Thursday, February 20, 2014
The Far Reaching Impact of Military Sexual Assault
Military Sexual Assault has an immediate impact on one person but it can be felt on increasingly larger scales. This video shows the ways in which Military Sexual Assault can affect the whole nation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpMeiv1EGBw
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Military Justice Improvement Act
As you may be aware, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) proposed legislation to move the prosecution of an alleged military sexual assault offender from the standard chain of command to an external military judicial chain of command. Toward the end of last week, word was getting around Military Justice Improvement Act was finally going to come to the Senate floor for a vote this week and that Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) indicated her intention to filibuster when it does. That would mean Sen. Gillibrand would need 60 votes, instead of the simple majority, to get the bill passed. Sen. Gillibrand has been stating that she has 54 votes. Her office has been claiming that 10 senators are undecided so Sen. Gillibrand and advocacy groups have been lobbying hard for their votes.
Unfortunately for the Gillibrand bill, the "Role of the Commander" subcommittee of the Congressionally-appointed Response Systems to Adult Sexual Crimes Panel wrapped up their work two weeks ago and submitted their assessment that "the authority vested in senior commanders to convene courts-martial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) for sexual assault offenses should not be changed." The memorandum (Initial Assessment of Whether Senior Commanders Should Retain Authority to Refer Cases of Sexual Assault to Courts-Martial) submitted by the subcommittee to members of the Panel indicated they had not found evidence to support that removal of senior commanders from the prosecution process would:
- Reduce the incidence of sexual assault in the military;
- Increase reporting of sexual assaults;
- Improve the quality of the investigation and prosecutions; or
- Increase conviction rate of those accused.
The impact of this assessment on Sen. Gillibrand's bill will not be known until the vote. The Senate did not debate this bill today. Tomorrow is forecast as a major snow event so it is unlikely government will be operating. If the bill is not considered on Friday, it will sit for yet another week while Congress takes a recess.
I attended the meeting of the Response Systems Panel on January 30, 2014 and took advantage of a Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) requirement to allow public comment. You can watch the entire hearing at http://www.c-span.org/video/?317502-1/dod-sexual-assault-crimes-response-panel or just my five minutes at http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4483188
Over the next few days I plan to post several additional commentaries about Sen. Gillibrand's proposal. I will attempt to explain some of the background to the problem of military sexual assault and to share some of what I have learned over the past six months. I hope you will find it as enlightening as I have.
Unfortunately for the Gillibrand bill, the "Role of the Commander" subcommittee of the Congressionally-appointed Response Systems to Adult Sexual Crimes Panel wrapped up their work two weeks ago and submitted their assessment that "the authority vested in senior commanders to convene courts-martial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) for sexual assault offenses should not be changed." The memorandum (Initial Assessment of Whether Senior Commanders Should Retain Authority to Refer Cases of Sexual Assault to Courts-Martial) submitted by the subcommittee to members of the Panel indicated they had not found evidence to support that removal of senior commanders from the prosecution process would:
- Reduce the incidence of sexual assault in the military;
- Increase reporting of sexual assaults;
- Improve the quality of the investigation and prosecutions; or
- Increase conviction rate of those accused.
The impact of this assessment on Sen. Gillibrand's bill will not be known until the vote. The Senate did not debate this bill today. Tomorrow is forecast as a major snow event so it is unlikely government will be operating. If the bill is not considered on Friday, it will sit for yet another week while Congress takes a recess.
I attended the meeting of the Response Systems Panel on January 30, 2014 and took advantage of a Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) requirement to allow public comment. You can watch the entire hearing at http://www.c-span.org/video/?317502-1/dod-sexual-assault-crimes-response-panel or just my five minutes at http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4483188
Over the next few days I plan to post several additional commentaries about Sen. Gillibrand's proposal. I will attempt to explain some of the background to the problem of military sexual assault and to share some of what I have learned over the past six months. I hope you will find it as enlightening as I have.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Washington Post Letter to the Editor
In response to a front page article “Behavior by brass vexes military” published by the Washington Post on Sunday, Jan. 27, I submitted the following letter to the editor. It was published on Sunday, Feb. 2, page 16.
The U.S. military needs a culture change
Regarding the Jan. 27 front-page article “Behavior by brass vexes military”:
Although flag and general officers are expected to set a sterling example of leadership and personal behavior, the military culture has tacitly accepted a different standard.
Considering the reported examples, it is no surprise that victims of sexual assault do not trust their commanders to investigate and punish perpetrators. Hidden by philosophies that include, “What happens on deployment stays on deployment,” improper behavior and sexual assaults have occurred in the military for decades. Understandably, commanders who practice “Do as I say, not as I do” may be disinclined to enforce the zero-tolerance policy on sexual assault.
Some suggest that a new culture is needed to stop sexual assault in the military and that this change should start at the top. Because, as The Post reported, senior officers are “reluctant to criticize their peers,” no one wants the embarrassment or expense of a witch hunt, and because an amnesty policy is preposterous, maybe a cultural change from the bottom up would be effective. If boot camps and service academies revamped all hazing policies, bullying and disrespect could be replaced by genuine teamwork and honor among comrades in arms, regardless of race, gender and sexual orientation.
Let the culture change begin.
Sara Zak, Arlington
The writer is a retired Navy commander.
The U.S. military needs a culture change
Regarding the Jan. 27 front-page article “Behavior by brass vexes military”:
Although flag and general officers are expected to set a sterling example of leadership and personal behavior, the military culture has tacitly accepted a different standard.
Considering the reported examples, it is no surprise that victims of sexual assault do not trust their commanders to investigate and punish perpetrators. Hidden by philosophies that include, “What happens on deployment stays on deployment,” improper behavior and sexual assaults have occurred in the military for decades. Understandably, commanders who practice “Do as I say, not as I do” may be disinclined to enforce the zero-tolerance policy on sexual assault.
Some suggest that a new culture is needed to stop sexual assault in the military and that this change should start at the top. Because, as The Post reported, senior officers are “reluctant to criticize their peers,” no one wants the embarrassment or expense of a witch hunt, and because an amnesty policy is preposterous, maybe a cultural change from the bottom up would be effective. If boot camps and service academies revamped all hazing policies, bullying and disrespect could be replaced by genuine teamwork and honor among comrades in arms, regardless of race, gender and sexual orientation.
Let the culture change begin.
Sara Zak, Arlington
The writer is a retired Navy commander.
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