Sexual Harassment/Assault Response & Prevention

SHARP is a proactive U.S. Army program which aims to end sexual harassment and assault in the service.[1][lower-alpha 1] Sexual harassment is a crime in the armed forces, under the UCMJ Article 134 by executive order on 26 January 2022.[2] Those accused of a crime such as sexual harassment,or assault are subject to the UCMJ (or to civil statute). Victims of such crimes are protected from disciplinary action, or prosecution by Army Directive as of 2022.[3] A Special Trial Counsel, part of the Judge Advocate General's Corps has been established to combat harmful behaviors,[lower-alpha 2] in order to conduct independent prosecutions.[5]

Poster created by the U.S. Army's Sexual Harassment/Assault Response & Prevention (SHARP)

SHARP has full-time staff at the brigade level and higher,[6] and maintains a social media presence on Twitter and Facebook. See: SAPRO[7] Since 2005, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on the program.[8] The Army is redesigning this Program as of 2021.[9][10][11][12][13] Department of the Army Civilians (DACs) are also protected under SHARP as of September 2021.[14] Army regulation AR 600-20 details the responsibilities of the Commanders of the respective units in the event of Sexual Harassment/Assault, as well as the expected response and/or prevention steps.[15]

In 2021, the NDAA for 2022 provided for independent prosecutors offices in each branch of the service.[16][17] Legislation in 2021, had previously intended to separate the commander of an afflicted unit from the military prosecutor's role in cases alleging sexual assault.[5][18][19] Commanders at the FORSCOM, III Corps, and §Fort Hood levels now have specific actions to complete upon a Sexual Assault Review Board complaint.[12][20] CID is being restructured:[9][15][12] a civilian director reporting directly to the secretary of the Army will oversee criminal probes;[5][21][22][9] Forts Hood, Carson, and Bragg will be the first posts to implement the reorganization.[23] The Provost Marshal and the Military Police will no longer undertake criminal investigations. A new branch like those in the Air Force and Navy for Special Agents will be instituted.[21] FORSCOM now requires the selection of investigating officers from outside an installation's brigade-sized element, which is processing a complaint,[12][13] effective 27 December 2023.[24] A two-star general was reprimanded in 2021 for conducting a SHARP investigation internally, rather than turning the investigation over to CID.[25] See Unlawful command influence

Expectations for the Army

On 8 December 2020, the secretary of the Army announced that the SHARP program failed to meet its mandate, notably in Fort Hood's command culture and that an action plan would address its shortcomings, beginning with the suspension of 14 senior leaders.[26] Similar incidents at Camp Casey, South Korea led to a suicide after a service member waited 82 days for a transfer to a different duty location.[8] In December 2020, the 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, USFK defined a Continuum of Harm, ranging from healthy behaviors and descending through five sexual behaviors to remedy.[27]

“Deeds, Not Words.” Pretty good guidance. Words from the secretary and chief are important, to be sure. More important will be the policies they change, and the priority and resources they assign to this challenge. Boners most important will be to show through their actions that leaders at every level will be held accountable._Carter F. Ham[28]

Inculcating Army values

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin directed every senior leader to report on their sexual assault prevention programs, with an assessment of what has worked and what hasn't, by 5 February 2021. Austin "asked for relevant data for the past decade, including efforts to support victims".[29][30][31][32][33] Changes to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) are underway; Sexual Assault cases are to be removed from commanders' purview.[34]

As of 30 July 2021, SHARP training will occur before the Initial Entry Training (IET).[35] After this change, IET programs saw a reduction in abuse rates from 30 per month to 3 per month.[35]

Army G-1 study of sexual assault risk

An Army G-1 project to Identify Army Organizational Factors Contributing to Sexual Assault Risk has released a RAND study of August 2017 to July 2018 records of sexual assault. The 18 June 2021 study showed that the average risk of sexual assault for women was 5.8%,[36] and for men 0.64%.[37] The five posts for women at highest risk of sexual assault were:[36]

  1. Fort Hood, where the sexual assault risk was 8.4% in 2018
  2. Fort Bliss
  3. Fort Riley
  4. Fort Campbell
  5. Fort Carson

