[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.A.S.C. No. 117-37]
KEEPING OUR SERVICE MEMBERS
AND THEIR FAMILIES SAFE AND READY:
THE MILITARY'S PREVENTION AND
RESPONSE TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
__________
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
HEARING HELD
May 25, 2021
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
47-356 WASHINGTON : 2022
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL
JACKIE SPEIER, California, Chairwoman
ANDY KIM, New Jersey MIKE GALLAGHER, Wisconsin
CHRISSY HOULAHAN, Pennsylvania STEPHANIE I. BICE, Oklahoma
VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas, Vice Chair LISA C. McCLAIN, Michigan
SARA JACOBS, California RONNY JACKSON, Texas
MARILYN STRICKLAND, Washington JERRY L. CARL, Alabama
MARC A. VEASEY, Texas PAT FALLON, Texas
Hannah Kaufman, Counsel
Forrest McConnell, Counsel
Sidney Faix, Clerk
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
Gallagher, Hon. Mike, a Representative from Wisconsin, Ranking
Member, Subcommittee on Military Personnel..................... 3
Speier, Hon. Jackie, a Representative from California,
Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Military Personnel................. 1
WITNESSES
Barron, Patricia, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Military
Community and Family Policy, Office of the Secretary of
Defense; accompanied by COL Steve Lewis, USA, Family Advocacy
Program Manager, Department of the Army; Col Andrew A. Cruz,
USAF, Chief, Air Force Family Advocacy Program, Department of
the Air Force; Crystal Griffen, Deputy Director Family Support,
Commander, Navy Installations Command; and Lisa Eaffaldano,
Assistant Branch Head, Prevention and Clinical Services, United
States Marine Corps............................................ 20
Farrell, Brenda, Director, Defense Capabilities and Management,
Government Accountability Office............................... 8
Logan, Amy, Survivor............................................. 4
Strong, Jessica, Co-Director of Applied Research, Blue Star
Families....................................................... 6
APPENDIX
Prepared Statements:
Barron, Patricia............................................. 83
Cruz, Col Andrew A........................................... 104
Eaffaldano, Lisa............................................. 118
Farrell, Brenda.............................................. 70
Griffen, Crystal............................................. 111
Lewis, COL Steve............................................. 95
Logan, Amy................................................... 40
Speier, Jackie Hon........................................... 37
Strong, Jessica.............................................. 53
Documents Submitted for the Record:
[There were no Documents submitted.]
Witness Responses to Questions Asked During the Hearing:
Ms. Houlahan................................................. 131
Ms. Speier................................................... 129
Questions Submitted by Members Post Hearing:
Mrs. McClain................................................. 135
KEEPING OUR SERVICE MEMBERS
AND THEIR FAMILIES SAFE AND READY:
THE MILITARY'S PREVENTION AND RESPONSE TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
----------
House of Representatives,
Committee on Armed Services,
Subcommittee on Military Personnel,
Washington, D.C., Tuesday, May 25, 2021.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 3:00 p.m., via
Webex, Hon. Jackie Speier (chairwoman of the subcommittee)
presiding.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JACKIE SPEIER, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM
CALIFORNIA, CHAIRWOMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL
Ms. Speier. Good afternoon. My name is Jackie Speier, I
chair the Military Personnel Subcommittee, and we are now going
to bring this committee hearing to order. I want to welcome
everyone. This is going to be a completely virtual hearing, and
we have a very important topic to talk about today.
But, first, let me welcome our new ranking member to the
committee, Congressman Mike Gallagher. He has completed 4 years
in the House of Representatives. Previously, he was a U.S.
Marine captain, served 7 years in the Marine Corps and was
deployed twice to Iraq. He also has the distinction of being
the fastest man in Congress in a 3K race. I am not going to
challenge [inaudible].
We are going to talk about a very, very important, serious
and troubling topic today. It is the military's prevention and
response to domestic violence. The startling statistics,
according to the CDC [Centers for Disease Control], suggest
that one in four women, and one in seven men will experience
what is called quote, ``severe physical violence'' by spouses
or intimate partners in their lifetimes. That is 25 percent of
women in this country who will be battered and bruised,
strangled, and stabbed, shocked, and maybe even killed. It is a
scourge that we must pull out of the shadows because we know if
it is 25 percent of women who are victims of severe physical
violence, so, too, are the women that make up our military and
military families.
The first step in curing any ill is to define a problem.
And for over 20 years, Congress has asked the Department of
Defense [DOD] to do just that, but it has not done it. The
problem remains undefined. In fact, earlier this month the GAO
[Government Accountability Office] released a study that found
that despite a statutory requirement since 1999, DOD has not
collected comprehensive data on the number of allegations of
domestic violence, a subcategory of different types of domestic
abuse that constitute offenses under the Uniform Code of
Military Justice, and related actions taken by commanders. And
even though we know the data is inaccurate, we know that over
40,000 incidents met DOD criteria for domestic abuse between
2015 and 2019, and that 74 percent of these incidents were
physical abuse. How many more were never counted by the
Department? How many were never reported? For more than 20
years, no one can say.
According to the DOD annual report on child abuse and
neglect and domestic abuse in the military, most of the
perpetrators and victims are our most junior service members
and spouses. They are the young, the inexperienced, they are
away from home, many for the first time, isolated from family
and friends and support systems, and, in many cases, struggling
financially. Often, we know the data shows that COVID-19
pandemic has only exacerbated the isolation and the financial
stressors suffered by these families. It is too easy to hide
behind facts and figures.
I want to be very clear about what physical abuse is.
According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, it is an
intimate partner or spouse who pulls your hair or punches or
slaps or kicks or bites, chokes, or smothers you; it is a
person who forbids or prevents you from eating or sleeping, who
uses weapons against you, including firearms, knives, or bats;
who prevents you from contacting emergency services, including
medical attention or law enforcement; who harms your children,
your pets; who drives recklessly or dangerously while you are
in the car, or abandons you in an unfamiliar place; who traps
you in your home or prevents you from leaving; who throws
objects at you or prevents you from taking prescribed
medication, or denies you necessary medical treatment. That is
physical abuse.
There is also emotional and verbal abuse, financial abuse,
stalking, sexual abuse, and sexual and reproductive coercion.
To put a human face to this epidemic, Ms. Amy Logan has
bravely agreed to tell her story. Her testimony is riveting and
exposes all the flaws in the military's handling of domestic
violence. It also reminds all of us that there is a mother, a
father, a sister, a brother, a child behind those 40,000
incidences of domestic abuse recorded by the DOD.
We can no longer ignore this. The safety and well-being of
our service members and their families is at risk. So, to DOD
and the services, my question is, what are you doing about it?
How are you addressing the shortfalls GAO has presented? How
are you educating our service members and their families about
the resources that we have? How do they know who to call to get
help?
I am pleased Congress has made some progress in addressing
this issue. In fiscal year 2021, in NDAA [National Defense
Authorization Act], the subcommittee provision to establish a
thorough review of the military's response to domestic violence
was included to provide Congress with additional independent
findings and recommendations to address intimate partner
violence.
However, much more must be done. I will specifically point
out that last Congress, a provision that I offered that created
a military court protective order that are enforceable across
jurisdictions was unnecessarily stripped out in Congress. I am
sorry, in conference. Witnesses today will testify why court
protective orders are so necessary.
Now, Ranking Member Gallagher, you are recognized for your
opening remarks.
STATEMENT OF HON. MIKE GALLAGHER, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM
WISCONSIN, RANKING MEMBER, SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL
Mr. Gallagher. Thank you so much, Chairwoman Speier. It is
an honor to join the subcommittee, and I look forward to
working together. And today's hearing addresses an issue of
supreme importance of domestic violence, which, I think we can
all agree, has absolutely no place in our military. And I want
to welcome both panels to today's hearing. I specifically want
to thank Ms. Logan for volunteering to be a witness today. I
can't stress how grateful that I am for the courage and your
willingness to tell your story.
As a former Marine Corps officer, I had to deal with issues
involving domestic violence. In my unit, I found it important
to discuss and define domestic violence with my Marines, also
called intimate partner violence. It includes four types of
appalling behavior: physical violence, sexual violence,
stalking, and psychological aggression.
Speaking of the magnitude of the problem, the latest CDC
statistics indicate that about one in four women, and nearly
one in seven men, have experienced sexual violence, physical
violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner during their
lifetime, and reported some form of domestic violence-related
impact. Over 43 million women and 38 million men experienced
psychological aggression by an intimate partner in their
lifetime. These numbers are, quite simply, staggering.
In my home State of Wisconsin, for example, domestic
violence claimed 72 lives in 2019. In my hometown of Green Bay,
we have a number of organizations like the Golden House and the
Wise Women Gathering Place that provides safety and support for
victims of domestic violence. Unfortunately, these services are
always in critical demand, and demand outstrips supply.
In the military, the fiscal year 2020 Report On Child Abuse
and Neglect and Domestic Abuse in the Military showed the rate
of those types of incidents have decreased over the past 10
years, but the numbers, overall, are still very concerning.
Additionally, unmarried intimate partner abuse and adult
sexual abuse increased at an alarming rate. There are also six
intimate partner abuse fatalities in fiscal year 2020. We need
to do everything we can to drive these numbers down. One case
is one too many when it comes to domestic violence, in my
opinion.
And, so, we also need to commit to the affected families
that we will provide them with the resources they need to get
through these very difficult situations.
But this is only part of the issue with the domestic
violence. The other part is trying to prevent domestic violence
from ever occurring in the first place. The prevention part is
what I want to understand. Our service representatives on our
second panel, in particular, what are we doing, and how are we
getting after these issues? Do we truly understand the data,
and are the services reporting incidents in the same manner so
we know how many cases there are, and the magnitude of this
issue in the military? I also want to learn about any new
initiatives that may improve domestic violence abuse prevention
and response.
And so on Panel 1, I look forward to hearing from our
witness that is a survivor of domestic violence and understand
your experiences better, and your thoughts on what can be done
to improve the process. We will also hear from a military
service organization on their role in domestic violence, and
from the GAO, which just completed an in-depth report of
domestic abuse in the military.
So thank you, again, for all being available for this
hearing. I look forward to the discussion and the questions and
answer.
Ms. Speier. The member completed his remarks. Thank you.
Each witness will provide a brief opening statement, and each
member will have an opportunity to question the witnesses for 5
minutes. We respectfully ask the witness to summarize their
testimony in 5 minutes, and the statement will be made part of
the hearing record.
Welcome. Our first panel is Ms. Amy Logan. Ms. Jessica
Strong is the co-director of Applied Research, Blue Star
Families. Ms. Brenda Farrell, Director of Defense Capabilities
and Management Team of the Government Accountability Office.
Thank you all for your time today. I look forward to hearing
from you.
We will start with Ms. Logan. And, Ms. Logan, let me--
before you made your opening statement, when I read that, I
couldn't believe how strong you were then and are now, how you
exposed what are gaping holes in our system in terms of
responding to the victims [inaudible].
STATEMENT OF AMY LOGAN, SURVIVOR
Ms. Logan. Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to start by
thanking the committee for the work you are doing around such a
difficult and important issue. My hope is that in hearing my
testimony, the committee considers adopting real changes in how
the military handles reports of domestic violence in its ranks.
I am the ex-spouse of a soldier who was an E-9 in the
United States Army. I met him toward the end of his military
career, and we always lived off base. What I knew of the
military and their resources was what he shared with me.
Two years into our relationship, I realized I was in an
emotionally and verbally abusive marriage. Three years into our
marriage, things turned physical, shortly after moving to a new
city and a new installation. I was a stay-at-home mom with no
family nearby, and not a lot of friends. One night, my ex-
husband charged at me, grabbing my shoulders, and he knee-
striked me in the leg. That night, he shattered and completely
damaged my cell phone, leaving holes and dents on the floor
from the impact. He told me, I would rather go to prison than
let you leave with our child.
I took this as a verbal threat to my life. The police
arrived after receiving a disturbance call, and my ex-husband
charmed the male police officer into believing that I broke my
cell phone and that we just had an argument.
