My Latest Adventure: From the Beginning

This will be a re-cap for many.  For others it will serve as a means to catch you up on how I have come to be living in Arlington, VA and what I hope to accomplish here.

I started a Masters Degree program in Military Social Work at the University of Southern California in August 2013.  I had enrolled in a 3-year part-time plan which meant only two classes in each of the first two semesters.  The classes fell into the categories of Behavior Theories and Social Policy.  By the end of the spring semester I had become very interested in Social Policy and Advocacy.

Three assignments that semester were based on one policy change of my own choice.  I chose the topic of Military Sexual Assault and the policy I began to research was NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's Military Justice Improvement Act.  The portion of her bill that has gotten the most attention is the proposal that the prosecution of alleged perpetrators be removed from the normal chain of command thereby taking the Commanding Officer (CO) of the perpetrator out of the picture.  The Department of Defense (DoD) is strongly against that idea.

The Naval Officer in me, still loyal to the principles of military organization, wasn't very happy with the proposal but, in my mind, it seemed better than the status quo.  The DoD had been claiming "zero tolerance" of sexual harassment and sexual assault for more than 30 years without improvement.

I completed my spring assignments, which culminated in publishing a "Letter to the Editor" of the San Diego Union Tribune last fall.  The research that I had done and the increasing attention to the topic stirred my curiosity to know more.  I began to feel strongly about advocating on behalf of victims of sexual assault.  On the other hand I felt that the research I had done for my assignments barely scratched the surface of all there is to know about military sexual assault.

Knowing how a "project" can become my life, I knew I needed to be more educated about the military sexual assault problem and the ideas that were being considered for solving it.  I wanted to form my own opinion about it not merely subscribe to someone else's solution.  By July 2013, I had decided to take a leave of absence from USC to focus my studies on this one topic.  I also knew that working in the center of the controversy would be much more helpful than studying from afar so I decided to come to Washington, DC to be near legislators, the DoD and policy advocates.

From there it was not a huge leap to selling my house in Westminster, CA, putting my household goods in storage in CA, packing up the car and driving to Arlington, VA.  I arrived here December 20 and on the 23rd signed a 3 month lease on a furnished apartment with a great view of the District of Columbia.

My "mission" is to learn as much as I can from those who are subject matter experts.  Although I am not looking for a job, I am willing to do short-term volunteer work with others in order to learn.  My goals are to become a subject matter expert and find (or create) a niche where I can do satisfying work that will ultimately help resolve the problem of sexual assault that has become endemic to the military.