SPC Leiana Leinaala Corpuz Macusi was a paratrooper stationed at Fort Benning, GA. Leiana passed away on June 30th, 2021. While few people are aware of the struggles Leiana endured while stationed at Fort Benning, even less are aware of the failures of leadership and healthcare that resulted in her taking her life. This is her story.
Multiple Assaults
SPC Macusi was assigned to 3/16 Cavalry Regiment the first time she was sexually assaulted. She identified her alleged attacker but couldn’t move the case to prosecution due to a lack of substantial evidence.
SPC Macusi received an expedited transfer to 1st Battalion, 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment on Fort Benning. During this time, a couple invited her to their home where the husband proceeded to sexually assault her. He was arrested and admitted to the sexual assault; however, the trial never moved forward due to COVID.
SPC Macusi went to behavioral health (BH) after her second assault. While she was in her second round of inpatient treatment, she received another expedited transfer; this time to the Soldier Recovery Unit (SRU) on Fort Benning.
Because of the trauma she had endured, she tried to get BH inpatient treatment at Martin Army Community Hospital on Fort Benning, but the BH provider refused to admit her to the fourth floor (the BH inpatient/outpatient ward is located).
Instead, she was placed on a “1-1” leader watch. This means she was supposed to have a leader with her at all times. Due to SRU personnel shortages, this wasn’t feasible. The BH provider ended up downgrading the recommendation to “safety watch” (routine checks by staff duty).
The following day she met with the nurse case manager who said she was doing well, then sent her back to her room. Her roommate was in the shower when SPC Macusi took her own life. When the SRU Personnel went to do a welfare check, they found her dead around 2:00pm. She was at the SRU for less than a month when she died.
How Senior Leadership Failed Her
Major General Patrick Donahoe is the Commanding General of the Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning, GA.
Sources stated that MG Donahoe used Leiana’s story as an example of empathetic leadership after her first assault. During the meeting, he described her assault to those in attendance and told those in the room that him intervening to keep her in the Army to receive BH treatment was a model for empathetic leadership.
After Leiana’s first assault, she began receiving negative counselings for her poor work performance. If her unit been able to follow regulation and chapter her out of the Army, the second assault wouldn’t have happened. Instead, MG Donahoe intervened by having her transferred.
How the System Failed Her
Her command team at SRU attempted to get her help by escorting her to the ER based on comments she made previously that day to the pharmacist.
The person who sent her away and wouldn’t admit her wasn’t a traditional psychiatrist BH provider; she was a social worker. Social workers are used as counselors and can only fill in as the “on call provider.” The social worker never called Leiana’s assigned BH provider before sending her away. If hospital staff had followed proper procedure, a licensed psychiatrist would have been notified and she would have potentially been admitted to the fourth floor.
The Aftermath
Leiana was the tenth suicide on Fort Benning this year. Sources claimed MG Donahoe publicly stated in meetings that suicide prevention was low on his list of priorities. In fact, his recent campaign update has suicide prevention listed as number nine, while COVID is number one.
What about the perpetrator in her second sexual assault? He admitted to what he did, but due to the backlog in the courts from COVID, he never stood trial. Who will stand up for SPC Macusi and testify that he assaulted her? Will justice at least be served in the aftermath of her death? Regardless of the answer to that question, Leiana will never receive the justice she deserves for the systematic failures she endured at Fort Benning.
Seeing an awful lot of this shitbag Donafuck lately. Unbelievable. Yet somehow fully believable. ????
Smh. How does the army keep getting it wrong? Twice she was sexually assaulted. The second guy admitted it. Wtf?
There’s no possible way these “leaders” can say they actually give a shit about any of us. Do what you can to get promoted, fuck the rest of us, huh? This covid bullshit has gone too far
How the fuck has no one decked Donahoe for his piss poor leadership and lack of empathy which you would figure would be essential for leading people
The amount of times we get told COVID is the number one issue on sand hill and not the quality of soldiers we’re putting into the army is mind blowing and any push back from Cadre falls on deaf ears
Thanks for chiming in. Your experience in this environment is invaluable.
Even sec def said that civic was more of a priority then the suicide rate, some people need to reorganize there priorities
Covid not civic stupid autocorrect
So damn typical. I’m tired of this crap happening. Hundreds of servicemembers suiciding and just 24 died of covid. But yeah…suicide at 9 out of 10 on the list.
This is the stuff that makes me want to get out of the military, while at the same time wanting to stay in and try to fix this stuff from the inside
I’m in the same boat man. I’m in the home stretch and I’m wondering if it’s worth it.
The asshole who admitted to the second assault should just be killed. Fuck that piece of shit. Fuck whatever rank he is, fuck it if he has a family. He’s a piece of trash that doesn’t deserve to be in the Army or on this Earth. No trial, no waste of any extra time, or money out anything. He admitted it, that’s enough.
It sickens me the Army legal system is so broke. The easy cases never get prosecuted, the serious cases never get prosecuted, the stupid and less relevant cases go to trial. There are serious changes that need to take place. I am embarrassed by what I see from Army lawyers.
If I had a dollar for the times my leadership didn’t take offenses similar to this seriously, I’d have a lot of dollars. She deserved better. I wish she had the leadership available to take care of her the way she should have been.
Jesus Christ, can someone unfuck the Army’s sexual assault/harassment for the love of God!? This is bullshit.