The next day I went to the local magistrate's office and
was told that based on the police report, I would more than
likely not be granted a restraining order. A few days after
this incident, I went with our child to a women's safe shelter
while my ex-husband was at work. My ex-husband tracked my
location and came to the shelter. The police came, gave him a
warning, and he was asked to leave.
Through this whole process, the police were called three
times regarding my ex-husband, and it is my understanding that
the local Army base was never notified.
During our divorce process, the brigade military and family
life counselor who worked with my ex-husband attended every
court hearing we had and testified on behalf of my ex-husband
at our divorce hearing. This was the third person in the
military who heard of the physical abuse, and higher command
was still not notified of the situation. It wasn't until my
divorce hearing after gaining knowledge of the history of
potential abuse my ex-husband had done to other individuals,
that I gained the strength to come forward to the military.
I went to the family advocate office and shared all that
had happened. I requested to receive a military protection
order. I was not granted one. The case review committee [CRC]
met and did determine that my case met the criteria for
emotional and physical abuse.
The colonel who led the committee was my ex-husband's
brigade commander and his command partner. It is my
understanding that the colonel did not feel that my ex-husband
needed any treatment, and that my ex-husband stayed in his
command the whole time.
After the CRC ruling, I filed a report with the Inspector
General's Office regarding how the colonel handled my case as
well as the MFLAC [Military and Family Life Counseling]
actions. I remember one individual telling me, It is our job to
make sure this doesn't end up on CNN.
The IG [Inspector General] Department determined that the
chain of command can best address the matters presented. I was
shocked. The IG Department took my complaint straight to the
person my complaint was against.
I proceeded to file a Congressional Inquiry to assist in
looking into my concern. From this inquiry, the commanding
major general started a 15-6 investigation. I believe some
changes were made, however, I do not know the full outcome.
Throughout all of these military investigations, I felt
they questioned the validity of my complaint based on what I
did not do instead of what was done to me.
Individuals in the military responsible for decisions
regarding domestic abuse need to learn more about abuse. It is
rarely ever an isolated incident. It is rare that just one form
of abuse is being used. They need to understand that fear keeps
you trapped and isolated. You experience what someone can do to
you, and you constantly live in a state of fear. This plays a
part in every decision that a victim does or does not make.
I have a few suggestions for the committee to consider.
Commanders and colonels who directly work with someone accused
of domestic violence should not oversee any investigation or
committee regarding this issue. Soldiers who commit acts of
domestic violence do not need anger management; they have a
control and an abuse issue. Any treatment plan, investigation,
or committee, needs to include both talking to the alleged
abuser and the alleged victim. When IG Departments communicate
with the military spouse, I recommend someone be present who
can explain the process. Commanders, colonels, and military
personnel need to properly report all allegations and conduct
proper investigations.
My story is not just my story. It represents the stories of
victims and survivors who are too afraid to come forward. It
represents individuals who work with victims in the military
who feel they are constantly hitting roadblocks when trying to
help. I hope today, this testimony can be a voice for them,
too. I thank the committee for your time.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Logan can be found in the
Appendix on page 40.]
Ms. Speier. Thank you again, Ms. Logan. That was, again,
remarkable testimony and very important to us. Next, we will
hear from Ms. Jessica Strong.
STATEMENT OF JESSICA STRONG, CO-DIRECTOR OF APPLIED RESEARCH,
BLUE STAR FAMILIES
Ms. Strong. Chairwoman Speier, Ranking Member Gallagher,
and distinguished members of the Subcommittee on Military
Personnel, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you
today. My name is Dr. Jessica Strong, and I am the co-director
of Applied Research for Blue Star Families, a national
nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting military and
veteran families. Blue Star Families is nationally recognized
for our Annual Military Family Lifestyle Survey, which covers a
wide variety of topics that impact military and veteran
families.
Today, I am here to share with you what our previous
surveys have revealed about intimate partner violence, or IPV.
In Blue Star Families 2015, 2016, and 2017 surveys,
approximately 1 percent of Active Duty spouse and service
member respondents reported being hit, kicked, punched, or
otherwise hurt by their significant other in the past year.
However, as Ms. Logan mentioned, this physical violence is not
the only, but the most obvious symptom of intimate partner
violence.
Perhaps more alarming is that approximately 9 to 15 percent
of our Active Duty family respondents reported that they did
not feel safe in their current relationship. This is a
potential warning sign of abuse.
Finally, in our 2019 survey, approximately 2 percent of
both spouses and service member respondents reported they had
experienced intimate partner violence within the past year.
These findings corroborate data gathered by Department of
Defense in 2019, which reported incidents of spouse abuse at
about 1.1 percent. This seems small, but the rate is over twice
that of the national population at 0.42 percent.
Many factors that are endemic to the military lifestyle
face military spouses at greater risk of experiencing IPV,
including economic vulnerability, social isolation, mental
health concerns, and military culture itself. I will say a few
words just about each.
Military spouses are uniquely vulnerable to economic abuse,
wherein abusive partners use their financial power to control
their spouse's behavior. Because of that frequent relocation,
limited childcare, and the service member's job demand,
military spouses face significant challenges to employment. The
unemployment rate for military spouses is many times that of
their similar civilian peers. And of those who are employed,
two-thirds of the Active Duty spouse respondents to our 2020
survey indicated they were underemployed, working in positions
that are not commensurate with their education, experience,
salary history, or desires. Others have simply left the
workforce.
Consequently, military spouses frequently do not have a
sufficient independent source of income in which to support
themselves and their children, should they choose to leave
their abusive partner.
Another risk factor for IPV mentioned by Ms. Logan is
social isolation. This is also too often a natural byproduct of
the military lifestyle. Active Duty families relocate, on
average, once every 2 to 3 years. This requires families to
separate from their established support systems. In fact,
almost half of our families in our 2020 survey reported that
isolation from family and friends was a top stressor during the
military time. The COVID-19 pandemic with its associated
shutdowns, restriction movement orders, and mandatory
quarantines, may have intensified this concern.
A third risk factor is mental health issues such as PTSD
[post-traumatic stress disorder]. These have also been
repeatedly linked to IPV. While certainly not the singular
cause, the prevalence of PTSD in the military may increase the
incident of IPV. In our 2020 survey, 11 percent of our Active
Duty service members, and 7 percent of their spouse respondents
reported they had a current diagnosis of PTSD.
Finally, military culture itself may contribute to the
relative prevalence of IPV due to its essential normalization
of violence and predominantly masculine culture. Any plan to
reduce IPV must address the underlying factors that make
families vulnerable, and, therefore, must seek to, A, empower
military spouses financially; B, eliminate sexist attitudes
within the military; and C, combat social isolation.
We must collectively work to address the upstream causes of
military spouse unemployment, including a lack of affordable
childcare, the unpredictability of service member day-to-day
job demand, and hiring and promotion discrimination.
Eliminating sexism from the military will require systemic
cultural reform. We, therefore, encourage Congress to implement
the recommendations made by the Fort Hood Independent Review
Committee to alleviate instances of sexual harassment, assault,
and gender discrimination across the services.
Finally, to combat social isolation, Congress ought to work
with community-based military support organizations to bolster
Active Duty military family members a sense of belonging to
their local civilian community.
I would, again, like to thank the distinguished members of
this subcommittee for their efforts to address this deeply
troubling issue.
IPV is a crime, and it is neither a normal nor an
acceptable byproduct of military lifestyle. Blue Star Families
applaud this subcommittee's work to protect military family
members from these acts of violence.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Strong can be found in the
Appendix on page 53.]
Ms. Speier. Thank you, Ms. Strong. Your data was
compelling. We want to hear from Brenda Farrell, a previous
witness of our committee. She is the director of Defense
Capabilities and Management Team for the GAO. Ms. Farrell.
STATEMENT OF BRENDA FARRELL, DIRECTOR, DEFENSE CAPABILITIES AND
MANAGEMENT TEAM, GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
Ms. Farrell. Madam Chair, Ranking Member Gallagher, and
members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to
discuss GAO's recently issued report on domestic abuse
prevention and response in the military.
Domestic abuse can result in devastating personal
consequences and is a significant public health issue that
causes substantial societal costs. DOD has stated that domestic
abuse is incompatible with military values and reduces mission
readiness.
My written statement today summarizes a report issued
earlier this month on domestic abuse in the military, which
included 32 recommendations to DOD. DOD concurred with each of
the recommendations. My statement focuses on some of the key
findings in that report. Let me briefly summarize it.
My statement is divided into two parts: The first addresses
the extent that DOD has met statutory requirements to collect
and report data on reports of domestic abuse. DOD met a
statutory requirement to collect and report data for incidents
that met its criteria for domestic abuse. But as noted earlier
by the chair, it was not collected and reported accurate data
for the number and type of all domestic abuse allegations we
are seeing. As a result, DOD is unable to assess the scope of
alleged abuse and the rate of substantiation.
To address these challenges, we recommended that DOD
clarify its guidance to the services for submitting data and
develop a quality control process to ensure complete and
accurate data on allegations of abuse.
In addition, we found that while there has been a statutory
requirement since 1999, DOD has not collected comprehensive
data on allegations of domestic violence, a subset of domestic
abuse that constitutes criminal offenses under the Uniform Code
of Military Justice, and related actions taken by commanders.
Since 2015, DOD has made an effort to aggregate these data
at the Department level. However, the data collected by DOD do
not cover the full scope of acts that may be considered
domestic violence.
Further, nearly half of the non-pending command actions
were categorized as ``other,'' making it impossible to know if
these allegations were unfounded, or if the incidents were not
prosecutable for other reasons. To address these challenges, we
recommended that DOD evaluate, and if needed, clarify, or
adjust the responsibilities for tracking domestic violence
allegations and related command actions.
The second part of my statement addresses the extent that
DOD and the military services have implemented and overseen
domestic abuse prevention and response activity. We found that
gaps exist in key areas, including creating awareness of
domestic abuse, reporting options and resources, allegation
screening, victim risk assessment, and commanders' disposition
of incidence. For example, we found that the military services
perform limited oversight of commanders' disposition of
domestic violence incidents referred to as command actions.
These command actions can have significant implications for
victims and alleged abusers.
For example, a commander's decision to pursue a court
martial, nonjudicial punishment, administrative action, or no
action, can impact victims' eligibility for transitional
compensation benefits, and whether the alleged abusers are
subject to the Lautenberg Amendment restricting firearms
possession.
Currently, the Uniform Code of Military Justice authorizes
commanders at the lowest level to determine the initial
disposition for nonsexual domestic violence incidents. A DOD
official told us that as of November 2020, officials were not
aware of any initiatives within DOD to study risks associated
with the current disposition model, or the feasibility of
potential alternatives. Performing such an assessment could
provide the Department and the military services with a better
understanding of such risks and their resulting potential
impacts.
As a result, we recommended that DOD assess the potential
risks associated with its current disposition model for
domestic violence incidents and the feasibility of potential
alternatives that may respond to such risks. Madam Chair, that
concludes my statement. I will be pleased to take questions
when you or the other members are ready.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Farrell can be found in the
Appendix on page 70.]
Ms. Speier. Thank you for your presentations. Now, I have
the opportunity to ask questions of our panelists.
Let me start by asking Ms. Logan. It appears from your
testimony that [inaudible] were and the resources [inaudible]
an accurate statement?
Ms. Logan. I am sorry, Congresswoman Speier, it cut up a
little bit, the question. Could you repeat that, please?
Ms. Speier. Of course. Based on your testimony, it appears
that for that shouldn't be [inaudible] resources were misused.
[Inaudible] and I am wondering is there any kind of resource
that is truly there for you. [Inaudible].
Ms. Logan. I believe your question is in regards to
resources that were shared with me and what resources I used.
Is that correct?
Ms. Speier. Yes.
Ms. Logan. Okay. I am sorry. There seems to be a bit of a
delay. So the living off base, and only hearing what my ex-
spouse of the military, I did not know of resources. I, at that
time, did not know that I can go to the family advocacy office.
