What would you do to change SHARP? The question, and its answer, may seem daunting. But instead, ask: what would you do to prevent sexual harassment? What would you do to prevent sexual assault? After the release of the Report of the Fort Hood Independent Review Committee, we are able to see that the Army’s SHARP program is structurally flawed. So, let’s start there. What would we do to change SHARP? We’d start with culture.
The belief that sexism and sexist behaviors could be eliminated with Department of the Army reform is naïve. That doesn’t mean a solution at all levels cannot thrive. A truly collaborative approach requires engaged leaders at all levels. It demands leadership that provides the tools to accomplish the mission of eradicating SH/SA, and establishes prevention to a core task like weapon discipline or customs and courtesy.
The Imperative
Eradicating SH/SA is a massive undertaking, but an absolute imperative. No one person can solve it; not even, the singular commander tasked with, “preventing and responding to sexual harassment, sexual assault, and associated retaliatory behaviors.” Revising the senior commander’s Sexual Assault Review Board (SARB), engaged leadership from Brigade and Battalion command teams, and empowered squad and team leaders will drive change. Organizational change requires top down enforcement, but it also requires bottom up buy-in. Leaders must meet soldiers on their turf and use teaching methods that best reach the current generation.
It is our duty to address the contributing factors that allow sexual harassment and sexual assault to fester in our formations; it’s time leaders own this problem and not default to a program. The U.S. Army defines leadership as, “the activity of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization.” To change our culture, we must change our leadership approach.
Educate
Teaching breeds understanding, understanding breeds empathy, and empathy breeds respect. This operational baseline is an education campaign that mirrors individual and collective training and adjudicates the education to the level receiving it. So what does implementation look like?
Note: This graphic depicts only a snapshot of the subjects that would be covered in a repository of information leaders could choose to teach from
Lead
Senior Commanders need to lead transparent and effective SARBs. Guidelines in Army Regulation 600-20 define requirements, yet SARBs vary based on command presence. The primary purpose of the SARB is to ensure victims’ physical, emotional, and spiritual needs are provided for, their rights are protected, and their recovery is facilitated. Commanders need to prioritize the meeting to effect action that supports survivors. All participants should strive to resolve cases expediently.
For context, we establish clear timelines when investigating property loss in the Army, why not hold our criminal and legal partners to similar standards when investigating assault on our Soldiers. Shortening investigation timelines, as referred to in the FHIRC report, allows brigade commands to focus more resources towards their survivor’s needs, before they transfer or transition out of the Army.
Empower
Concurrently, the senior commander should identify individuals to run the “Senior Commander’s Team.” Separate from the responsibilities of SHARP PMs, the senior commander’s team focuses on revising and developing training materials at the academic level, targeting societal concepts and how those concepts lead to a culture where sexual harassment and sexual assault are permissible. Some of the topics addressed here would be gender integration, equality, inherent biases, etc. The topics addressed in the quarterly senior commander’s team meetings feed the topics addressed by formations for that quarter. The team’s additional responsibilities include gathering, packaging, and disseminating the identified training materials and ensuring those materials are kept in an open-source, user friendly, accessible web-based platform (a long term solution is to have this material accessible in an app that all soldiers can download onto their personal cell phones).
At the BDE and BN level, enthusiasm and dictation towards changing the culture remains a top priority. Leadership must vocally liken sexual harassment and sexual assault prevention to training for a live fire exercise or CTC rotation. After the brigade command teams are taught by the senior commander’s team, unit instruction should flow through all levels of leadership down to the team leader level. SHARP PMs and SARCs will be present at the leadership training to assist in guiding discussions if needed, but are not the primary trainers. If SHARP is to truly be a commander’s program, commanders need to take primary responsibility for the program instead of allocating one hour per year on such an important priority.
The Results
What does this do? It builds a guiding coalition that soldiers will follow. Soldiers will feel valued because of their differences, and it will promote a culture of support and trust. DoD data shows that the most at risk population of being victimized is our junior enlisted population; the constant engagement by team leaders tells every soldier that changing this culture is a priority. Soldiers are likely to react in two different ways; values will kick in and they will want to change because it’s the right thing to do, or they’ll change because they’re career ambition will take over. Changing the culture is a daily operation. It requires consistent enforcement and constant reinforcement. Knowledge is power; providing simple, easily digestible education materials (like those addressed in Athena Thriving) that can be accessed via personal cell phone empowers team leaders to utilize ‘hip pocket’ training to its fullest extent.
The kicker to all of this? It doesn’t require additional time in a training calendar!
These steps increase knowledge regarding aspects that feed sexual harassment and assault, and increase the training from a one hour annual refresher course to 12 hours a year (minimum). If we focus this at the team level in execution, it can be done at any given time when soldiers are waiting for their next hit time. We can measure effectiveness through biannual Command Climate Surveys (CCS) and through NCOER/OERs. CCS will show if there are any specific platoons/squads/teams who have an internal cultural issue that requires attention. It will identify platoon/squad/team leadership are not leading the hip pocket training; if they are not, then why not?
This approach can help identify soldiers and leadership who do not actually support the EO and SHARP Programs. No more, “check the block” of “Supports the EO and SHARP Program” on evaluations without justification. We don’t currently have a place within the evaluation system to provide further explanation to that question> But, it can be addressed in the “Character” or “Leadership” blocks.
–
We won’t change culture overnight. It will require active, engaged, and empathetic leaders. Empathy requires continuous education. Empathetic leaders are present and ready. We have the guidance at the senior commander level. Brigade and battalion leaders are poised to support. Our non-commissioned officer corps are the best in the world. There is nothing stopping change from occurring today. The U.S. Army Creed of the Non-Commissioned Officer reads, “All soldiers are entitled to outstanding leadership; I will provide that leadership. I know my Soldiers, and I will always place their needs above my own.” Acknowledged Sergeant. Let’s get to work.
2nd Lt. Kait Abbott commissioned from Christopher Newport University in 2017 as a Chemical Officer for the Virginia National Guard where she has served at the company and battalion levels. She is currently using her experience as a survivor to work towards tangible change for survivors by serving on the People’s First Task Force. She tweets at @CallsignBarbie.
Lt. Col. Tony Newman received his commission through ROTC at Rochester Institute of Technology in 2003. He served as a logistics officer in tactical, operational, and strategic positions. Tony is currently assigned to the White House Communications Agency and will take command of a brigade support battalion next summer. He is a husband and father to two daughters and two sons. He tweets at @ABNSupplyGuy.