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I strongly disagree with the writer of "No ogling allowed" (letter, Feb. 17).

First and foremost, he is not a woman, so he has never been subjected to outright, blatant "ogling." I am deployed on Victory Base Camp, Iraq, and I can tell you that most of the females within my task force won’t eat in the dining facility because they feel they are being stripped down [visually by the men]. Many of them either get food to go or have someone bring food back for them so they don’t have to be in the DFAC for an extended period of time.

As one of the task force equal opportunity liaisons and liaison to the squadron commander, I have addressed this with him as well as our mayor cell. Unfortunately, there isn’t much that can be done about it. The ogling does not come from within our own task force, but from other units around us as well as civilian contractors.

In the deployed theater, where sex is pretty much forbidden due to General Order No. 1 and the add-on policies of individual commanders, picking up guys at the DFAC is pretty pointless. I find the ogling to be a nuisance, not a threat. However, some of the younger females find it very threatening and no woman should feel that she can’t eat at the DFAC because it feels like a meat market.

Capt. Amy McIlvennaBaghdad

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