U.S. military faces scrutiny over its prostitution policies

Even in countries where prostitution is legal, military personnel violating a seven-year-old Department of Defense policy against paying for sex face up to a year in jail and dishonorable discharge if caught.

Officers and troops are taught about the links between human trafficking and prostitution. They also face country-specific instructions at bases like the U.S. installation in South Korea, where the policy describes prostitution as “cruel and demeaning.”

But the involvement of U.S. military personnel and Secret Service agents in a raucous April outing with prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia, has underscored the gaps between the written policies and real-life experiences at military assignments around the world.

While the Secret Service has acted promptly and openly, even announcing Friday new ethics training and policies for traveling agents, the military has stayed mostly mum about how it is addressing possible violations of its prostitution rules.

After the Colombia scandal broke, initial attention focused on the dozen agents from the Secret Service, a civilian agency, for fear safety of the president or other officials might have been compromised. Eight agents have since left the service, one had his security clearance revoked and three were cleared.

‘INCOMPATIBLE’ WITH MILITARY VALUES
Last week, Senator John McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services committee, criticized the Pentagon for offering too little information about the errant behavior of personnel who were helping prepare for a Cartagena summit visit by President Barack Obama.