Sex and Soldiers

After a comprehensive examination, the Army has concluded that passive leadership has allowed sexual misconduct and discrimination to run rampant throughout the ranks.

A panel of senior Army officials concluded in a report released Thursday at the Pentagon that sexual harassment crosses "gender, rank and racial lines" because the Army "lacks the institutional commitment" to treat men and women equally.

After the Army made public the sexual harassment and misconduct incidents at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., last November, Army Secretary Togo West Jr. directed the formation of a senior review panel to investigate the scope of sexual harassment in the Army.

The panel visited 59 Army facilities worldwide and surveyed 30,000 troops, asking about their experiences and their attitudes toward the opposite sex. Eighty-four percent of Army women and 80 percent of Army men reported that they had experienced offensive and sexual behavior, unwanted sexual attention, coercion and/or assault in the last year. "Soldiers seem to accept such behaviors as a normal part of Army life," the report said.

Fifty-one percent of women and 22 percent of men said they faced job discrimination because of their sex.

Army Inspector General Lt. Gen. Jared Bates said that lack of separate and secure sleeping areas for female trainees is a risk factor for sexual misconduct. He also faulted leaders for the collapse of a reporting system that kept base commanders aware of complaints by recruits.

Bates said that poor soldier screening failed to detect problems. Some sergeants, he said, should never have been selected for sensitive training posts because of their troubled backgrounds.

To combat sexual harassment, Army officials said they will reemphasize the importance of active leadership. Specifically, they said:

• Army Command Policy is being rewritten to strengthen human relations areas and require that commanders conduct climate assessments within 90 days of assuming command.
• The Army Chief of Staff will institute the Character Development XXI program, which refocuses the Army on its values of honor, duty and integrity.
• West has approved increased staffing for human relations and equal employment opportunity offices.
• The Army's Training and Doctrine Command will add an additional week to initial entry training to allow for "more intense and rigorous soldierization."
• A new drill sergeant program of instruction, which includes 10.5 additional hours in human relations training, was implemented in March.
• The drill sergeant selection process will be revamped to include a personnel records review, and mental evaluations will be required for both volunteer and nonvolunteer drill sergeant selectees.

The initiatives, West said, are "designed again to put the Army out front in promoting and building a team consistent with our core values."

In a statement, Defense Secretary William Cohen said the Army must do more to prevent sexual discrimination and harassment. "Teamwork based on respect and dignity for all soldiers is a key to combat readiness," he said. "The Army's response to these problems is comprehensive and direct. All soldiers will benefit from basic training that is longer, tougher and built on basic values as well as from the other actions that the Army is taking."

At a White House press briefing Thursday, press secretary Mike McCurry said that President Clinton "views with concern all allegations of sexual abuse or sexual misconduct in the military."

"The President clearly supports the expanded role that women have been given in the armed services and feels that it's an important element of the transformation the U.S. military is undergoing," McCurry said.