Last week, a military scandal erupted, when it was revealed that nude pictures of female military personnel were being spread around social media.
It just got a bit more complicated.
While the investigation began with the Marines, it has expanded to include the Navy, Air Force, Army, and Coast Guard.
It also has expanded to include gay porn websites.
There are, apparently, a number of these porn sites that feature men in uniform performing lewd acts. The Pentagon announced on Friday that a joint military task force has been formed to investigate the origins of the nude photo sharing, as well as the gay porn sites. Particularly, they want to know if the men featured are active military members or just men in military costumes, and were they consenting?
Military law doesn’t allow for such activity, and you can bet, if these are active military members, there is a price to be paid.
Female sailors posted at more than a dozen Naval commands were targeted by online users looking for nude photos the women may have sent to significant others back home or within the military, according to a report published Tuesday evening. Sailors or those close to command personnel are the suspected culprits behind the photo-snatching. The images were then posted to various online boards where active and retired service members can share the naked photos with one another at the expense of the victims. Some of the sites even divide photos by name and where the woman is or was based.
Unbelievable.
They at least have a clue where to begin investigating.
The command locations affected by the breach include carriers Eisenhower, Truman, Roosevelt and Reagan; the destroyer Cole; Naval Base San Diego, Naval Station Norfolk, Naval Air Stations Oceana, North Island and Pensacola; the hospital ship Mercy, Walter Reed Medical Center; and the U.S. Naval Academy, according to Navy Times’ investigation.
“Marines United” was a 30,000 member page on Facebook that was featuring the pictures of the nude women. It was shut down by Facebook last Saturday, but undeterred, someone began a new page, “Marines United 2.0.” Other forms of pornography are featured, along with the pilfered photos.
The nature of the postings seems to be a bit more than just some pervy hacker type spreading nudies.
They seem to not only want to humiliate the women involved, but to also thumb their nose at military leadership.
Members have posted personal information about the women in the photos and even called on others to harass them could constitute breaking “revenge porn” laws in 30 states. In addition, Article 120c of the Uniform Code of Military Justice strongly prohibits photographing and recording “another person’s private area without the person’s consent,” and broadcasting or distributing that material.
Another report released last Tuesday found there are other pages, like AnonIB, where male members from every other branch of the military can request photos of women, even by name and where they are currently stationed.
This is probably going to get a lot bigger and more humiliating.
Until it is resolved, I hope those young women who have made the choice to serve their nation by joining the military use every measure of caution and decorum.
The same can be said for the men.
There really are some deeply sick, disrespectful people out there, so you have to be willing to take care of yourselves.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member