It wasn't until actually a counselor that my ex-husband agreed
to go to, when she reached out to the family advocacy because
she was concerned for my safety, when they reached out to me,
then I became familiar with that resource.
The--my ex-husband's command did not share that resource
with me. And, so, it was at that time that I found out about
that. I was--I did not know many resources outside of that.
When I did decide to bring things forward, what I knew was of
my family advocate advisor, and they were a great resource. I
will say that she was a great resource. But outside of that, I
was not offered any other resources.
Ms. Speier. [Inaudible] a long time, is that correct?
Ms. Logan. Yes. He was in--I did not meet him until later
in his career. He had been in the military, I believe, since--
he went in shortly after high school, after he got his GED
[General Educational Development Test], I believe. So he had
been in the military for quite some time. I met him when he was
an E-8 going into E-9.
Ms. Speier. Your testimony for other spouses as well
[inaudible] term military that witness [inaudible] reported?
Ms. Logan. No. So around the time of our divorce, I was
able to connect with some of the previous relationships, and
they shared their testimony with me, and it was at that time
that I found out that each one of them had experienced alleged
abuse by my ex-husband. They each shared they were too afraid
to bring things forward to the military. We all were told that
he could lose his job, he could lose his right to carry, he
could lose everything. And as Ms. Strong shared, you rely--you
don't have a job, you don't know what you are going to do. And
so, you are a bit afraid of bringing things forward because of
that fear that they could lose their job, and then you could
lose your support. At the same time, you just want it to stop,
and you want help.
They--I believe one did mention something to a higher
command. I do not believe--she did not bring things fully. A
full--she didn't file a full complaint is my understanding. But
she did mention something to a higher command. They, I believe,
made him go to anger management. I believe my ex-husband
laughed it off and didn't take it seriously.
[Audio malfunction.]
Ms. Escobar. Madam Chair, I think we might have lost you.
Is anyone else hearing the chairwoman's audio?
Mr. Gallagher. I cannot hear the audio.
Mr. Veasey. I cannot hear.
Ms. Escobar. Okay. So staff, could you alert the chairwoman
and offer some guidance?
Ms. Strong. She is back.
Ms. Speier. Actually, I have moved now to a secure location
here. Thank you, Ms. Logan. Again, we will now move to Ranking
Member Gallagher.
Mr. Gallagher. Thank you so much. Ms. Logan, again, thank
you for sharing your story and, you know, the courage that that
takes. Do you think our local installation commander should
engage the local community to better understand the resources
off base in the local community that might be available? Might
that have helped in your case or in other cases?
Ms. Logan. I think there can be better communication
between the local resources and the military resources. In, you
know, civilian-wise when I brought stuff forward, too, I don't
think the full resources were shared with me, too, because one
of the police officers didn't fully believe my incident. But,
yes, I agree there could be better communication between the
two.
Mr. Gallagher. And then in your testimony, you indicated
that you didn't charge--you didn't file charges of domestic
abuse immediately after the incident. Based on what you know
now, how would you advise victims in a similar situation?
Ms. Logan. I would advise to do so. I think, initially, as
I shared, you are very scared, and you are very scared of how
they might react. You are very scared. I was not shared that I
could file charges of that. That was not told to me by the
civilian police officers or my lawyer at the beginning. So, I
would advise to do so because, you know, from my experience, I
was questioned, well, why didn't you? Why didn't you? Why
didn't you?
Mr. Gallagher. Thank you. Ms. Farrell, thank you for your
testimony. A number of the recommendations in the GAO report on
domestic abuse indicate, as you alluded to in your testimony,
that DOD has significant issues with data, with domestic
violence data in terms of reporting, collection, tracking,
guidance, standardization, the quality control. As we sift
through all of the recommendations, in your opinion, you know,
what should be the first actions, the priority actions that DOD
takes to fix these issues?
Ms. Farrell. Thank you for that question. There is much
work for DOD to do, and we hope they use the report as a
roadmap to correct the deficiencies that we are pointing out.
But I would think that if you tried to characterize solutions
for the issues related to the data, they basically fall into
two categories: guidance and accountability. As we noted, we
don't know the full scope of all the allegations and the types
of allegations of domestic abuse in the military because the
services use different approaches to count the allegations. Two
of the services, you know, count each allegation associated
with a report separately. The other two count multiple
allegations from that one report. So two of the services could
be undercounting, and there is other coding issues with the
Navy that prevent us from understanding what the type of abuse
is being performed.
So clarifying the guidance to make sure you know what you
want to collect. And in the case of domestic violence, putting
someone in charge that can work across boundaries to obtain the
information on domestic violence, because that data does exist
on domestic violence. It just hasn't been going forth to the
right office to manage it.
Mr. Gallagher. Thank you. That is very helpful. And in the
short time I have left, Ms. Strong, are you aware of any
programs in the civilian community that are comparable to DOD's
domestic violence programs that could be used perhaps as
benchmarks for success, as kind of gold standards that we might
emulate?
Ms. Strong. Thank you, Ranking Member Gallagher. I am not
aware of any gold standard programs. I know that there are
many, many community programs that support victims of domestic
violence and intimate partner violence, but I am not aware of
any in particular that should be held up as exemplars.
Mr. Gallagher. Well, I appreciate it, and I yield my
remaining seconds back.
Ms. Speier. I thank the gentleman. Ms. Houlahan is now
recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. Houlahan. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I hope that my
visiting puppies are not going to be too much of a problem.
They are just starting to bark right now. I really also want to
say thank you to all for coming today and sharing your story,
particularly, Ms. Logan. It actually brought me back to being a
military kid, to having a military mom, moving a lot, and to
being a family who were under an enormous amount of stress. And
my mom was kind of always the squadron, you know, wife, the
squadron XO's [executive officer's] wife, the CO's [commanding
officer's] wife, the commanding officer of the base wife. And
all of the kinds of things that you are talking about have
brought back really difficult memories, and I am appreciative
of you sharing them.
I want to associate myself with Mr. Gallagher's questions
and remarks, which is what is it that we can do to find best
practices and standards of other industries and environments
that are similar to the very isolating environment that goes to
be a military spouse? Is there anything that we can, you know,
rack our brains on to find something that is quite so
singularly isolating? It is a perfect word as it is to be alone
and moving possibly every single year to a new environment
separated from your family. So I will put that to the side.
My questions, however, one question is for Dr. Strong. In
your testimony, you talked about, you know, kind of the idea of
gender tropes and the correlation, the strong correlation that
there is a military gender discrimination to female members of
the service. And I want to make sure that we acknowledge that
that is an issue. That this issue of kind of gender tropes,
writ large, is an issue in our military that is increasingly
having more and more members who are female.
Beyond the acknowledgment that we should make that this
exists, is there anything else that the services can do about
kind of changing that culture, that--well, frankly, toxic
culture that involves gender tropes, traditional gender tropes?
And that is for Dr. Strong.
Ms. Strong. Yes, ma'am. Thank you for the question. I very
much appreciate the attention that you are bringing to the
environment and the military culture. I do think that that is--
if we are going to prevent intimate partner violence in a
number--any number of other issues, that is one of the places
that we do have to start.
As I mentioned in my testimony, looking at the
recommendations from the Fort Hood Independent Review
Commission, is a great place to start. They have a lot of
really good recommendations to implement across not only the
Army, but the other services as well.
Also, I would suggest looking at ways to continue to build
belonging in the community and finding support for those
military families so that there is a place to go. As Ms. Logan
mentioned, there is--often the communication that they get is
from the service member. And if the service member is the
person who is perpetrating, then they are not going to be
getting good information there. So building that sense of
belonging for spouses and families, so they know the resource,
and they have a place to go is also a good place to start.
Thank you.
Ms. Houlahan. You are welcome. And I also wanted to add my
support for trying to find a way to harmonize data to the
degree that we can across the DOD to make sure that even in our
system, to Ms. Farrell, to make sure that we are standardizing
the way that we assess data. I was fortunate enough to be on
the trip with the chairwoman to Fort Hood, and one of the
things I was struck by was an increased awareness of the fact
that the police force outside of the base needed to be better
at communicating within the base to talk about things like
soldiers who were AWOL [absent without leave]. I am wondering
what the analog is there to make sure that we are communicating
across base lines or, post lines, from the service MPs
[Military Police] to the police as well. And maybe this is
something, Ms. Farrell, I was wondering if you can comment on
how we can standardize or harmonize that across the DOD?
Ms. Farrell. Are you talking in terms more about the data,
or are you talking in terms more about that civilian military
coordinated response?
Ms. Houlahan. It is both in the sense that the data is an
aggregation of a lot of people's experiences. And there are the
individual, you know, incidences or contacts between civilian
law enforcement and spouses or military families. And, you
know, that is the one-on-one thing, but there also is the
aggregate, which is--you kind of wish--I was struck by the fact
that the Fort Hood law enforcement sort of withdrawning their
information over the wall and wondering what happened to it
after it went over the wall. I can imagine that it would be the
same kind of concern with this kind of information as well.
Ms. Farrell. There needs to be better military-civilian
coordination. I mean, it is known that it is an effort on both
parts for the prevention and the response. And there are
numerous examples along the lines that we are talking about,
especially protective orders which has come up earlier. Some
within the military, including the commanders, do not realize
that a violation by an Active Duty service member of a civilian
protective order is punishable under the Uniform Code of
Military Justice. And that is something that could be corrected
with the services, the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force
putting in their regulations as is required by the DODI
[Department of Defense Instruction], the process to punish
violators of both military and civilian protective orders.
So, to date, only the Marine Corps has done that. So that
is a big gap. And because those regulations don't define the
responsibilities for prosecuting those who have violated those
military and civilian orders, some spouses, or intimate
partners, would not think about going to the military for help
when there has been a violation of that civilian order. There
is much more, but I know you have got other questions.
Ms. Houlahan. Thank you. No, I appreciate it. In fact, I
have to yield back, but thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ms. Speier. The gentlelady's time has expired.
Ms. Farrell, just for clarification purposes, you have made
recommendations to the Department as a result of this report.
Have they responded yet?
Ms. Farrell. Yes, they have. They were provided a draft
report before it was publicly issued, and they did agree with
all of the recommendations. We will continue to monitor those
recommendations, as you know, to understand that they do take
actions to meet the intent.
Ms. Speier. All right. Thank you.
Mrs. Bice, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mrs. Bice. Well, thank you, Madam Chair, for hosting
today's important hearing. And thank you to all of the
witnesses for being here today.
Domestic abuse and domestic violence impacts far too many
Americans. The CDC estimates that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men
will experience some form of domestic violence or abuse in
their lifetime. And I think it is imperative that we diligently
work to address this issue within the DOD to ensure that the
policies and the programs are in place to prevent these
horrific incidents from occurring and to rapidly address them
when they do occur.
My first question is to Ms. Logan. You mentioned in your
testimony that you had an advocate that helped guide you after
you started the process of charges against your ex-husband. Do
you believe that appointing an advocate early on to help a
spouse in a domestic violence or domestic abuse situation would
be helpful? Maybe someone who is independent of the military?
Ms. Logan. Yes, I think what helped me with her instance is
that she had also experienced domestic abuse, and she was
familiar with the military. So her knowledge of both avenues
was very beneficial for me. And because I did not know a lot of
the military protocol and resources, she was able to provide
that. So, yes, I do believe that would be a benefit.
Mrs. Bice. So providing something like that DOD-wide do you
think may be a great, sort of, assistance for those victims?
Ms. Logan. Yes, I believe that--what I came across is it
was either somebody that knew the military or knew about abuse
and didn't know about both. So the more that you could appoint
that know about both I think would help find those solutions
and find those gaps, and even discover, you know, knowing that
history of abuse, knowing what the signs are and what the red
flags are to maybe try to bring it to light earlier before an
incident happens.
Mrs. Bice. Great. Thank you for that.
Dr. Strong, you mentioned in your testimony that there is a
connection with PTSD and domestic abuse and domestic violence.
My question to you--and maybe it is a little bit of conjecture,
but do you believe that we are addressing the PTSD issues so
that we don't see DV [domestic violence] or domestic assault on
the back end?
