Overview of the Annual Report on Sexual Harassment and Violence at the Military Service Academies Committee on Armed Services Ho
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i [H.A.S.C. No. 115–41] OVERVIEW OF THE ANNUAL REPORT ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND VIOLENCE AT THE MILITARY SERVICE ACADEMIES HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL OF THE COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION HEARING HELD MAY 2, 2017 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 25–834 WASHINGTON : 2018 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado, Chairman WALTER B. JONES, North Carolina JACKIE SPEIER, California BRAD R. WENSTRUP, Ohio, Vice Chair ROBERT A. BRADY, Pennsylvania STEVE RUSSELL, Oklahoma NIKI TSONGAS, Massachusetts DON BACON, Nebraska RUBEN GALLEGO, Arizona MARTHA MCSALLY, Arizona CAROL SHEA-PORTER, New Hampshire RALPH LEE ABRAHAM, Louisiana JACKY ROSEN, Nevada TRENT KELLY, Mississippi DAN SENNOTT, Professional Staff Member CRAIG GREENE, Professional Staff Member DANIELLE STEITZ, Clerk (II) C O N T E N T S Page STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS Coffman, Hon. Mike, a Representative from Colorado, Chairman, Subcommit- tee on Military Personnel .................................................................................... 1 Speier, Hon. Jackie, a Representative from California, Ranking Member, Sub- committee on Military Personnel ........................................................................ 2 WITNESSES Panel 1: Bullard, Ariana .................................................................................................... 4 Craine, Midshipman Second Class Sheila, United States Naval Academy ..... 4 Gross, Stephanie .................................................................................................. 7 Kendzior, Annie .................................................................................................... 9 Panel 2: Carter, VADM Walter E., Jr., USN, Superintendent, United States Naval Academy ............................................................................................................ 33 Caslen, LTG Robert L., Jr., USA, Superintendent, United States Military Academy ............................................................................................................ 32 Johnson, Lt Gen Michelle D., Superintendent, United States Air Force Academy ............................................................................................................ 34 Van Winkle, Dr. Elizabeth P., Performing the Duties of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness .................................................................................. 30 APPENDIX PREPARED STATEMENTS: Carter, VADM Walter E., Jr. ........................................................................... 85 Caslen, LTG Robert L., Jr. .............................................................................. 72 Coffman, Hon. Mike ......................................................................................... 61 Johnson, Lt Gen Michelle D. ........................................................................... 96 Kendzior, Annie ................................................................................................ 62 Van Winkle, Dr. Elizabeth P. .......................................................................... 65 DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD: Document from LTC Elizabeth A. Walker, Army Office of the Chief Legislative Liaison ........................................................................................ 115 WITNESS RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS ASKED DURING THE HEARING: Mr. Coffman ...................................................................................................... 119 Ms. Speier ......................................................................................................... 119 QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS POST HEARING: Ms. Rosen .......................................................................................................... 123 (III) OVERVIEW OF THE ANNUAL REPORT ON SEXUAL HAR- ASSMENT AND VIOLENCE AT THE MILITARY SERVICE ACADEMIES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL, Washington, DC, Tuesday, May 2, 2017. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 3:34 p.m., in room 2118, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Mike Coffman (chair- man of the subcommittee) presiding. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MIKE COFFMAN, A REPRESEN- TATIVE FROM COLORADO, CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL Mr. COFFMAN. This hearing is called to order. I want to welcome everyone to this afternoon’s Military Personnel Subcommittee hear- ing. The purpose of today’s hearing is to receive an overview of the annual report on sexual assessment. I am sorry, Annual Report on Sexual Harassment and Violence at the Military Service Acad- emies, and to understand the ongoing efforts the academies have undertaken to prevent sexual assault. We will also have the privilege of hearing from survivors of sex- ual assault who were assaulted while attending a service academy, and we thank them for being here today. The Nation and the military continue to battle the scourge of sexual assault. These despicable crimes cause deep and enduring suffering to the victims and their families and violate our funda- mental values. When these crimes occur in the military, the effects can be even more damaging. Service members must have absolute trust and confidence in their fellow service members in order to ac- complish their difficult mission. Cadets and midshipmen at the military service academies are told from the beginning of their tenure that the only way to suc- ceed at the Academy is to work as a team, and place their trust in each other. But when a cadet takes advantage of that trust in order to assault another, the sense of betrayal is profound, and the impact is often felt by the victim and the entire unit. These crimes have no place in our society, much less in our preeminent military service academies. Over the last several years, the military service academies have dedicated numerous resources and time to improving sexual as- sault prevention and response. The service academies have inte- grated sexual assault prevention and values-based training into nearly every aspect of their curriculum, ensuring that the mili- (1) 2 tary’s future officers internalize the military’s values before being commissioned. In addition, the service academies have worked hard to ensure that all allegations are thoroughly investigated and perpetrators are held accountable, while also ensuring survivors of sexual as- sault have access to vital resources. Despite all these efforts, there remains much work to be done. This year’s report shows that prevalence rates have increased at all service academies, while reports of sexual assaults have decreased at one of the service academies. In addition, the significant preva- lence of sexual harassment, a data point that is new to the survey, shows that additional work is needed. We will hear from two panels this afternoon. In panel one, we are honored to have with us survivors of sexual assault. I want to thank the witnesses for their bravery in testifying today, and I ap- preciate how difficult it is to talk about this subject. Your testi- mony will give all of us important insights into how the service academies in the military can improve sexual assault prevention and response. In our second panel, we will hear from the Department of De- fense and the superintendents of the military service academies. I look forward to hearing their views on the results of the sexual as- sault report, and I also look forward to hearing about the new and existing programs at the service academies designed to prevent sexual assault. Before I introduce our first panel, let me offer the ranking mem- ber, Ms. Speier, an opportunity to make her opening remarks. [The prepared statement of Mr. Coffman can be found in the Ap- pendix on page 61.] STATEMENT OF HON. JACKIE SPEIER, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM CALIFORNIA, RANKING MEMBER, SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Chairman, thank you, and thank all of you who will be participating in this hearing. I would like to ask unanimous consent that a document from Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth Walk- er, legislative counsel for the investigations and legislative division of the Army Office of Chief Legislative Liaison be admitted into the record. Mr. COFFMAN. Any objection? So ordered. [The information referred to can be found in the Appendix on page 115.] Ms. SPEIER. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I thank you for holding this hearing. This is an issue that I care deeply about. Sexual as- sault in our military and military service academies is a scourge on our Nation. We depend on our academies to attract and develop our Nation’s future leaders. Even one sexual assault against these patriotic young individuals is too many, and we all know that the numbers of assault are far more than that. But women and men are victimized by sexual assault—both women and men are victimized by sexual assault and harassment at the service academies, creating a toxic culture that follows these students straight into military leadership. Survivors of sexual as- 3 sault often leave the academies under their own volition, or are forced out, depriving our military of future leaders. Perpetrators of these heinous acts often go unpunished, graduate, reinforcing this criminal