I will explain how it all transpired, from the time I arrived in Germany, my new unit. I was part of the famous 1st Armored Division of the United States Army. Our base was 60 clicks from Frankfurt Am/Main, Germany. The base was situated in a famous university town. It was surrounded by low green rolling hills and with plenty of rain. This army depot is now closed and I last visited it back in the summer of 2019, and went to visit the crime scene 17 years later. It was surreal to say the least but something I had promised to do, once I was able to.
The barracks were all taken by economic refugees, hence I could not enter them. Many old buildings of the base had been demolished and new ones built. Giessen Depot had been a Luftwaffe air base during WWII and was bombed to smithereens.
Now back to the spring of 2000. I had arrived in Germany on March 17, 2000. It was snowing lightly with a wet cold. This was the normal winter weather for Giessen. Giessen means to pour, hence its city name.
I was a young 28 year old enlisted, university undergraduate, and with professional marketing experience from the real world. At that time, I had achieved another of my goals and that was to join the military and be stationed in Germany.
Once I arrived at my unit and reported, mostly everyone was friendly with me. As usual they tried to haze me and make jokes. It was all in fun and sometimes annoying. My finance unit had females and this made Finance more popular amongst the combat troops. Finance is a very respected MOS military operation specialty duty. We handled all the payroll paperwork for our base and bases nearby.
You must consider I was a young soldier but not a very inexperienced man. Thus, due to rank, I was treated as an ignorant soldier, that knew nothing. In hindsight it was true, regarding military life and culture. It took me 1 year to finally break into soldier mode and follow orders without questioning them as I had before. I had finally figured out, that if you do not argue with the order or question it, you can disappear. “Out of sight!” “Out of mind!” A task that could take 3 hours to complete, should only take 1 hour. Therefore, I could chill and pretend I was working hard.
The Sergeant in question, did not like me from the start. Some people are like that. I was confident, arrogant, handsome, and physically fit. I was an E-4 from the start just like he was. He had been 6 hours away from completing his masters in business. His duty was payroll and squad leader. This is why he had power over me than most of the other sergeants.
To make a long story short. In the armed forces there are regulations and code of conduct policies. As well, as leadership classes on how to treat your subordinates. But I believe because he came from a male dominated very poor country, mainly war torn, he did not have an understanding of these policies, rules, respect, and leadership qualities normal western people usually attain from training.
The United States Military trained its sergeants and officers very thoroughly back then. There was no wokeness nor LGBT-Q political movements then. Also, we fought against real enemies of the state not superficial ones.
This Sergeant abused his authority. He would disparage, belittle, disrespect, and psychologically tried to oppress me. He did this for 14 months to be exact. I tried to confront him in a professional manner and through 3rd party channels to iron out our differences. But he refused all overtures and continued to ensure my demise.
I had never felt the psychological trauma he gave me. I could feel his psychological tentacles trying ensare and control my mind by oppressing me. This was a horrible feeling, that I needed to address and escape from. My new commander tried to diffuse the situation but failed. My E-7 female Sergeant First Class Golden was awesome. She protected me from him. He hated taking orders from a female soldier and would constantly call her a bitch under his breath continuously. She was aware of it, she had told me. Eventually, she had to pcs back to conus. Once she left, he attacked me mentally and with abusive authority.
I felt I was backed against the wall with no redress. I took the matter into my own hands literally and assaulted him. I blacked out and have minute recollection of the assault. He suffered brain damage and was in a doctor self induced coma. After 3 weeks he revived, thank GOD!! and thanks to everyone who prayed for him and me.
The US Army was partly at fault here, but they tried to bury me with 30 years or more, because I was an enlisted and low fruit for them. Burn the enlisted with impunity and save our faces of command structure. Those in power must always look “competent”. Officers are given more leniency because they are “gentlemen”. LOL. In the US NAVY, many commanders lose their leadership roles because of lack of trust in command. The Navy seems to be more consistent with DoD regulations and policies.
It is 2023, and after 20 years I finally publicly explained what transpired. Germany was a great duty station. I love Germany!!! Ice spreche Deutsch noch.
Military Prison Experiences 