Ms. Strong. I appreciate the question. Thank you. I am not
certain that we are doing all that can be done to address PTSD
and other issues of mental health because it isn't simply PTSD,
it is also other mental health diagnoses and substance abuse.
And I think that also involves only addressing the stigma of
accessing services for those conditions or issues, but also
addressing--providing resources so that those substance abuse
mental health underlying disorders can be addressed prior to
before something extends into a domestic violence or intimate
partner violence incident. Thank you for the question.
Mrs. Bice. Thank you. And then my last question is really
for any of you. If you--could you share your perspectives on
whether the DOD is doing enough to protect children in
households where domestic or intimate partner violence is
occurring. We have talked a lot about spouses, but children are
sort of, I think, behind the scenes, and that is such a crucial
piece. So what can we be doing to make sure that those children
are being protected as well?
Ms. Farrell. I will go first. Can you hear me?
Mrs. Bice. Yes.
Ms. Farrell. We actually issued a report related to this
topic on child abuse. I think you are talking about children
whose parents could be abused. But after we did issue a report
looking at military children who were victims of child abuse
and found many of the similar findings that we are talking
about today connected with the framework to manage things. Like
the Incident Determination Committee at the installation level,
when they first get an incident, they determine if it should be
counted as child abuse, just as the same if they would look at
domestic abuse to see if it should be counted. And we found
problems with that structure. That committee last year and made
recommendations about the composition of that committee. We
thought medical personnel should be included to make sure a
victim needed medical services, that those would be rendered.
So we had a host of recommendations in that report as well
to address that issue. But there is definitely some overlap
about protection of the children, whether they are in the
household, experiencing this with the other family members, or
they are the victims themselves.
Mrs. Bice. Thank you, Ms. Farrell.
Madam Chair, I yield back.
Ms. Speier. The gentlelady's time has expired.
The gentlelady from Texas is recognized for 5 minutes. Ms.
Escobar.
Ms. Escobar. Thank you so much, Madam Chair. And I want to
express my gratitude to our chairwoman for having such an
important hearing. And to our panelists, for sharing this
really critical information, information, frankly, that
confirms what so many of us already know and understand about
the failures that exist within the military organization.
Ms. Logan, I would like to start my questions with you, and
I want to thank you for sharing your painful experiences with
this committee, and as well as with the public that is watching
at home. I represent a congressional district that is home to
Fort Bliss, one of the biggest military installations in the
United States. And so, you know, I know from having spoken with
constituents, and as well, with service members, that this is a
problem everywhere, including here on our military
installation.
But, Ms. Logan, one of the things that you mentioned that I
would like to focus on a little bit, you mentioned talking
about other survivors, and about what they had heard back. And
I wrote down that what they heard back was the fears around
losing--the spouse losing the job, or the career essentially
being over if abuse was reported. And, you know, obviously, it
has to get reported. We don't want it to--we also want to try
to address it as quickly as possible.
Do you think that if folks on military installations, if
support that was available for you, if there had been
intervention with your husband, do you think that could have
helped address the abuse situation? Is there something that we
can do, or that the DOD can do at the very front end that tries
to help mitigate, not just the abuse, but things spiraling out
of control?
Ms. Logan. Thank you for your question. And I apologize for
the lawnmower noise going on. It is a difficult question to
answer. My understanding is research with individuals who are
abusive. It is such a small percentage that actually changed.
So it is very hard to say that if they were to come in and
intercede and try to bring some source of treatment, it is hard
to say that that would--could have potentially slowed down or
stopped other incidences after the fact.
I think knowledge to know that there is protection that can
be offered for people to come forward, you live in such a state
of not wanting to do anything to make them upset that coming
forward is just one--another thing that will--so to know that
there is some protection offered to keep you safe in coming
forward, I don't know how to get that to the victims. That is a
difficult question. But I think that is important to know that
there is stuff in place to help protect them in bringing things
forward.
Ms. Escobar. I appreciate that. You make a very valid
point. You know, one of the other areas of concern is that 70
percent of married Active Duty service members live off
installations, making it very easy for them to feel isolated
from resources and outreach programs.
Obviously, you did not have--you know, you weren't provided
with the kind of support and programs that you needed. What can
we do for families who live off of installations to ensure that
you do have access to that information about resources that can
protect you, keep you and your children safe?
Ms. Logan. That is a great question, and one that I have
thought over and over to try to come up with an answer to
myself, because I know there is programs there, I know the
information is there, I know we can't always go to the, you
know, open houses that they have to welcome new people to an
installation. I don't know if mailing stuff to the home, that
can get lost. I apologize. I don't think I have a clear answer.
It is something I continue to think about on an ongoing basis,
because there needs to be a solution to reach them. But it is--
I don't have that clear answer as to how yet, and I apologize.
Ms. Escobar. Oh, no, no. No apology. Amy, it is on us. We
have got to figure this out for you.
Dr. Strong, I think I saw your hand go up. Did you want to
respond to that?
Ms. Strong. I would love that. Thank you very much for the
opportunity.
Ms. Speier. Can you do it in 30 seconds, please.
Ms. Strong. I will be as quick as I can. I think one of the
keys is building connections in the community. When we ask in
our survey where you go for help, people don't go to resources,
they go to their families and friends, they go to their local
connections. So we need to build those connections for spouses
in the communities that they live in, so that they can go to a
neighbor and say, I am having this issue, what do I do? The
neighbors, the friends, the local connections are the ones who
have those resources.
Ms. Escobar. Thank you so much. And thank you for
indulging, Madam Chair. I yield back.
Ms. Speier. Of course. Ms. Logan, were you ever required to
provide your email address to the installation, to the command?
Ms. Logan. I don't remember. I apologize. I know--I am
assuming they had when I got my spousal--the ID
[identification]. I am trying to recall. I don't remember. I
know I would meet command, and my only interaction with them
would be at certain functions. My ex-spouse did not like going
to those functions, so we didn't always go to every function. I
was invited--yeah.
Ms. Speier. All right. Thank you. I think that is part of
the solution is requiring that the spouse has--that their email
is provided so that the family advocacy program can actually,
you know, provide information to them, whether they need it or
not.
All right. Mr. Fallon is recognized for 5 minutes. Mr.
Fallon, I see your camera is on, but you are AWOL. All right.
All right.
Is Mr. Jackson available? Mr. Jackson?
All right. Well, we will turn to both of them once they
return.
I think Ms. Strickland is next. Ms. Strickland, I think you
are muted.
Mr. Fallon does not have questions.
Ms. Strickland.
Ms. Escobar. Madam Chair, I don't see her on the----
Ms. Speier. Yeah, she was here earlier.
Mr. Veasey is next. You are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Veasey. Thank you, Madam Chair. I wanted to ask Dr.
Strong, specifically, about just how the military handles, you
know, incidents as they occur on a single basis. A personal
story. I can remember years ago, I was about 20, 21 years old
at a friend's house, and we all had to leave the house because
her mom had her friend coming over. And the friend was in some
kind of distress. And when we left, I asked what was happening,
and she said that her husband is a police officer and he beats
her up really badly. And whenever she calls the police, they
come over and say, we are going to walk around the corner with
him so he can cool off.
And when we were at Fort Hood recently--I was on the CODEL
[congressional delegation] to Fort Hood a couple of weeks ago--
and one of the MPs that we spoke to said something that
reminded me of that day. And I still couldn't believe it,
because now, police departments don't routinely do that. I am
not saying it never happens anymore, but now even if the person
doesn't want to press charges, if they see that there has been
evidence of a domestic abuse, somebody is going to go to jail.
And so, when the MP told us that oftentimes he has to tell
people hey, you know, why don't we, why don't we cool off, or
there is a cooling off period. And, really, it kind of
surprised me.
How prevalent is it to have people say, you know, we are
just--you just need to cool off? And if the person that is
being abused doesn't want to cooperate, what are the protocols
put in place for the military to still act, even if there is no
cooperation like can sometimes happen in the civilian world?
Ms. Strong. Thank you for that question, Representative
Veasey. I am afraid I don't have the answer to that. I don't
know enough about the protocols for the MP response or the
civilian police or law enforcement response.
Ms. Speier. Ms. Farrell, do you have any response?
Mr. Veasey. Yeah. I would love to hear if Ms. Farrell has a
response, yeah.
Ms. Speier. You are muted. Ms. Farrell, you are muted.
Ms. Farrell. I can address part of it, sir. I don't know
the protocol if it comes through the law enforcement, except
once law enforcement, including the MPs are aware of it, that
should trigger some type of investigation, even if it--after
the investigation, it doesn't go anywhere. But the first step
is that it should be reported to the family advocacy program at
the installation level. And sometimes at the installation
level, it is coming from law enforcement. Sometimes it is
coming from the command. There are different avenues.
It is at that screening that often we found incidents are
being screened out inappropriately, that that initial screening
says that all incidents should go forward to the Incident
Determination Committee unless there is no possibility that the
incident meets the DOD criteria. It is very basic at that
stage, but we found incidents where officials at installations
were acknowledging that if they felt there had been no impact
to the victim, they did not move that incident forward to the
committee.
If they felt that there was pushing and shoving and it
could have been self-defense, they did not move it forward. In
both of those incidents, the Incident Determination Committee
is supposed to determine that.
So, it should be reported, but regardless of whether it is
the MP that is witnessing it or some other person that is with
law enforcement. I hope that----
Mr. Veasey. Even if the person is not cooperating, you are
saying there should still be something?
Ms. Farrell. Yes.
Mr. Veasey. Okay.
Ms. Farrell. That is another situation with the screening
that often the people at the installation level will say, well,
the individual recanted, and so there was nothing to it, but it
still should go forward to that Incident Determination
Committee.
Mr. Veasey. Thank you.
Madam Chair, I yield back.
Ms. Speier. The gentleman yields back.
We can do a brief second round if anyone has any additional
questions they would like to ask of the panel. Doesn't appear
to be. I have one last question.
Ms. Farrell, you talked just now about the Incidents Review
Committee. It sounds like, from what I have read, that they are
not being instituted appropriately, or not being instituted at
all. Is that correct?
Ms. Farrell. The Incident Determination Committee is an
algorithm that is required by DOD for all the services. It has
been for years. The Army is the only service that has not fully
implemented the IDC. So there could be some inconsistencies in
outcomes or treatments that are provided to the victims, for
example, because of that inconsistency right now with the Army
lagging behind the other services.
Ms. Speier. All right. And, finally, you indicated that 50
percent of the incidents are reflected as ``other.'' That would
mean that about half of these cases are subject to NJP [non-
judicial punishment] or some other form of review or penalty
or----
Ms. Farrell. No. It is actually 43 percent. It is over
7,000 cases that have been decided. We don't know. The category
is so broad, it could be that the command did not think the
evidence was there. It could be it is not the right
jurisdiction. It could be death. It could be a variety of
reasons why there was no action taken. Our point is, you don't
know which ones were unfounded by the command in other reasons.
There is a category for court martials and non-judicial
punishments and admin actions.
Ms. Speier. So this is--the other category is what--we
really just don't know what it is.
Ms. Farrell. That is correct. It is so broad, and that is
the reason we say there is very limited oversight because the
percentage is so high. Obviously, there is going to be some in
that category, but we wish we had more information in order to
actually understand the command actions.
Ms. Speier. Thank you. I see that Mr. Kim has joined us. Do
you have any questions you would like to ask the first panel?
Mr. Kim. No questions at this point, Chairwoman.
Ms. Speier. Thank you. All right. I want to thank all of
our panelists. You have been generous with your time and your
testimony and compelling, so very much appreciate all of your
information that you have provided. If you have additional
thoughts you want to share with us, please feel free to contact
us. We are certainly going to incorporate much of your
recommendations as we consider the NDAA this year. So thank you
again.
We will now transfer to our next panel, and the members of
our next panel include Ms. Patricia Barron, who is the Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Community and
Family Policy at DOD; Colonel Steve Lewis, the Family Advocacy
Program Manager of the Army; Colonel Andrew Cruz, the Chief,
Air Force Family Advocacy Program at the Air Force; Mrs.
