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Female Fort Hood Soldier Attacked By Two Members Of Her Own Unit After Getting ‘Caught’ With Another Soldier

By Becky Padilla
Published on: 10:28 PST, Apr 8, 2016

A female soldier at Fort Hood in Texas was brutally attacked and restrained by two members of her own unit at a party off-post. The attack sent her to the emergency room with “a concussion, a ruptured ear drum and other injuries,” the Army Times reported.

The Assault

When Pvt. Melissa Centeno attended a party at the off-base residence of Spc. Jacob Andrew Avila, she was kissing another soldier when Avila and Lucas Curtis walked in on them. They told her to leave the room, but shortly thereafter allegedly ambushed her outside the bathroom. Both men hit her, up against the wall and on the floor, and Curtis held her so tightly around the throat that she lost consciousness. Another soldier interrupted the attack and drove her to the home of a military police officer, who then took her to Fort Hood’s Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center.

Avila turned himself in and the New York Daily Times reported that according to the court affidavit, “Avila admitted he slapped Centeno and said he saw Curtis slap, punch and choke her.” Sgt. Martin Ruiz, spokesman for the Copperas Cove Police Department, told Time there was an arrest warrant out against Curtis, 22, with charges pending for assault causing bodily injury and unlawful restraint. Centeno told the police, “I literally thought I was about to die.” Curtis has since turned himself in and been released on bond.

Pvt. Centeno, 18, and Spc. Avila, 21, are both combat engineers in the same brigade. Curtis is no longer an active-duty soldier and refused to answer questions from investigators by phone. Tyler Broadway, a Fort Hood spokesman, said in an email that Curtis directed them to his lawyer. Another Fort Hood spokesman, Tom Rheinlander, confirmed that “Military law enforcement officials are investigating the allegations in cooperation with civilian law enforcement. [They] will ensure all appropriate measures are taken.”

Collateral Commentary

Comments on social media have already gone “there,” broaching the subject of females in the military and in combat positions, and how this type of incident is made more possible by their presence. The combat engineer position Centeno and Avila hold has been open to females for less than a year, like other positions that have opened up to females only in the last few months.

Last December, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that all U.S. military combat positions were being opened up to females. CNN reported that this was not without controversy or objection. Barring “old school” beliefs by a select few that women don’t belong anywhere in the military, there is a growing acceptance of them filling some roles. However, there is a long-standing objection to females being able to fill certain positions previously limited to males only, such as infantry, machine gunner, fire support, and reconnaissance.

One of the more public objections was cited by the Marine Corps and Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who had sought those exceptions to limit certain positions to males only. A yearlong study by the Marine Corps showed that in 69 percent of tasks, all-male combat units performed better than mixed-gender units in at least three key areas, NPR reported. “All-male squads, the study found, performed better than mixed gender units across the board. The males were more accurate hitting targets, faster at climbing over obstacles, better at avoiding injuries.”

The Navy, however, is skeptical of the results of the study, pointing out the mindset of the volunteers who participated in the study. “It started out with a fairly large component of the men thinking this is not a good idea and women will never be able to do this. When you start out with that mindset you’re almost presupposing the outcome,” said Navy Secretary Ray Mabus in an NPR interview.

However, Secretary Carter had stressed that “as long as they qualify and meet the standards, women will now be able to contribute to our mission in ways they could not before.” He clarified, “There will be no exceptions.” Female applicants must be able to meet the same stringent tests as males. For the two female soldiers who made history by completing the Army’s Ranger School last August, that is one less barrier in their way.

[Photo by Drew Anthony Smith/Getty Images]

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