So, if you are reading this and you are interested in my story, you are probably wondering where the narrative is? What is this all about because it's been pretty vague so far. Well, I wanted to set the tone because what happened to me didn't just happen one day, it was the culmination of many years of being steeped in a culture that I accepted, that I had no choice really but to accept because when I tried to change it, I was rejected, and it wasn't just my ideas that were rejected, it was actually me as a person.
The headline of my story as the first female trombone player in The United States Army Band, "Pershing's Own" is that I was forced out. Yes, I made it to retirement, but the organization seemed to wish it otherwise based on their efforts to strip me of my pension. So you may feel like I deserve congratulations for the accomplishment of getting that job, serving for 20 years and earning that retirement, but as was stated on my last evaluation, I am not qualified for service. "[SFC Lies-Warfield] lacks loyalty and respect for the Army, this unit, its mission and her superiors. In addition to refusing repeated mentorship and guidance, this senior leader's behavior and attitude are detrimental to a positive, productive work environment at TUSAB." So please, do not congratulate me for something that was such a failure, the whole thing stinks.
++Now, you must be wondering what I did to warrant this evaluation because it must have been pretty bad. Was it refusing to take a physical fitness test after being passed up for promotion?* Nope, not me, in fact I got a maximum score on my last physical fitness test and my raters would not even acknowledge that on my evaluation. Maybe I kept getting notes from the doctor so that I wouldn't have to march ceremonies. This was a common ploy used by many of our great enlisted leaders but when I used it, it was because I was legitimately broken down after 18 years of ceremonies, so maybe they thought I was using this well-known dodge but that couldn't be the entire reason. Was it that I hosted a naked hot tub party with senior male soldiers and junior female soldiers? No, that was someone else. Was it that I got so upset with a junior soldier that I choked him? Nope, that guy made it all the way to the top. Was it because I sent lewd jokes and pictures to my colleagues via email? No, they put that guy in charge of Equal Opportunity. Was it that I cheated a colleague out of thousands of dollars in a real estate deal? No, they put that guy in charge of the band building. Maybe I drop-kicked my instrument or dragged it down the street on a ceremony. No, and that was hilarious by the way. Was it because I chased around people in the locker room with a giant strap-on phallus? Please! Was it because I called soldiers under my leadership "lactating bitches?" No! SGM material, of course! Was it because I got so drunk on the band bus that I pissed all over it? Was it because I never showed up for meetings for committees that I had volunteered for or even made up jobs and titles to pad my promotion packet? Was it because I bragged about sleeping with another band member when she was too drunk to remember it happening, i.e. rape? Was it because I was stalking another member of my section? ++
You may have guessed by now, but none of that was me. All of those scenarios really happened, but none of the perpetrators ever had those incidents stand in their way of promotion let alone threaten their entire career.
My offense was that I reported sexual misconduct, it was investigated, everyone denied it and I became the enemy. I didn't want anyone fired, I just wanted it to stop, but that was too much to ask and the vengeance they sought really caught me off guard. Did I file for whistleblower protections? Sure did but they found no causality between my reporting and the drop in my rating evaluation from "highly qualified" when I reported to "not qualified" the next year. In 2016, my senior rater wrote that my "performance as a musician in The United States Army Band is highly regarded. She is an excellent mentor to the Staff Sergeants in the band and is constantly looking for ways to improve the unit." Scroll back a couple of paragraphs to remind yourself of what was written on my evaluation the very next year.
What happened?? I assure you, I have gone over and over it and it doesn't make any sense to me. These were my friends... and yes, that hurt like a motherfucker.
*[Footnote: This was someone who wanted not only a promotion, but the promotion to the highest enlisted rank possible. This same person also refused to comply with online training requirements and proved himself so incompetent as a section leader that he was relieved of those duties, while keeping his rank of course.]
++[File this information for future reference of acceptable behavior at TUSAB in the category of "How was I supposed to know they held anyone accountable let alone would have the will power to force my retirement?"]