Crystal Griffen, the Deputy Director of Family Support at the
United States Navy; and Ms. Lisa Eaffaldano who is the
Assistant Branch Head of Prevention and Clinical Services at
the U.S. Marine Corps.
Welcome, all of you. We will begin with your testimony, Ms.
Barron. Ms. Barron, are you with us?
Ms. Barron. Can you hear me now?
Ms. Speier. We can hear you now. Yes, we can. Thank you.
STATEMENT OF PATRICIA BARRON, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF
DEFENSE FOR MILITARY COMMUNITY AND FAMILY POLICY, OFFICE OF THE
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE; ACCOMPANIED BY COL STEVE LEWIS, USA,
FAMILY ADVOCACY PROGRAM MANAGER, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY; COL
ANDREW A. CRUZ, USAF, CHIEF, AIR FORCE FAMILY ADVOCACY PROGRAM,
DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE; CRYSTAL GRIFFEN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR
FAMILY SUPPORT, COMMANDER, NAVY INSTALLATIONS COMMAND; AND LISA
EAFFALDANO, ASSISTANT BRANCH HEAD, PREVENTION AND CLINICAL
SERVICES, UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
Ms. Barron. Thank you. Chairwoman Speier, Ranking Member
Gallagher, and members of the subcommittee, my colleagues and I
thank you for your steadfast support of our service members and
their families, and we appreciate this opportunity to appear
before you today to discuss the Department's efforts in
addressing this very serious issue of domestic abuse within the
military community.
Collectively, we represent the many dedicated family
advocacy program professionals across the Department of Defense
who do work tirelessly every day to support our service members
and their families, to keep them safe and resilient.
Ma'am, you have already introduced my panel, so I won't
take up time there, but I do want to say to the witnesses on
the previous panel, and especially to Ms. Logan, please know
that we appreciate this opportunity to hear from you firsthand.
And we will take your stories, your recommendations, and
personal experiences back to our respective teams to inform our
important work, so thank you so much again.
The Department of Defense is committed to enhancing the
welfare and well-being of our service members and their
families which includes preventing and responding to domestic
abuse and serious harm to our children. As well as it being the
very right thing to do, it is also imperative to the readiness,
wellness, and resiliency of our force.
As a 30-year military spouse, a registered nurse working in
the community mental health field, a lifelong advocate for
service members and their families, and a parent of a former
female soldier who is now a military spouse herself, I do
consider this issue of the utmost importance to the department.
And I have seen the tremendous negative impacts that can result
when not properly prevented, recognized, and treated. I believe
my breadth of experience, coupled with the continued close
collaboration of the services and our service colleagues, will
help bring a balanced approach and a renewed energy to
addressing this issue.
I do know I speak for all of us today when I say that we
are fully committed to serving our service members and families
in this regard. We have made some good progress, and positive
strides since the last time we appeared before the
subcommittee, but I do acknowledge that there is more work to
be done. I can share with you collectively that we have focused
on upstream prevention, incorporating evidence-informed
strategies, and approaches recommended by the Centers for
Disease Control, and we have also focused on oversight. We have
been working hard on standardizing processes and procedures,
and we wholeheartedly support the conclusions reached in the
GAO report. The Department concurs with all 32 recommendations
which impact the Office of the Secretary of Defense and
individual services.
Again, we appreciate this opportunity to speak with you
today on these issues and others within the family advocacy
portfolio. And before I close, I know I speak for my colleagues
when I say thank you to the members of the first panel for
their advocacy and for sharing their respective experiences,
and Ms. Logan, especially you for having the courage to come
forward and sharing your story. Your voice will help us as we
move forward.
Chairwoman Speier, Ranking Member Gallagher, and the
members of the subcommittee, thank you again. We stand ready
for your comments and questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Barron can be found in the
Appendix on page 83.]
[The prepared statements of Colonel Lewis, Colonel Cruz,
Mrs. Griffen, and Ms. Eaffaldano can be found in the Appendix
beginning on page 95.]
Ms. Speier. All right. Thank you, Ms. Barron. You have
spoken on behalf of all of the services, as I understand it, so
we will now go to questions.
Let me ask you. Despite being a statutory requirement for
decades, can you explain why we still don't have an accurate
picture from DOD on the amount of domestic abuse incidents as
reported by GAO? What does the DOD need to get this done so we
can have a complete picture? And if you could respond to that
in a minute, please.
Ms. Barron. It is a great question, ma'am, and I want to
tell you that I received a briefing on this very subject when I
first got here in January of 2021. And I am personally
committed to making sure that this solution gets to fruition.
And we would be happy to get you--we have started on some of
the procedures that we need in order to get this done, and we
would be happy to inform your staff a little bit better--a
little bit later.
Ms. Speier. All right. We are going to stay on this because
we need to have complete data, and we are going to require
another meeting with you, maybe a briefing format, in the next
couple of months because this is--it is just really
unacceptable.
Ms. Barron. Yes, ma'am.
Ms. Speier. Colonel Lewis, the Army is the only service
that has not fully implemented the Incident Determination
Committee process that is required by law, and that all the
other services adopted in 2014. The Army continues to ask DOD
for extensions. I find that totally unacceptable. What are you
doing about it? Please unmute yourself.
Colonel Lewis. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. Yes. The Army
is the service behind for the Incident Determination Committee.
However, I do want to say that prior to the policy being
published, we asked for and received an exception to policy to
do a comprehensive study of the Incident Determination
Committee.
Ms. Speier. Actually, Colonel, we are not interested in
more studies. We want you to set up--this is required by law.
You should be setting up this Incident Determination Committee.
It should be populated, as is required by law, by medical
professionals, and by others within the service, and it is not
acceptable to do another study.
Colonel Lewis. Yes. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. The study
was completed, and we have drafted our policy, and it is now
sitting with senior leaders awaiting its final approval. We
also have a fully resourced implementation plan that we have
briefed to DOD, and we provide DOD quarterly updates on the
implementation plan. So, we are--when this policy is signed, we
are ready to launch our implementation to transition the
remaining installations that don't have an IDC.
We did launch the Incident Determination Committee at 10
installations which had the majority, 70 percent, of our cases
reviewed by the Incident Determination Committee when we did
the pilot study.
Ms. Speier. All right. I would like to ask each of the
services to weigh in on this question. The GAO report indicated
that 2,100 incidences between 2015 and 2019 met the DOD
criteria for severe, I underscore severe, physical abuse. Yet,
in 43 percent of these cases, command took no action against
the abuser. Installation officials told GAO that in some cases,
commanders looked the other way because they are too focused on
how the incident will affect the abuser's career, or the
command's operational need and not the victim's need or the
need to hold the abuser accountable. There is a conflict of
interest here that we have seen for years in the sexual assault
area.
If lower level commanders are conflicted and unwilling to
take decisive action against service members who engage in
severe physical abuse, then why shouldn't this disposition be
elevated to O6 or higher? Can I have your response? Colonel
Lewis.
Colonel Lewis. Yes. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. We do
acknowledge the findings of the GAO in looking at disposition
decisions, and we do look forward to working with DOD in
reviewing that, but it is premature for me to bring forward
policies, recommendations without having reviewed that with
Army senior leaders.
[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix
on page 131.]
Ms. Speier. Okay. But you didn't answer the question. Are
you not alarmed by the fact that in 43 percent of these cases,
that no action was taken, and it met the definition of severe
physical abuse? There is no need to answer that.
Mrs. Griffen, you are recognized. Your response.
Mrs. Griffen. Yes. Thank you, Chairwoman Speier. Basically,
this is outside of our area of responsibility, but we would
like to take the information to our proper Navy leadership for
an action.
[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix
on page 130.]
Ms. Speier. Well, I guess, then, the question is to Ms.
Barron. Why would you have someone here at this hearing who
can't respond to that question? Ms. Barron? My time is expiring
here, and I still want to hear from Ms. Eaffaldano from the
Marine Corps and Colonel Cruz.
[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix
on page 129.]
Ms. Eaffaldano. Thank you, Chairwoman Speier. This is Lisa
Eaffaldano from the Marine Corps. I would like to also thank
Ms. Logan for sharing her powerful testimony. FAP's [The Family
Advocacy Program's] primary focus is prevention and response,
which includes advocacy. FAP does not make recommendations to
the commander on how they hold a service member accountable. So
as far as that portion, I would have to defer to legal counsel
or the commanders. Thank you.
[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix
on page 130.]
Ms. Speier. All right. Colonel Cruz? You are muted, I
believe. We still can't hear you. All right. Maybe you can give
me a response that is written. Let me now move to Ranking
Member Gallagher.
[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix
on page 129.]
Mr. Gallagher. Thank you, Chairwoman Speier.
For all the witnesses, but starting with Ms. Barron and
then the service representatives. So we have a GAO report,
including 32 recommendations for actions that GAO just
testified they hope is sort of a blueprint for action. Is there
a plan of action at DOD with milestones that we can track your
progress on implementing GAO's recommendations?
Ms. Barron. Thank you for the question. We actually had
started implementing some of the recommendations before they
were even reported, if you will. So we have made some progress
on some, and actually getting close to fruition, currently
working on others. And we would be happy to give you, provide
you kind of a status, if you will, at a later time.
Mr. Gallagher. That would be helpful. And I assume you,
then--that process of tracking and implementation would be
standardized across the services?
Ms. Barron. We are working on standardizing across the
services, yes, sir.
Mr. Gallagher. Okay.
Ms. Barron. It is a challenge, as you know, but we are
working on it.
Mr. Gallagher. And I am not sure quite who to direct this
to, so Ms. Barron, maybe you can help me. How do you maintain
contact with the victims that you serve, so that you know your
programs are hitting the mark, and get feedback from the
communities most affected by this?
Ms. Barron. So, in general, and the services can answer
more specifically. In general, part of what needs to happen is
a good feedback mechanism for the victims that we serve. That
is done through the installation staff offices, but we also
have military family life counselors at all installations; as a
matter of fact, 2,300 of them at the moment. And that is
another avenue where families can give us the feedback that we
need.
Mr. Gallagher. Well, I guess I would direct that same
question to the services, because it is bound up in a bigger
question, I think, of how do you--how are we measuring the
effectiveness of our domestic violence programs. And it strikes
me that getting feedback from the people most affected is one
way to gauge whether we are actually having an impact. So I
just would ask that question on maintaining contact with the
victims we serve, and by extension, measuring our effectiveness
to the services. I will start with the Army, just because, you
know, it is a big Army.
Colonel Lewis. Thank you, Congressman Gallagher. I would
like to say that as Ms. Barron mentioned, so at the
installation level, the Family Advocacy Committee, led by the
garrison commander, has representatives from the coordinated
community response. And they look at, at least at the
installation level, program outcomes, mainly, and to hear the
voices of the victim from the victim advocates that are
communicating in that forum as well as the family advocacy
program managers. At the headquarters level, we do look at the
trends of reporting, but we also work with our medical
counterparts in looking at overall measures like treatment
completion as well.
Mr. Gallagher. Okay. Who--Marine Corps. Since I am a
Marine, I am going to pick on you.
Ms. Eaffaldano. Thank you, Congressman, for the question.
It is a very important one. So, the Marine Corps has just
completed, in calendar year 2020, an evaluation of our Family
Advocacy Program and New Parent Support Programs, and it was a
comprehensive evaluation that consisted of needs assessment,
provider surveys, measures of performance, and some measures of
effectiveness. So we just completed that, and we are preparing
to start some working groups with our installation Family
Advocacy Program and New Parent Support Programs.
Mr. Gallagher. And then, Colonel Cruz, I don't know if your
mute problems got fixed, but I would invite you to comment as
well.
Colonel Cruz. Thank you, sir. Hopefully you can hear me?
Mr. Gallagher. Yeah. Loud and clear.
