President Joe Biden on Friday said he strongly supports Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III’s push to remove the power of prosecution for military sex crimes and retaliation from the chain of command, a radical decision sparked by national outcry over the death of a Fort Hood soldier, Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen, last year.
“Sexual assault is an abuse of power and an affront to our shared humanity,” Biden said in a prepared statement Friday. “And sexual assault in the military is doubly damaging because it also shreds the unity and cohesion that is essential to the functioning of the U.S. military and to our national defense.
“Yet, for as long as we have abhorred this scourge, the statistics and the stories have grown worse. We need concrete actions that fundamentally change the way we handle military sexual assault and that make it clear that these crimes will not be minimized or dismissed,” he continued.
Austin first shared his recommendation to remove prosecutions outside the chain of command in a letter to the Pentagon on Friday following the completion of a 90-day investigation, led by a team called the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military, that he personally requested after being sworn into office in January.
Investigators following the 90-day commission told Austin that it was clear the military justice system was not equipped to properly respond to cases of sexual crimes, further recommending that all decisions about prosecution of special victim cases be removed from the chain of command. Austin agreed.
Austin’s letter to the Pentagon also included that prosecution decisions also be removed from the chain of command for cases of domestic violence and child abuse.
“Based on the IRC recommendations, my extensive consultations with military and civilian leadership of the service, and taking into proper account the considerations above, I have a strong bias towards accepting the recommendations wherever possible with adjustments made to insure effective implementation,” Austin wrote in his letter to the Pentagon on Friday.
The death of Guillen, whose remains were found one year ago this week after her slaying at Fort Hood on April 22, 2020, was the catalyst that encouraged hundreds of military members to come forward with their personal accounts of being sexually harassed and sexually assaulted within their ranks.
Guillen’s case gained national attention during the monthslong search for her after the 20-year-old’s family stated that she was being sexually harassed by multiple higher-ranking soldiers.
Military leaders for months adamantly denied Guillen’s disappearance was linked to sexual misconduct. However, military investigators along with Fort Hood’s top brass eventually confirmed this year that Guillen was sexually harassed by at least one superior, but officials still maintain it had nothing to do with her death.
Authorities believe a fellow Fort Hood soldier, Spc. Aaron Robinson, bludgeoned her to death with a hammer while they worked together in a weapons room. Before Robinson was even a suspect, the Guillen family named him as one of Guillen’s harassers. Killeen police say he died after shooting himself the day after Guillen’s remains were found on June 30, 2020.
Several investigations into Fort Hood and the military’s response to cases of sexual harassment and sexual assault late last year found soldiers were often discouraged from reporting their abuse by those in their direct chain of command, or would be retaliated against by superiors and other soldiers if they did decide to come forward.
An investigation into Guillen’s sexual harassment found she was also scared to formally report her superior, instead confiding in friends on post in addition to her family.
Each year, about 20,000 service members are sexually assaulted and an additional 100,000 are sexually harassed, according to recent data released by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., who is also attempting to take the power of prosecution for sexual crimes against military members away from their direct chain of command through a bill called the Vanessa Guillen Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act.
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