Trainee soldier at Fort Sill 'claims she was sexually assaulted by 22 service members including drill sergeants'

THE US Army has suspended several drill instructors from a major training base after a soldier alleges she was subjected to multiple sexual assaults.

The female victim alleges she was assaulted by a total of 22 US Army service members at the Fort Sill training base in Oklahoma.

The Intercept reports how the military would not confirm how many soldiers are involved in the allegations.

But the military confirmed the incident is under investigation by agents with the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command.

The trainee’s report “identified seven of the 22 members she said assaulted her,” according to The Intercept.

An Army spokesperson declined to specify the number of suspects involved. 

“At this early juncture and to protect the integrity of the investigation we cannot specify the number of suspects,” Army spokeswoman Colonel Cathy Wilkinson said in a statement.

“We are committed to thoroughly investigating every allegation, which will require time to sort through all of the allegations and evidence.”

Christopher Grey of the USA Criminal Investigation Command (CID) told The Sun the allegations were being taken "exremely seriously".

He said: "I can confirm Special Agents from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command are investigating the allegations and take the allegations extremely seriously.

"To protect the integrity of the investigation, we are not releasing any further information at this time."

In December last year, Fort Hood kicked out 14 commanders after the slaughter of soldier Vanessa Guillén sparked a probe into a string of 28 deaths and sexual assaults.

Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy confirmed the purge of a "significant number" of senior officers based on findings of an independent review, which made 70 recommendations in total.

Fort Hood has more than 60,000 people including close to 37,000 service members.

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