Colonel Cruz. Yes, sir. So the Department of the Air Force
Family Advocacy Program uses domestic abuse victim advocates
that are vital to both coordinated community response to family
law treatment, and provide 24-hour, 7 days a week
administrative care to the victims. Along with that, we do have
client satisfaction surveys that we give to our families. We
also measure our effectiveness in our treatment by having child
abuse potential inventories and couple satisfaction inventories
pre and post, after they received treatment, and also feedback-
informed treatment. So those are some of the things we do in
the Air Force. Thank you.
Mr. Gallagher. Well, the Navy may be saved by the bell
here, because I have 15 seconds, and it is my first hearing as
ranking member, and I don't want to test the patience of the
chairwoman. So I will follow up with the Navy on that question
going forward, and yield back the 4 seconds I have remaining.
Ms. Speier. Actually, Ranking Member, you can certainly ask
the question, so----
Mr. Gallagher. Okay. Well, then, thank you. Thank you.
Let's hear from the Navy.
Mrs. Griffen. Thank you, Ranking Member Gallagher, and I
appreciate the question. And so the Navy is very concerned
about ensuring that our family members and our spouses and
victims have a voice. And the CNO [chief of naval operations]
directed the Navy family framework of governance board that
actually looks at the services that we provide to families. We
conducted a survey. 20,000 people, family members, responded,
basically identifying the need----
Ms. Speier. I think you are muted.
Mr. Gallagher. Yeah.
Ms. Speier. Unmute, please. There you go. So after the
20,000 surveyed, we lost you.
Mrs. Griffen. Yes. Thank you. And so we have the Navy
Family Framework, and we identified 22,000 people, family
members, that participated in the survey, both virtual and in
person. And we identified the need that we needed to have a
better connection with our families, and we developed an app
from that. And it contains all the resources that they need in
order to ensure that they are fully aware of the resources that
is available throughout the Navy, as well as giving them a
voice on providing us with feedback as to things that we need
to do as a service to support them.
Mr. Gallagher. Thank you very much. My time has expired.
Ms. Speier. All right. The gentleman's time has expired.
Let's move now to the gentlewoman from Texas, Ms. Escobar, for
5 minutes.
Ms. Escobar. Thank you, Madam Chair, and many thanks to our
witnesses.
For the services, I want to ask you a little bit more about
the metrics that you use to evaluate the effectiveness of your
respective military service domestic abuse awareness campaigns
and ask you also about your overall resources and outreach. Can
you each please detail those two things, the metrics that you
use to evaluate the effectiveness of your awareness programs,
and how do you get resources and outreach to our families.
Whoever wants to go first.
Colonel Lewis. Thank you, Ms. Escobar. This is Colonel
Lewis from the Army. So, I, first of all, want to say we heard
and we learned a lot from the hearing you had in 2019 and took
action from that where we talked about outreach to families. We
actually initiated a study with the RAND Corporation in order
to help us better understand the best practices to reach
families living off the installation, recognizing that 70
percent of the families lived off the installation, as well as
isolated families were more at risk. So, we have received some
initial findings from that study as it is going into its second
year of the study. And we continue to recognize that it is
important for us to reach out to families where they work,
play, and pray, stealing their words, and get to them there so
that we can provide services.
In terms of measuring the effectiveness of our programs, we
continue to look at just utilization rates of the information
shared, whether it is clicks on websites or information
distributed and disseminated at public gatherings.
Ms. Escobar. Okay. Thank you, Colonel Lewis.
Colonel Cruz.
Colonel Cruz. Yes, ma'am. Thank you for the question. So
the Department of the Air Force Family Advocacy Program gets
information to the spouses through the Department of the Air
Force Key Spouse Program, Newcomers Orientation, Patient and
Family Partnership Councils, collaboration with the community
violence prevention integrator. And with the violence
prevention integrator at each installation, they are to provide
information to families. We also work with all the helping
agencies in the community action team. And what we do is we
provide all available resources and put pamphlets together for
the installations.
Our metrics, as mentioned before, for treatment are how to
use potential inventories, and, also, a couple of satisfaction
inventories. We also have some secondary prevention tools that
we use in the New Parent Support Program to look at measures
and protectiveness as well. Thank you.
Ms. Escobar. Thank you, Colonel Cruz.
Mrs. Griffen.
Mrs. Griffen. Yes. Thank you for the question. In terms of
looking at what we provide in terms of getting outreach to our
families, we have a fleet and family support website at the
headquarters level where it identifies all of the resources
that we provide through our web pages. We also utilize
resiliency workshops that are available across the fleet, and
those workshops invite family members to be a part so we can
hear what about the needs are and address those at that time.
We also have family readiness groups that also work
directly with families to provide resources and information
across our portfolio to ensure that they have all the resources
and information they need, and we also have our ombudsman. Our
ombudsman serves the same purpose, but they do a little bit
more closer contact with the families to ensure that the
support is needed. Their integration into the military life is
significant and central to their role. We also look at metrics.
Our awareness campaigns, we do not look at doing a 1-year
campaign--I mean, a one-month campaign, but we really look at
an enduring effort.
And so those metrics are counted throughout the year where
we are identifying the number of surveys that we receive, and
how we are able to still do effectiveness in our outreach
regarding awareness months, and that is for child abuse as well
as domestic abuse.
Ms. Escobar. Thank you.
Ms. Eaffaldano, we only have about 10 seconds.
Ms. Speier. Go ahead and complete a few sentences.
Ms. Eaffaldano. Yes, ma'am. I will just highlight a few of
the effective campaigns that we do. We have a centralized
marketing strategy in the Marine Corps that we use, and we also
use a collaborative community response coordinated effort with
our partners on and off the installations. Additionally, we
highlight our national awareness months that is domestic
violence and child abuse, and we know in our mission, we have a
goal to continue to outreach our family members.
We do have measures of performance that we collect with our
feedback forms, and measures of effectiveness are really
difficult to get for prevention efforts and outreach. So that
is something that we are opening to hear how others do that and
to improve our efforts.
Ms. Escobar. Thank you, Madam Chair. I yield back.
Ms. Speier. The gentlewoman yields back. We now will
recognize Mrs. Bice from Oklahoma for 5 minutes.
Mrs. Bice. Thank you, Madam Chair.
This question is directed at Colonel Cruz. I represent
thousands of service members and civilian personnel who work at
Tinker Air Force Base. Could you tell me about how the Air
Force Family Advocacy Program works with the military families
where there is a known history of domestic abuse or domestic
violence, particularly as it pertains to ensuring the welfare
of children?
Colonel Cruz. Thank you for that question, ma'am. So the
Department of the Air Force mission with the Family Advocacy
Program is to build healthy communities through implementing
programs designed for prevention and treatment of domestic
violence and child abuse and neglect. So what happens at each
base is each incident is taken to our Incident Determination
Committee, which is our central registry board. And from the
central registry board, which is an administrative board, a
recommendation is made for--to see whether or not criteria was
met using DOD definitions for domestic abuse. And if the
definitions were met for criteria, then treatment is provided
for the family.
Throughout this process, we have domestic abuse victim
advocates that will be there for the victims and their families
to ensure that they get the resources they needed with
collaboration with the other base agencies like the legal
office, law enforcement, and some of the other helping
agencies, like chaplain and those other resources that are
available at each Air Force base. Thank you.
Mrs. Bice. Thank you. And, then, this question is for any
of our panelists here. Can you talk a little bit about the
differences with how your offices interact with families based
on whether they are on or off base and how that relationship
may influence the types of services that they are receiving?
Ms. Barron. If I might start. This is Patti from OSD
[Office of the Secretary of Defense]. Ma'am, what we really try
to do is reach our families that are off the installations
through Military OneSource, which is our very full program of
resources and information. Now, I know that it is not always
easy to access Military--it is very easy to access Military
OneSource, but it is not always easy to get the word out about
Military OneSource. And that is where we are thinking outside
the box about different opportunities and different ways that
we can make sure that our families, especially those outside--
that live outside the installation, are aware of Military
OneSource. It can lead to all sorts of support, all sorts of
help. It really is a great program. So let me let my service
counterparts talk a little bit more specifically.
Mrs. Bice. Thank you.
Colonel Lewis. Thank you, Congresswoman Bice. I want to say
that the COVID pandemic really gave us an opportunity to learn
some great lessons learned about reaching out to families,
especially when they are isolated, or in their shutdown period.
And we truly recognize that, one, we expanded on our virtual
presence using Facebook platforms to provide prevention
education and information, reaching out to families.
But the other thing that we found out was that virtual care
was very welcome by--virtual services was welcomed by victims,
especially those that had transportation problems or maybe
daycare problems. So we continue to use virtual care, virtual
healthcare delivery as needed to support the families as long
as the interviews and the sessions are not compromised by maybe
a perpetrator or offender that is overwatching or standing over
the victim during those assessments. But we still work through
those as part of our assessment with the victim.
Mrs. Bice. And if I may follow up, Colonel, do you expect
to continue to utilize those resources even after we have seen
an improvement in the pandemic?
Colonel Lewis. Yeah. That, again, was one of the great
lessons learned, that we have to continue to expand our virtual
presence, both for prevention efforts but also for our
treatment efforts. So that remains available for families as
they request.
Ms. Bice. Any of the other services want to comment?
Colonel Cruz. Ma'am, for the Department of the Air Force
Family Advocacy Program, we utilize services both on and off
base. We have mutual agreements with law enforcement, also
child protective services, and domestic shelters. So we work
hand in hand with the community to ensure that we provide a
safe environment for our victims and that we provide optimal
treatment as well, but we are always looking at ways to
improve.
And so, during the pandemic, we did have to use virtual
platforms, so what we have learned to do is virtual, like,
parenting training and virtual anger management and some
couples communication classes, all virtually, and also, the new
parent support program. We were all to meet moms at their homes
during the pandemic using virtual platforms as well. So that
has turned into be something that we will probably be using in
the future as we continue with the pandemic. Thank you.
Ms. Bice. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ms. Speier. The gentlewoman's time has expired.
Ms. Bice. I yield back.
Ms. Speier. The gentlewoman from Pennsylvania, Ms.
Houlahan, is recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. Houlahan. Hi, and thank you. And if it is okay, I would
like to start with a question for all of the service members
and maybe go kind of around the horn with this simple kind of
yes-or-no question. From the data that we understand right now,
are the rates of intimate partner violence higher in the
military than they are in the civilian sector? And if it is
okay, I will start with Colonel Lewis to say if they are, to
your knowledge, higher or lower or the same.
Colonel Lewis. Thank you, Congresswoman Houlahan, for the
question. I am going to have to take that for the record. I
don't have that data on hand.
[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix
on page 132.]
Ms. Houlahan. And to Colonel Cruz.
Colonel Cruz. So, ma'am, as far as the rates, I will have
to take that for the record. But the Department of the Air
Force Family Advocacy Program, you know, we are not sure what
the correlation is or what the factors are, but the Department
of the Air Force Family Advocacy Program, we will monitor the
situation and continue to respond and provide domestic violence
support to the victims to ensure they are safe.
[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix
on page 131.]
Ms. Houlahan. And from the Navy for Mrs. Griffen?
Mrs. Griffen. Yes. Thank you for the question. And this,
too, is out of our area of responsibility, but we will
certainly take it for the record and defer.
[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix
on page 131.]
Ms. Houlahan. And the Marine Corps, Ms. Eaffaldano. I hope
I pronounced that right.
Ms. Eaffaldano. Eaffaldano, ma'am.
Ms. Houlahan. Eaffaldano.
Ms. Eaffaldano. Thank you, Congresswoman. That is a great
question. I also will have to take that for the record as I
don't have the data on hand. However, we will not lose sight,
even if our numbers are lower, of offering the services that we
have available.
[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix
on page 131.]
Ms. Houlahan. And I ask these questions because I believe
that there is data, and I will welcome it when it comes back,
that would indicate that the level of sexual violence as well
as domestic violence is higher in our services than it is in
the civilian population. And I think that is one of the things
that I am interested in in following in my circular logic.
Societies that have higher domestic violence and family
conflict resolution tend to be more violent and more involved,
more than those who have lower family violence rates.
