Did sexual assault lead to this soldierâ€™s suicide?

Jamie was getting ready to open Orangetheory Fitness. Source: Facebook

THE family of a woman who committed suicide earlier this month believe she may have been sexually assaulted in Afghanistan.

Air Force Reserve Captain Jamie Brunette left active duty after 11 years of service in June last year. Less than a year later, she was found dead.

By all accounts, Ms Brunette was popular, driven and successful — she rose through the military ranks quickly, earned a perfect score on every fitness test she took, oversaw nearly $80 million worth of security and infrastructure contracts in Afghanistan, was presented with the Contracting Officer of the Year award by the Air Mobility Command, and was getting ready to open a fitness business with a fellow soldier.

But on February 9 2015, the 30-year-old fatally shot herself in her car outside of her Florida apartment.

Jamie Brunette committed suicide on February 9. Source: Facebook

Friends and family first wondered about what might have happened to Ms Brunette in Afghanistan after she seemed to withdraw into herself upon her return home. She got a new boyfriend and started partying a lot, and while she appeared bubbly and her work ethic did not change, she was reluctant to give details about her mental and emotional state.

The initial report from Hillsborough County medical examiner on Ms Brunette's suicide states that she had a "long tobacco and alcohol abuse history and was suffering from depression and anxiety," according to the Tampa Tribune. Ms Brunette had also confided to her roommate that she was seeking treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

"I do not know the detail, but unequivocally I can say, yes, something happened, something that should never happen to a human," Air Force Lt. Col. Kurt Spranger, who was Ms Brunette's business partner, told the Tampa Tribune of her time in the army.

"Something happened and it was why she wanted to get out. So she wouldn't have to deploy again," he said.

"Whatever happened to her, she buried it and I think it killed her in the end," added Ms Brunette's sister Jackie Leverich.

"I suspect she was assaulted and she didn't feel comfortable reporting it for some reason and internalised the incident so she could finish her deployment, which she did with flying colours. It's not anything she told me, just from talking with all her friends this past week and piecing those things together.

"I am female active duty, 18 years in the Coast Guard. I am well aware of those issues, and that's my gut feeling," she said.

Jamie Brunette on duty. Source: Facebook

Indeed, sexual assault is an issue that's plagued the armed forces for years. It came to a head for Australia in 2013, when the Australian Defence Force uncovered sexual misconduct within the force by a group calling themselves "Knights of the Jedi Council".

The Knights of the Jedi Council filmed themselves with unsuspecting women before emailing images of their sexual encounters to 107 men including a Lieutenant Colonel, majors, captains, warrant officers and corporals.

"I am appalled at this situation," Lieutenant-General David Morrison said at the time.

"The imagery is explicit, derogatory, demeaning and repugnant to me.

"We are all entitled to a basic right of dignity. On the evidence I have seen to date, that dignity has been traduced."

Lt-Gen Morrison took immediate action, investigating and ending the careers of many involved and telling the rest of his troops that "if you're not up to it, find something else to do with your life. There is no place for you among this band of brothers and sisters."

Brunette working on her new fitness business. Source: Facebook

In America, reports of sexual assault and rape incidents in the military are up by 50 per cent, but war veterans still have a 41 to 61 per cent higher risk of suicide than everyone else. In fact, 22 veterans take their own lives each day, according to a 2012 Department of Veterans Affairs study — and Ms Brunette is now part of that statistic. PTSD is a primary concern, and President Obama is the latest notable to add his support to the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for America's Veterans Act, which endeavours to improve the "accessibility and effectiveness of mental health care available to our returning heroes."

"She would honestly be the last person we would ever think would do this, ever," Ms Brunette's sister Jackie Leverich told the Tampa Tribune.

"If she did this, I can't even imagine what other people are going through. She helped so many people throughout her life that if we can help some people through her death, and get the word out about PTSD, she would want that."

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