When RAND researchers controlled for posts of similar size and demographics, Fort Hood women were 1.7% more at risk than the cohort. Some risk factors are toxic command culture, and proximity to combat arms units.[36]

Adjusting for other factors associated with high risk, the researchers found a completely different ranking:[36]

The average risk of sexual harassment at Forts Hood, Bliss, Stewart, Riley, and Campbell was 24.4%.[37]

SA/SH fusion directorates

A one-year pilot program for fusion of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment directorates was announced in October 2021. Fusion directors will aggregate individual case services to give visibility to each victim's case, by installation[38][39] as previous attempts to address sexual harassment and assault in the Army have not solved the problem.[40][41][42] Fusion directors will be available to the victims in the following locations:[13]

  1. Aberdeen Proving Ground
  2. Schofield Barracks[43]
  3. Fort Liberty[44]
  4. Fort Irwin
  5. Fort Riley
  6. Fort Sill[32]
  7. A virtual fusion directorate for the 99th Readiness Division, US Army Reserve, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

The Fusion directors will report to the installation commanders of the respective installations, to give sexual assault and sexual harassment victims a venue outside their brigade-sized chain of command.

Notes
  1. US Army Sexual Harassment/Assault Response & Prevention Tell us how we can help:
  2. The crimes include "Murder, Manslaughter, Rape, Sexual Assault, Rape of a Child, Sexual Assault of a Child, Other Sexual Misconduct, Kidnapping, Domestic Violence, Stalking, Retaliation, Child Pornography and Wrongful Broadcast".[3] A general officer has been appointed to lead Office of Special Trial Counsel.[4]