So this is something that is really concerning when your
business, you know, and I'm Air Force, when your business is
national security and readiness. And so, this is something that
really deserves our attention to kind of suss this out. And
assuming that we are, you know, a place that does care,
regardless of high, low, or in between, what kinds of steps are
we taken to address what is a culture, frankly, of kind of
toxic gender tropes to make sure that we are ready, and that
our military who are women who serve in uniform and their
families and the men who serve in uniform and their families
are safe? What are the specific steps that we are able to do to
address this masculinity, the issue that we are talking about
of domestic violence?
Ms. Barron. Ma'am, if I may. For OSD, we have contracted
with the RAND Corporation to look into just exactly that. What
are the factors of military family life or military life that
might lend themselves to domestic abuse and intermittent
partner violence, but the services might have more.
Ms. Houlahan. With my remaining time, are any of the
service members able to help me with that question? Our prior
panelists talked a little bit about sort of a culture of
gender, effectively stereotypes, male versus female
relationships and those sorts of things. And, so, I am trying
to follow up in the real world, you know, in the real service
to understand whether her testimony aligns with what we are
doing to address this issue.
Colonel Lewis. Congresswoman Houlahan, Colonel Lewis again.
Thank you. I think the Fort Hood Independent Review Committee,
along with the testimony today, that we heard today, again
points out that--it gives us an opportunity to really take a
deep look at the climate and culture of the Army. And the
Secretary of the Army did establish the people's first task
force to assess an action on the Fort Hood independent
recommendations, and climate and culture is part of that.
Ms. Houlahan. Thank you, sir. And any other folks?
Colonel Cruz. Ma'am.
Ms. Houlahan. Yes.
Colonel Cruz. For the Department of the Air Force Family
Advocacy Program, the victim-centric service and safety are
paramount. So no matter who the victim is, we are always
striving to improve our services to ensure airmen, guardians,
and their families are getting the best care possible. We will
continue to look at our processes and collaborate with our OSD
staff and other services to make sure that we meet the victims'
needs. Thank you.
Mrs. Griffen. Yes. I would like to speak on behalf of the
Navy. And so we have the culture of excellence, which basically
embodies an approach that we are looking at what right looks
like, and really spending more time on developing our sailors
and ensuring that we have them noted as signature behaviors,
and that is something that we are continuing to work at.
Ms. Houlahan. Thank you.
And with that, I yield back, and thank you, Madam Chair.
Ms. Speier. The gentlewoman yields back.
Do any of my colleagues wish to do a second round? Are
there any questions that any of you would like to follow up
with? Ranking Member Gallagher.
Mr. Gallagher. I have none. Thank you.
Ms. Speier. All right. I just have a couple.
Colonel Cruz, GAO found that the Air Force's training for
service members about domestic abuse does not cover the
required topics. What have you done to fix that?
Colonel Cruz. Yes, ma'am. So we are currently working on a
PowerPoint template to ensure that all of the topics are in the
template. One of the issues is the inconsistency, so we do
have--it is in our AFI [Air Force Instruction] to ensure that
this training is conducted, but it is not in our AFI, and so,
we are going to include in our AFI all the required topics.
The other thing that we are going to do to ensure
consistency is we are going to make it part of our
certification process. So it is basically our inspection
process, and we are going to monitor it to ensure that each
base and each installation has the training that the commanders
and senior enlisted are supposed to be getting.
Ms. Speier. Thank you. Thank you, Colonel.
Mrs. Griffen, the GAO report says that the Navy delivers
periodic training on domestic abuse at, quote, ``commander's
discretion,'' which sends me through the roof. Why is this
critical training discretionary, and will the Navy commit to
making it mandatory?
Mrs. Griffen. Yes. We currently have an updated policy
which was updated May 2020, and it does direct senior leader
advisors, those are our sailors that are E-7 and above, as well
as our commanders when they assume command, within 90 days to
receive this training. And this training does align with DOD
policies, and we have created a curriculum that covers all of
the 13 elements that are required for the training.
Ms. Speier. All right. So if I went back to the GAO, they
would say that you are now providing that as a mandatory
training, not at the discretion of the commander.
Mrs. Griffen. Yes, ma'am, Congresswoman Speier.
Ms. Speier. All right. My final question is for you, Ms.
Barron. One aspect of the Family Advocacy Program that
generates confusion among service members is its dual role in
providing support to victims and as a disciplinary institution.
This is especially dicey when both the intimate partners accuse
each other of abuse. Abused women have called my office who
have sought support services from family advocacy, and then
have been treated as though they were the perpetrator. Is this
a fundamental flaw in the design of the program, or are there
ways that the services could better clarify the various roles
and responsibilities that that has to service members and
military family members who seek services?
Ms. Barron. I think I am unmuted now. Yes. Ma'am, that is--
I agree with you. That is a very frustrating situation to be
in, when you go to get support, and then you get blocked
somehow. What I think we need to do is what we have started to
do, and that is making the commanders, making senior NCOs [non-
commissioned officers] aware of what staff does, how we support
victims, how every victim that comes to--anyone that comes
through that door that is reporting an incident needs to be
talked to, have the advocacy counselor create the safety plans,
and then move on to the Incident Determination Committee, so
that all reports of abuse are collected, and we can paint a
better picture to our command and to our services about what
might be going on, what trends are going on, and how to get
support to anyone that is telling us that there is an issue and
there is a problem, and they do not feel safe at home.
Ms. Speier. All right. But it does, I think, help us
recognize that you cannot serve, in this case, both the victim
and the servicemember or vice versa, so I think we are going to
have to look at that more closely. Those are all my questions.
Again, anyone else with questions? All right. Thank you all
for participating. This is an area that we are very concerned
about. I don't know that we solved every question here. I know
that GAO's report is something we are going to follow very
closely and really require compliance. It is not good enough to
say we are working on a plan or we are studying it. We need to
see consistency across the services. We need to see data that
is consistent, and every one of you should be prepared to
answer the question that Ms. Houlahan asked, which was, is it
worse in the military than in the civilian population, and the
answer is yes. So that should increase our interest in wanting
to try and fix this.
And with that, we will conclude the hearing. And we stand
adjourned. Thank you all for your participation.
[Whereupon, at 4:46 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
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A P P E N D I X
May 25, 2021
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PREPARED STATEMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD
May 25, 2021
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[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
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WITNESS RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS ASKED DURING
THE HEARING
May 25, 2021
=======================================================================
RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MS. SPEIER
Ms. Barron. As disposition decisions are an authority designated to
the Service level, respectfully refer the Committee to the Services'
responses. [See page 23.]
Ms. Barron. As disposition decisions are an authority designated to
the Service level, respectfully refer the Committee to the Services'
responses. [See page 23.]
Colonel Cruz. The Department of the Air Force Family Advocacy
Program (DAF FAP) Incident Determination Committee (e.g., Central
Registry Board for the DAF FAP) is chaired by an O-6, the Vice Wing
Commander, where a determination is made as to whether or not an
allegation meets DOD definitions for domestic abuse or child
maltreatment. This determination activates treatment recommendations,
it is not associated with administrative or judicial punishment. The
DAF FAP itself is a prevention and treatment program for domestic abuse
and child maltreatment, when it occurs among members of the household,
or intimate partners of our active duty service members. As such, we
support and protect victims and we provide evidence-informed treatment
to rehabilitate offenders who remain in the DAF and are not
incarcerated. The DAF FAP shares information with the service member's
Commander and the staff Judge Advocate about what occurred in the
family maltreatment incident. That information is then used by the
member's squadron commander and the military staff Judge Advocate to
take administrative or judicial action against service members who
engage in domestic abuse or child maltreatment.
This question falls in the Judge Advocate's purview, please also
see the JA's additional response below:
Combatting domestic violence is an item of great importance to the
Services and our service members, and we all have a role in ensuring
the proper outcome in every case. Regardless of rank, commanders at all
levels and the JAGs who advise them must be guided by the state of the
evidence in making determinations as to which course of action is
appropriate. A commander must evaluate the totality of the
circumstances and available evidence in order to make a fair judgment.
We understand that victims of domestic abuse are caught in a cycle of
trauma and fear, and can understandably be concerned about whether and
how to participate in prosecuting their spouse or intimate partner. We
are committed to continuing our efforts to combat domestic violence
through prevention, education, and accountability measures, and to
aiding victims of domestic violence through victim-based services,
including the expanded availability of Special Victims' Counsel. [See
page 22.]
Colonel Cruz. I understand the concerning numbers you have
referenced. The Family Advocacy Program focuses on prevention and
clinical treatment. We relay pertinent information to the command team
and Judge Advocate for consideration to determine appropriate
administrative or judicial actions. This question falls in the Judge
Advocate's purview, please also see the JA's additional response below:
Individual cases and outcomes are the result of a unique combination of
facts and evidence and the appropriateness of disposition and
prosecution decisions cannot and should not be evaluated by the
``limited utility'' data (as described by the GAO). The DAF
acknowledges that the GAO report found insufficiencies in the method by
which the Department of Defense (Department) is collecting domestic
violence incident data across the Department, which calls into question
the quality of the available data. The DAF supports the Department's
efforts to evaluate the current processes for tracking data and adjust
policy and responsibilities as necessary. That said, of the available
DOD data for fiscal years 2015 through 2019 reviewed by the GAO, the
military services reported 2,114 non-pending command actions related to
incidents that met DOD's criteria for severe physical abuse. Sixteen
percent were categorized as prosecuted by court-martial, 14 percent as
nonjudicial punishment, 27 percent as administrative action, and 43
percent as ``other.'' Incidents classified as ``other'' were not
prosecuted. According to DOD guidance, some of the reasons a case may
be classified as ``other'' include: the victim declined or refused to
cooperate with the investigation or prosecution; evidence was
insufficient; lack of jurisdiction; statute of limitations expired; the
subject died or deserted; or the allegation was unfounded by the
command, meaning it was false or did not meet the elements/criteria of
a domestic violence offense/incident. Without doing a case-by-case
analysis, it is not possible to determine the specific basis in each
case where a commander, advised by their staff judge advocate,
determined they were unable to, or elected not to, take any action.
However, where there is a lack of jurisdiction over the offender or
offense, the statute of limitations has expired, or the subject died or
deserted, military services are prohibited from taking any action by
operation of law. Barring such prohibitions, commanders and staff judge
advocates must evaluate whether admissible and sufficient evidence
supports both that a crime was committed and that the suspect committed
it. Domestic violence cases almost always rely on the testimony of the
victim to establish the required legal elements to prosecute suspected
offenders. However, domestic violence victims differ from victims of
other crimes in that the domestic violence victim and the offender are
never strangers. Instead, victims of domestic violence have an intimate
relationship that is often spousal, romantic, sexual, parental, social,
psychological, and/or financial. Further, domestic violence victims
often recant, minimize, or deny their abuse as a result of the power
and control that permeates their intimate partner relationship,
resulting in a refusal to participate in prosecution. A victim's
nonparticipation may be associated with the victim's financial
dependence on their abuser; psychological vulnerability; emotional
attachment to the offender; family, cultural, or religious pressure to
remain with their abuser; shame or embarrassment; fear of deportation;
and feelings of guilt. The DAF acknowledges the plethora of
understandable reasons and concerns that may lead to victim
nonparticpation in prosecutions. However, without victim testimony,
prosecution in a criminal court is rendered nearly impossible without
other independent, admissible evidence. This is a concern that exists
not only in the military, but in civilian jurisdictions across the
country. In the military there are additional ways to hold an offender
accountable, such as nonjudicial punishment or administrative actions
such as discharge or reduction in rank, but those options are also
often limited when a victim refuses to cooperate. [See page 22.]
Ms. Eaffaldano. In determining the appropriate way to handle
allegations of domestic violence, commanders must consider a multitude
of factors that are not relevant when an installation's Incident
Determination Committee (IDC) decides whether an incident constitutes
abuse under DOD Family Advocacy Program guidance. Such factors include
the admissibility of evidence, statutes of limitation, jurisdictional
requirements, the availability of additional information not available
to the IDC at the time of determination, the ability of the alleged
abuser to provide evidence in rebuttal, and the willingness of the
victim to participate in the investigation and prosecution of the case.
