that anyone who objects to harrassment etc is weak, far from it. There is a definite line and I think that the line is different for serving members and civilians. I’m also saying that civilians shouldn’t sit in judgement of military training.
You’ll not find me advocating abuse EVER in any situation.
loading...
Zelicat, I also know that the Sinai isn’t Afghanistan.
loading...
I was in the defence for in the late 80′s to the mid 90′s, in the end I had to leave, I was seeing a guy with a higher rank than myself, he beat me, stalked me and basically made my life hell but no-one would listen because of the rank issue. Women were treated like crap then and nothing Ive heard since tells me the situation has improved.
loading...
As a University student in Canberra I briefly dated a man from ADFA. The contempt for female cadets was certainly very real amongst his group of friends in the early 90′s. Needless to say the relationship was short lived.
loading...