Pentagon carrying out an urgent review to determine which bases are ‘high-risk’ for sexual assault

The Pentagon is carrying out an urgent review to determine which US military installations and units are “high-risk” for service members becoming victims of sexual harassment and assault.

The review was ordered by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin who issued a memo in late February and follows the unveiling of a wider inquiry into sexual assault and harassment in the military with the establishment of a 90-day commission just days after President Joe Biden took office in January.

In the February memo Austin said he wanted details on “installations and units that are of greatest concern as well as those that are showing promise.” An action plan is now due on his desk next week.

A defense official said the Pentagon also plans to start surveying troops to “develop the full picture of risk across all DoD installations,” The survey will include troops and leadership to see how top commanders are responding to problems, the official said.

On Monday Biden stressed the importance of the issue, stating that sexual assault in the military is “nothing less than a threat to our national security.”

“This is going to be an all-hands-on deck effort under my administration to end the scourge of sexual assault in the military,” he added during remarks marking International Women’s Day at the White House.

‘We haven’t gotten it right’

Though it’s early in the review process Austin has emphasized the scale of the problem facing the Pentagon. “We have been working at this for a long time in earnest, but we haven’t gotten it right,” he told reporters last month.

Austin received the conclusions of an immediate review of existing programs to tackle the issue on February 5 and said they are “far short of what is required to make lasting change.”

The latest available Defense Department statistics for fiscal year 2019 show there was a three percent increase in sexual assault reports compared to the previous year.

A study released last week found that service members at locations with high levels of sexual harassment were at a higher risk of being sexually assaulted. “Sexual assault risk for women increased by a factor of 1.5 and assault risk for men increased by a factor of 1.8” compared to locations with low levels of harassment, the study from Rand corporation found.

Alongside the focus on high-risk military bases, Austin has ordered the establishment of a “violence prevention workforce” dedicated to the “prevention of interpersonal violence and self harm,” according to the memo. Few details have been decided on, but a report is due by October on how the effort will be organized.

Lynn Rosenthal, formerly a White House adviser on Violence Against Women has been appointed by Austin to lead the commission that was announced in January.

“We want to hear from service members about what it is that they think would make the climate safer for them,” Rosenthal told CNN.

“One of the hardest things to hear when you listen to survivors talk is how hostility was conveyed by their attackers, this hostile approach to them, as a part of the sexual assault. And that approach was to the victim, ‘you don’t belong here, you don’t belong in this military. No one will believe you if you talk about what happened, and you will be blamed,'” Rosenthal said. “This commission says to that service member, you do belong in this military. You belong. And it’s our job to make this climate safe for you to be here.”

There is significant political pressure for Biden and Austin to follow through on their promises to take action on the issue.

Sexual assault was a central issue in Austin’s confirmation hearing where Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York expressed her continuing skepticism, “Every Secretary of Defense from the last 25 years has said there is a zero tolerance for sexual assault in the military. But every time they say there’s zero tolerance, we look at the facts, we look at the evidence, we look at how many sexual assaults are committed, how many go to trial, how many end in conviction. And we don’t seem to improve at all.”

Gillibrand has long advocated for moving decisions about whether to prosecute alleged sexual assaults away from the immediate unit where the alleged crime took place so senior officers are not making decisions about those who may be working under them. Victims and advocates argue the fact victims and alleged perpetrators remain working in close proximity after allegations are made means many victims are afraid to report they have been assaulted or harassed.

Troops have been offering ideas to tackle the problem

But some service members aren’t waiting for action from Washington. In the 18th Airborne Corps, troops have been offering their own ideas directly to top brass on how to tackle the crisis.

Lt. General Michael Kurilla, commanding general of the corps solicited ideas from more than 40 soldiers and several soldiers made ‘Shark Tank’ style presentations.

Staff Sgt. Shameka Dudley, a Russian linguist in a military intelligence unit, suggested creating a virtual reality training program so soldiers would be in as realistic but safe environment. The scenarios in the program would not involve assaults but focus on how soldiers would talk about incidents and the broader impacts of assault and harassment on a unit.

Lt. Col. Scott Stephens, currently deployed in South Korea, focused his suggestion on prevention. Stephens recommended an intense effort to train younger troops as “ambassadors” who can then mentor others before harassment and assaults happen. “We have to get way ahead of this” he said.

Sgt. Taylor Knueven, a combat medic who was a victim of sexual assault recommended more use of peer pressure to persuade troops to behave appropriately. She told CNN that troops need to better understand “what is normal” and what is not.

She suggested making all training is mandatory with “no excuses” for missing any sessions.

Kneuven also stated that based on her own experience she believes that women are under-represented on military panels conducting disciplinary proceedings. “There needs to be equal representation,” she said.