These factors may preclude a commander from taking punitive action on a
reported incident that an IDC has substantiated. There is no evidence
that O-5 level commanders prioritize improper considerations in cases
where no punitive action was taken. Therefore it is not clear that
raising disposition authority to the O-6 level or higher would improve
the disposition process. Further, the ability to render these
determinations at the O-5 commander level improves efficiency, as the
number of O-5 level commanders greatly exceeds the number of O-6 level
commanders. However, the Marine Corps is not opposed to requiring O-6
disposition authorities in domestic violence cases and is coordinating
with the other services to consider the advisability of implementing
such a policy. [See page 22.]
Ms. Eaffaldano. As detailed in the response to Question 1, there
are numerous appropriate considerations that may preclude commander
from taking punitive action where an IDC has substantiated an abuse
incident. There is no evidence that O-5 level commanders prioritize
improper considerations in cases where no punitive action was taken.
However, the Marine Corps is not opposed to requiring O-6 disposition
authorities in domestic violence cases and is coordinating with the
other services to consider the advisability of implementing such a
policy. [See page 22.]
Mrs. Griffen. Under the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 National Defense
Authorization Act (NDAA), Article 128b, Domestic Violence, was added as
a punitive article of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). If a
commander receives a report of a violation of this article, or any
other article of the UCMJ, per Rule for Courts-Martial (R.C.M.) 303,
Manual for Courts-Martial (M.C.M.) (2019 ed.), the commander must
conduct an inquiry regarding the suspected offense if the offense could
be tried by court-martial. Furthermore, Department of Defense (DOD)
regulations require commanders to refer any incident of domestic abuse
reported or discovered independent of law enforcement to military law
enforcement or the appropriate investigative organization for possible
investigation. In the Navy, OPNAVINST 1752.2C, Navy Family Advocacy
Program, requires all commanders, regardless of rank, to take
appropriate action on all alleged or known incidents of domestic or
child abuse.
As discussed in the GAO Report on Domestic Abuse from May 2021, the
FY 2021 NDAA requires the DOD to seek to contract an independent study
of a range of issues related to prevention of and response to domestic
violence, including the potential effect on prevention of elevating the
disposition authority for domestic abuse. The Department of the Navy
will utilize the results of this study to further inform policy
decisions concerning domestic violence within the Navy. [See page
22.]
Mrs. Griffen. Under the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 National Defense
Authorization Act (NDAA), Article 128b, Domestic Violence, was added as
a punitive article of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). If a
commander receives a report of a violation of this article, or any
other article of the UCMJ, per Rule for Courts-Martial (R.C.M.) 303,
Manual for Courts-Martial (M.C.M.) (2019 ed.), the commander must
conduct an inquiry regarding the suspected offense if the offense could
be tried by court-martial. Furthermore, Department of Defense (DOD)
regulations require commanders to refer any incident of domestic abuse
reported or discovered independent of law enforcement to military law
enforcement or the appropriate investigative organization for possible
investigation. In the Navy, OPNAVINST 1752.2C, Navy Family Advocacy
Program, requires all commanders, regardless of rank, to take
appropriate action on all alleged or known incidents of domestic or
child abuse. As discussed in the GAO Report on Domestic Abuse from May
2021, the FY 2021 NDAA requires the DOD to seek to contract an
independent study of a range of issues related to prevention of and
response to domestic violence, including the potential effect on
prevention of elevating the disposition authority for domestic abuse.
The Department of the Navy will utilize the results of this study to
further inform policy decisions concerning domestic violence within the
Navy. [See page 22.]
Colonel Lewis. The Army defers the issue to the Secretary of
Defense review of Independent Review Commission recommendations to
determine whether to remove disposition authority from the chain of
command. [See page 21.]
Colonel Lewis. The Army defers the issue to the Secretary of
Defense review of Independent Review Commission recommendations to
determine whether to remove disposition authority from the chain of
command. [See page 22.]
______
RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MS. HOULAHAN
Ms. Barron. Establishing prevalence rates of abuse remains a
challenge for the Department of Defense and the civilian sector alike.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is underreported worldwide, for a
myriad of factors including the personal and societal stigma associated
with abuse and the fear of reprisal victims of abuse experience. These
factors that contribute to underreporting are not unique to the
military; the military is a microcosm of the larger society. As a
result, unfortunately neither the civilian sector nor the military can
definitively and comprehensively state the rate of IPV.
The Department of Defense reports annually on domestic abuse in the
military, which represents a larger spectrum of behaviors than the
civilian reports tracked by law enforcement. As such, DOD numbers are
more encompassing than many statewide or federal estimates of IPV.
Comparing the two numbers is therefore an incomplete picture.
The Department of Defense welcomes any opportunities to partner
with the civilian domestic abuse community, and any associated support
from Congress, to conduct further research. [See page 28.]
Colonel Cruz. There is no standardized or centralized entity or
mechanism to track civilian rates at the federal level. In most cases,
civilian communities only track serious cases of domestic violence in
their law enforcement databases and in the domestic abuse shelters,
while Family Advocacy takes all reports of domestic abuse, to include
emotional abuse and less serious allegations of physical abuse that may
or may not have had law enforcement or medical responses. Therefore, we
are unable to compare the rates of domestic abuse in the DOD with
civilian rates. [See page 28.]
Ms. Eaffaldano. The Marine Corps focuses on providing supportive
services to all victims of abuse. We know that intimate partner
violence is underreported for a myriad of reasons, both in the Marine
Corps and the civilian sector. There is no standardized entity to track
civilian rates of intimate partner violence at the federal level and
data is collected differently, using different definitions of abuse in
each state. While the Marine Corps uses definitions provided by the
Department of Defense, we have not compared Marine Corps rates of
intimate partner violence with each individual state. [See page 29.]
Mrs. Griffen. Establishing prevalence rates of abuse remain a
challenge for the Department of Defense and the civilian sector alike.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is underreported worldwide, for a
myriad of factors including the personal and societal stigma associated
with abuse and the fear of reprisal victims of abuse experience. These
factors that contribute to underreporting are not unique to the
military; the military is a microcosm of the larger society. As a
result, neither the civilian sector nor the military can definitively
and comprehensively state the rate of IPV.
There is no standardized or centralized entity or mechanism to
track civilian rates at the federal level. Each state has different
laws and different definitions of IPV, which makes aggregating
statewide data to arrive at a single national civilian rate
challenging, if not impossible. Many state and federal estimates of IPV
measure criminal acts of violence or reports to law enforcement (e.g.
Bureau of Justice Statistics). The Department of Defense reports
annually on domestic abuse in the military, which represents a larger
spectrum of behaviors than the civilian reports tracked by law
enforcement. As such, DOD numbers are more encompassing than many
statewide or federal estimates of IPV. Comparing the two numbers is
therefore an incomplete picture. Aside from measuring actual reported
incidents of IPV, the U.S. civilian gold standard for estimating the
prevalence of IPV through anonymous self-report, is the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention's National Intimate Partner and Sexual
Violence Survey (NISVS). The Department of Defense collaborated with
CDC on the 2010 NISVS to examine the prevalence of IPV, stalking, and
sexual violence and to compare those military-related prevalence
estimates to the U.S. general population. Survey results showed overall
that the prevalence of IPV, stalking, and sexual violence were similar
among women in the U.S. population, active duty women, and wives of
active duty men; however these results are dated and do not include
active duty men, husbands of active duty women, or unmarried intimate
partners of active duty men or women. The Department is awaiting the
release of the updated 2016/2017 NISVS military report. Given these
conditions, the Department of Defense welcomes any opportunities to
partner with the civilian domestic abuse community, and any associated
support from Congress, to conduct further research to answer this
question. [See page 28.]
Colonel Lewis. Establishing prevalence rates of abuse is a
challenge for the Army and the civilian sector. Intimate partner
violence (IPV) is underreported worldwide, for a myriad of factors
including the personal and societal stigma associated with abuse and
the fear of reprisal victims of abuse experience. These factors that
contribute to underreporting are not unique to the military; the
military is a microcosm of the larger society. As a result, neither the
civilian sector nor the military can definitively and comprehensively
state the rate of IPV. There is no standardized or centralized entity
or mechanism to track civilian rates at the federal level. Each state
has different laws and different definitions of IPV, which makes
aggregating statewide data to arrive at a single national civilian rate
challenging, if not impossible. Many state and federal estimates of IPV
measure criminal acts of violence or reports to law enforcement (e.g.
Bureau of Justice Statistics). The Army reports annually on domestic
abuse in the military, which represents a larger spectrum of behaviors
than the civilian reports tracked by law enforcement. As such, Army
numbers are more encompassing than many statewide or federal estimates
of IPV. Comparing the two numbers is therefore an incomplete picture.
Aside from measuring actual reported incidents of IPV, the U.S.
civilian gold standard for estimating the prevalence of IPV through
anonymous self-report, is the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention's National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey
(NISVS). The Department of Defense collaborated with CDC on the 2010
NISVS to examine the prevalence of IPV, stalking, and sexual violence
and to compare those military-related prevalence estimates to the U.S.
general population. Survey results showed overall that the prevalence
of IPV, stalking, and sexual violence were similar among women in the
U.S. population, active duty women, and wives of active duty men;
however, these results are dated and do not include active duty men,
husbands of active duty women, or unmarried intimate partners of active
duty men or women. The Army is awaiting the release of the updated
2016/2017 NISVS military report. Given these conditions, the Army
welcomes any opportunities to partner with the civilian domestic abuse
community, and any associated support from Congress, to conduct further
research to answer this question. [See page 28.]
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QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS POST HEARING
May 25, 2021
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QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MRS. McCLAIN
Mrs. McClain. Recently my office was contacted by a father who lost
his young Marine daughter to suicide. He later discovered that she had
filed a complaint of sexual abuse with the Marine Corps. This family is
still waiting for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) to
complete its investigation into her case and finalize the report. It
has been over 2 years since her she filed her report. The family is
desperate for answers and closure on their daughter's case. Mrs.
Griffen, your background both as Deputy Director for Family Support at
CNIC as well as your past work in the Family Advocacy Program at the
USMC might provide some guidance for families on this issue.
Is it common for sexual abuse cases in the marine corps, and
military in general, to take over two years to be investigated? If so,
why is this the case? Is it a lack of resources that drag these
investigations out? Is there an institutional philosophy of protecting
bad actors? If this case is uncommon, can you work with my office to
provide the status of the NCIS investigation and when her family can
expect a conclusion?
Mrs. Griffen. Question has been deferred and tasked to the Marine
Corps.
Mrs. McClain. Recently my office was contacted by a father who lost
his young Marine daughter to suicide. He later discovered that she had
filed a complaint of sexual abuse with the Marine Corps. This family is
still waiting for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) to
complete its investigation into her case and finalize the report. It
has been over 2 years since her she filed her report. The family is
desperate for answers and closure on their daughter's case. Mrs.
Griffen, your background both as Deputy Director for Family Support at
CNIC as well as your past work in the Family Advocacy Program at the
USMC might provide some guidance for families on this issue. Is it
common for sexual abuse cases in the marine corps, and military in
general, to take over two years to be investigated? If so, why is this
the case? Is it a lack of resources that drag these investigations out?
Is there an institutional philosophy of protecting bad actors? If this
case is uncommon, can you work with my office to provide the status of
the NCIS investigation and when her family can expect a conclusion?
Ms. Eaffaldano. The Marine Corps takes all allegations of sexual
misconduct seriously and works diligently with NCIS to ensure every
allegation is properly investigated. Two years is a long time to
complete an investigation in most cases, however the amount of time
required to complete an investigation is dependent on numerous factors,
including the necessity to conduct forensic exams, the examination of
electronic media and devices, and the willingness of the victim and
witnesses to cooperate with the investigative process. In accordance
with the Privacy Act of 1974, we are unable to publicly disclose
specific details concerning the investigation of this particular
incident. However, the Marine Corps will work to identify a date and
time during which an appropriate representative can speak with you or
your staff about this case.
[all]