References
  1. n/a, n/a (n.d.). "Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) Program". United States Army Europe. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  2. Jeff Schogol (26 January 2022) Sexual harassment is now officially a crime in the US military
  3. U.S. Army Public Affairs (14 Jul 2022) Army Establishes two new Initiatives to Combat Harmful Behaviors
  4. US Army Public Affairs (5 Dec 2022) Congress Confirms the Army’s first Lead Special Trial Counsel
  5. Rachel Nostrant (17 Sep 2021) Civilian boss takes charge of Army CID for first time United States Army Criminal Investigation Command is better known as CID
  6. n/a, n/a (n.d.). "Resources: Be the force behind the fight. Sexual harassment and sexual assault have no place in the Armed Forces. You have a voice, you have rights and we're here to help". ArmyMWR. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  7. Terri Moon Cronk, Defense.gov (November 4, 2020) SAPRO director pledges 'zero tolerance' for sexual assault, harassment Sexual assault prevention and response office (SAPRO) DoD level
  8. Norah O'Donnell et.al. (November 17, 2020) Parents of soldier who died by suicide after sexual assaults call out "complete failure of the Army"
  9. Davis Winkie and Kyle Rempfer (10 Dec 2021) Leaked docs reveal Army CID reform plan and its need for a culture shift
  10. US Army Office of the Chief of Public Affairs (26 Mar 2021) People First Task Force
  11. People First Task Force: "The Fort Hood Independent Review Committee found a deficient climate at Fort Hood, including ineffective implementation of the SHARP program"
  12. US Army Public Affairs (16 Apr 2021) Army outlines actions taken across the force to implement Fort Hood Independent Review Committee recommendations
  13. Davis Winkie (7 Oct 2021) ‘Tip of the iceberg’: Army announces first round of SHARP reforms Six post pilot program to include fusion director who reports to the installation commander. Victims now have a local venue outside of their brigade
  14. Thomas Brading (17 Sep 2021) New SHARP policy grants additional services to Army Civilians —DACs also protected under SHARP
  15. Army Regulation 600–20. (Administrative revision, dated 1 Jul 2021) Personnel-General. Army Command Policy electronic publication, searchable for terms such as SHARP, or AR 15–6, etc. Includes glossary of terms used.
  16. Leo Shane III and Joe Gould (15 Dec 2021) Congress passes defense policy bill with budget boost, military justice reforms
  17. NANCY MONTGOMERY Europe (13 Jan 2022) Ruling requiring unanimous verdict at military sexual assault trial unlikely to survive appeal, analysts say
  18. Lara Seligman (04/29/2021) Pressure mounts on Austin to support major shift in handling military sexual assault
  19. Darryl Coote (29 Apr 2021) Senators introduce bipartisan military justice reform bill to prosecute sexual assault
  20. Brandy Cruz, Fort Hood Public Affairs (May 13, 2021) Congressional sub-committee sees 'seismic change' at Fort Hood
  21. Kyle Rempfer (6 May 2021) CID overhaul: A civilian director will oversee criminal probes; officers to become special agents
  22. U.S. Army Public Affairs (6 May 2021) Army announces CID restructure and SHARP policy improvements
  23. Caitlin M. Kennedy (11 Aug 2021) US Army Picks Naval Special Agent to Lead Investigative Command Special agent Gregory D. Ford to be the first civilian director of CID
  24. Capt. Jorie P. Mason (16 Jun 2022) What soldiers need to know about the Army’s new approach to sex crimes
  25. Davis Winkie (25 May 2021) Two-star general among group of soldiers punished after sexual misconduct probe
  26. Ryan Morgan (8 December 2020) Video: Army Secretary says Army’s sexual assault prevention program ‘hasn’t achieved its mandate’
  27. 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command (December 2020) SHARP training focuses on mid-level leaders
  28. CARTER F. HAM (23 Dec 2020) AFTER FORT HOOD, THE U.S. ARMY WILL SUCCEED OR FAIL ON TRUST
  29. Lolita Baldor (23 January 2021) Defense chief orders review of military sex assault programs
  30. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (23 January 2021) Countering sexual assault and harassment— Initial tasking Memorandum for senior Pentagon leadership, commanders of the Combatant commands, Defense agency and DoD field activity directors
  31. Ny Magee (2 April 2021) Army announces suspensions after trainee sexually assaulted by 22 service members at Fort Sill
  32. James Brabenec (20 April 2021) Fort Sill SHARP program manager empowers Soldiers to utilize program resources Fort Sill will co-locate sexual assault response coordinators (SARCs) and victim advocates (VAs) to the SHARP Center
  33. Antonieta Rico, Army Resilience Directorate (27 May 2021) Officer shares harrowing experience of assault to drive culture change "As a captain who will be commanding Soldiers soon, I took several things away. As a leader I have to ensure that leaders within my formation understand that SHARP and EO (incidents are) not something that will be tolerated no matter your rank or title. In addition, making sure…they are educated and equipped with the tools to support Soldiers." —Capt. Shannakay Henry, US Army
  34. Meghann Myers (2 July 2021) Military needs commanders who truly don’t support sexual assault, commission concludes
  35. Thomas Brading, Army News Service (30 July 2021) Sexual assault prevention starts on day one, Army senior leaders say
  36. Meghann Myers (19 Jun 2021) These five Army posts have the highest sexual assault risk, study shows
  37. Haley Britzky (21 Jun 2021) These are the least safe Army posts for female soldiers
  38. Grinston, McConville, Wormuth (4 Oct 2021) FD Tri-signed Letter 4Oct2021.pdf Sexual Assault/Sexual Harassment Fusion Directorate Pilots at: Aberdeen Proving Ground, Schofield Barracks, Forts Bragg, Irwin, Riley, and Sill, and a virtual directorate for 99th Readiness Division. The pilot is nested with the Fort Hood 90-day Independent review commission (FHIRC)
  39. Caitlin M Kennedy (7 Oct 2021) Army to Open Centers For Reporting Sexual Assault, Harassment
  40. Jennifer Mattson (27 Jun 2012) Battling toxic leadership
  41. Haley Britzky (21 Jun 2021) ‘The Army has a transparency problem’ — Inside the Army’s failure to communicate
  42. Davis Winkie and Meghann Myers (9/22/2021) Top Army spokesperson suspended after abysmal climate survey BG Amy E. Johnston
  43. US Army (1 Apr 2022) SHARP Fusion Directorate improves victim support, focuses on prevention
  44. Haley Britzky (27 Oct 2021) This is the Army’s plan to stop physically breaking so many of its soldiers Sexual Harassment/Assault Response & Prevention (SHARP) office is located in Falcon Holistic Health and Fitness Center (H2F) at Fort Bragg
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