Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, center, chief
of naval operations, testified with other military leaders Tuesday before the
Senate Armed Services Committee.
N.Y. TIMES
Senator Roy Blunt sat silently for nearly an hour as his colleagues on the Armed Services Committee questioned one military leader after another on Tuesday about what they were doing to address the problem of sexual assault in the military, and then assessed their responses: “Stunningly bad.”
In particular, Mr. Blunt chided Adm. Jonathan W.
Greenert, the chief of naval operations, for displaying scant knowledge of how
military allies of the United States had dealt with sexual assault in their
ranks, and for thanking Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire, for
“the tip” that other countries had grappled with the issue.
“Has anybody who works for you been asking this?” Mr.
Blunt, Republican of Missouri, asked with clear exasperation.
In a rare appearance together, a majority of the
members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — as well as the commandant of the Coast
Guard and other military officials — testified before the committee about how
the military should approach the problem as Congress prepares to vote on several
measures that would significantly change military policy.
Senators from both parties pressed the leaders, at
times using strong language, about why, decades after the full integration of
women into the military, the problem seems to have worsened. Senator John
McCain, an Arizona Republican, recalled meeting with a woman whose daughter was
considering entering the military if Mr. McCain, a former naval aviator, could
offer his “unqualified support” of the choice. “I could not,” he said.
Over hours of testimony, each officer expressed
remorse. “I took my eye off the ball in the commands I had,” said Gen. Martin E.
Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
But they collectively resisted some of the more robust
changes that have been proposed. “I recommend a measured approach,” said Gen.
Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff.
The hearing followed several weeks of reports of
sexual assault in the armed forces and a Pentagon
survey that estimated that 26,000 people in the armed forces were sexually
assaulted last year, up from 19,000 in 2010. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the
majority leader, who on Tuesday called sexual assault in the military “beyond
the pale,” said the Senate would move to address the problem in the coming
defense bill. “Something has to be done about it,” he said.
Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Democrat of New York,
has
introduced the most sweeping proposal, which would give military
prosecutors, rather than commanders, the power to decide which sexual assault
cases to try. She has said the measure is principally intended to increase the
number of people who report crimes without fear of retaliation and
professionalize the process, but it has been largely rejected by military brass.
“Making commanders less responsible and less
accountable will not work,” General Odierno said.
Among other measures that the committee is considering
are those that would limit a military commander’s ability to change or dismiss a
court-martial conviction for sexual assault, require dismissal or a dishonorable
discharge for anyone in the military convicted of rape or sexual assault, and
expand to all service branches an Air Force program that provides a special
counsel to victims of sexual assault.
This week, the House Armed Services Committee is
expected to pass provisions aimed at combating sexual assault within its Defense
Authorization Act; the full House is scheduled to consider that bill next week.
The provisions include one similar to the Senate measure that would limit a
commander’s ability to overturn sentences and another that would require minimum
sentences for sexual assault convictions.
Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, is
particularly interested in the ability of commanders to overturn sexual assault
convictions, and repeatedly questioned why a service record could mitigate such
a conviction. Ms. McCaskill called a
letter from Lt. Gen. Craig A. Franklin explaining his reversal of a fighter
pilot’s conviction “astoundingly ignorant.”
Ms. Gillibrand also chided the leaders for sometimes
understating the gravity of some of the crimes before them, noting that one
commander had told a victim that he believed her assailant had not “acted like a
gentleman” but had not committed a crime. “Not every commander can distinguish
between a slap on the ass and a rape,” Ms. Gillibrand said.