March 13, 2017

Professor Rachel Vanlandingham in Multiple National Media Outlets to Comment on Marine Nude Photo Scandal

In an opinion piece published in USA Today, Professor Rachel VanLandingham,a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who served as a judge advocate while on active duty, said that U.S. Marine Corps Commandant General Robert Neller should be fired in the wake of the nude photo scandal. She wrote: “As the senior leader of the Marine Corps, he is ultimately responsible for the good order and discipline of the Corps, and his willful ignorance of his Marines’ escalating abuse of female Marines on social media has allowed both to seriously degrade.” Citing evidence that this kind of abusive behavior has been occurring for years, Professor VanLandingham asserts that Gen. Neller’s formation of a task force to accompany the criminal investigation is too little, too late. She asserted: “This latest scandal is the tip of the iceberg of a deep-seated resentment of women in the Marine Corps. Such resentment may represent only a minority of the Corps, but it’s a minority that Marine Corps commanders have continually ignored and tolerated, risking the health of the overall Marine Corps in the process. Yet it’s doubtful that the current secretary of Defense, retired Marine General James Mattis, will do the right thing and fire Neller.” In the last week, Professor VanLandingham has been featured in multiple national news platforms to discuss this matter. She was the interview guest on MSNBC, and on Friday, she was featured in a story on NBC Nightly News.