{"id":46872,"date":"2018-09-05T21:39:18","date_gmt":"2018-09-05T21:39:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/09\/05\/horny-bastard-first-sergeant-had-affair-with-female-infantry-private-army-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:29:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:29:18","slug":"horny-bastard-first-sergeant-had-affair-with-female-infantry-private-army-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2018\/09\/05\/horny-bastard-first-sergeant-had-affair-with-female-infantry-private-army-says\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Horny bastard\u2019 first sergeant had affair with female infantry private, Army says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Critics said it was bound to happen, and, sure enough, it did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A company first sergeant began an affair with one of the first wom<\/a>en to graduate from infantry basic training<\/a> shortly after she reported to his newly integrated<\/a> unit late last year. Both have been punished for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sgt. 1st Class Chase Usher, who had been serving as the top noncommissioned officer of B Company, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment<\/a>, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, has been removed from his position leading soldiers and is serving in a staff role, an 82nd Airborne spokesman told Army Times on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDisciplinary action deemed appropriate by the chain of command was taken against both individuals and has been completed,\u201d Lt. Col. Ramon Osorio, the division spokesman, said. \u201cBoth continue to serve within the division, however, the first sergeant was relieved of his position and currently serves on the staff of a different unit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army declined to disclose the recommendations of a 15-6 investigation into the affair, initiated in January, and would not specify the punishments Usher and the woman received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By all accounts, an investigation into the affair found, Usher was a high-speed infantryman and the relationship didn\u2019t cause any questions of favoritism in the unit, though the rumors about the two caused a lot of doubt among the soldiers he was meant to lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Army Times obtained a redacted copy of the investigation via a Freedom of Information Act request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t foster a hostile environment to females at work, but was a horny bastard when it came to his personal life,\u201d one soldier said in a sworn statement. “He often preached to us to look out for females in our ranks and not get into trouble with them and not have relationships with them. All the while, he was doing all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usher did not respond to multiple requests for comment through email and Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
U.S. Army paratroopers with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, prepare to land after jumping from a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III as part of Swift Response 18 at a training area near Rukla, Lithuania, June 9, 2018. (U.S. Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Junior enlisted women first reported to the 82nd\u2019s infantry units in late summer 2017, the final step in a \u201cLeaders First\u201d plan the Army rolled out as the Defense Department lifted the last restrictions on women serving in direct-combat jobs in early 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First came the officers \u2015 including Capts. Shaye Haver and Kristen Griest, the first two women to complete the Army\u2019s storied Ranger school \u2015 and then the NCOs. By early 2017, female recruits had checked in at Fort Benning, Georgia\u2019s infantry and armor one-station unit training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following their graduation in May, that first group of 18 enlisted women headed either to the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, or after finishing jump school at Fort Benning, to the 82nd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The woman in question got there in August, according to the report. Dozens of soldiers in the company were aware of her September-October relationship with Usher, either because he had talked about it, they\u2019d seen the two in public together or they\u2019d heard through the rumor mill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cfriends with benefits\u201d situation was over before the new year, but in January, a representative from the website U.S. Army W.T.F.! Moments reached out to 82nd\u2019s leadership with a photo of the two canoodling outside Paddy\u2019s Irish pub in Fayetteville, according to the investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The photo had already made the battalion rounds, thanks to a group text message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Good at job, terrible morals\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Witnesses included three women, who all agreed that Usher treated them as equals in the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn a work environment he treats both fairly from what I can tell,\u201d one soldier said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usher had personally led the training to prepare the unit to bring in women, and further, he had recommended three of his female soldiers for the Small Unit Ranger Tactics course, a common precursor to Ranger school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn regards to the command climate, there does not appear to be a climate that fosters sexual harassment or maltreatment of paratroopers,” the investigator found. “Despite this impression, it must be noted that [Usher] has allegedly made several inappropriate sexual comments that can form the basis of a hostile work environment complaint.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigator found graphic details of his relationship with the private, as well as the rest of his personal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe told me about a woman he got pregnant on Tinder and paid her to go away,\u201d one soldier said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A female platoon sergeant said Usher told a group of her colleagues that he was going to be Thor for Halloween, but wouldn\u2019t need to carry a hammer \u2015 because he already had a comparable tool in his pants, according to the investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt multiple safety briefs, [redacted] encourages the company to \u2018get [laid]\u2019 or comments that he will be doing so over the weekend; after a company run or before a company rehearsal he has bragged about \u2018getting some\u2019 that morning,” a soldier said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, the investigator found that while Usher did not specifically harass junior enlisted personnel, and his relationship with the private was consensual, the rumors about their relationship had a \u201ccorrosive\u201d effect on the unit, because of a perception that she was his favorite.<\/p>\n\n\n\t