SAN ANTONIO -- In an age where nothing is really private, two young members of a medical unit at Fort Sam Houston are learning that the hard way.
Two young military members apparently uploaded a photo of themselves to Instagram in their underwear while wearing their military uniforms. Instagram is a popular photo and video sharing app that allows users to like, comment and share posts.
The photo was confirmed by a Fort Sam Houston spokesperson. The two women could face anything from a verbal warning to a court-martial, he said.
This certainly is a case where it's totally unacceptable conduct, said Phil Reidinger, a spokesman for Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston. They're brand new soliders in the Army. And we're still in the process of teaching them Army values. Pride and awareness of the uniform.
They actually sign a memo saying that they've taken the training. They understand what they were taught. They know how to act as soldiers, representing the US Army. Unfortunately on the spur of the moment with these two ladies, they lost track of Army values.
While KENS 5 did not find the original post, the picture came to light after it was posted to a Facebook page that described the photo as being publicly posted on Instagram with a variety of hashtags following the post.
The page's administrators said they did not want to ruin the women's careers but rather bring attention to the disrespect of the uniform.
The photo comes after the military held a Stand-Down Day on June 21 where members were to talk about sexual assault prevention and response.
There have been 17 basic training instructors at Lackland convicted of misconduct with more than 60 recruits and technical training students in a two-year period since 2009. This makes the topic particularly sensitive for the San Antonio area.
A Pentagon report from May estimates that sexual assaults among troops jumped 35 percent in the last two years, from 19,300 in 2010 to 26,000 in 2012.
Fort Sam Houston is still investigating the photo.
