"This is a civilian legal matter," said Shannon Lynch, spokeswoman at Womack Army Medical Center, where Specialist Andrew Straughter works as a medic.

Lynch's comment came a week after another Army spokeswoman at Fort Bragg told the Citizen that Womack's commander, Col. Brian T. Canfield, was reviewing Straughter's guilty plea to charges of assault on a female and his sentence of 18 months of supervised probation. Lynch did not respond to the Citizen's questions regarding the commander's review.

Straughter, 25, made his plea Jan. 6 in Mecklenburg County District Court in connection with the August 2010 attack on his wife, Coryleigh "Cee" Gambino, of Huntersville, at her mother's home near Northlake Mall. Gambino, 23, told police that Straughter, wielding a .45-calibre pistol, left her unconscious, the final blow delivered to the left side of her face either with his fist or the butt of the gun.

The incident followed months of violence and "emotional blackmail" that Gambino came to court last month ready to recount. Straughter's plea not only blunted Gambino's testimony, but it also likely prevented the details of his treatment of Gambino from officially reaching the desks of his superiors.

In addition to his state-supervised probation, Straughter also must complete a state-approved batterer intervention program, come no closer than 500 feet from Gambino at any time, and surrender all of his weapons. Army spokeswoman Lynch didn't respond when asked whether Straughter would be permitted to carry a weapon in his military duty. While Straughter serves as a medic, medical personnel train in the use of firearms.

"Our probation officers work with military commanders to make sure they are aware when soldiers are placed on probation and are aware of the terms of supervision," said Keith Acree, spokesman for the N.C. Department of Corrections, which is supervising Straughter's probation. "The court (in Mecklenburg County) ordered that the supervision of this probation case be transferred to Cumberland County. That happened on Jan. 18, and the offender will be supervised there by a probation officer who specializes in military domestic violence cases."

In addition to the state-run batterer-treatment program, Straughter also was ordered by the court to complete a "military and post-traumatic stress disorder mental health treatment" program, Acree added.

Violent trend

Domestic violence in the military in general — and at Fort Bragg in particular — is nothing new. A string of five homicides involving families stationed at Fort Bragg within a period of several weeks in 2002 followed earlier calls from Congress for the Department of Defense (DOD) to do more to protect military families away from the battlefield.

From 2001-2003, the Department of Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence issued three reports containing almost 200 recommendations to improve the safety of victims, accountability of offenders, coordination among support service providers, and the recording of data on cases of domestic violence within military families. However, as recently as 2010, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that the Pentagon had failed to meet the recommendations.

"DOD cannot provide an accurate count of the domestic violence incidents that are reported throughout DOD," the GAO reported in April of 2010. "(And) although DOD concurred with our recommendation to develop a plan to ensure that adequate personnel are available to implement recommendations made by the Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence, at present DOD has not done so."

GAO spokesman Chuck Young said this week that his agency's status report on DOD's domestic violence monitoring and control efforts remains unchanged.

For her part, Gambino had hoped to force a change, even if it was just a small one.

"I'm glad he pled guilty," she said after Straughter's day in court. "But it's unfortunate that I didn't get to testify."

Straughter's plea meant Gambino couldn't tell the court about the mind games her husband used to control her. About the bone-chilling two-page handwritten letter Straughter left for his wife on a stack of her Nicholas Sparks novels ("I would torture you to the brink of death, laughing endlessly at the tears in your eyes as you gasped for air. Chains would tear at the corners of your mouth, warding away any joy. ..."). About the bone-crushing blow he delivered to Gambino's face that left her unconscious.

"I don't plan to quit until the military takes action," Gambino said at the time. "I'm hoping for a less-than-honorable discharge."

Now, it appears, she's gotten a less-than-desirable result.