[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


 
                         [H.A.S.C. No. 117-98]

                      UPDATE ON THE IMPLEMENTATION

                       OF RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE

                     INDEPENDENT REVIEW COMMISSION

                   ON SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THE MILITARY

                      AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE
                      
                      OFFICE OF SPECIAL TRIAL COUNSEL

                               __________

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                   SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL

                                 OF THE

                      COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES

                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION

                               __________

                              HEARING HELD

                           SEPTEMBER 21, 2022

                                     
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
                                     
                               __________

                          U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
53-526                          WASHINGTON : 2023                          
                        
___________________________________________________________________________

                   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
                        Zachary Calderon, 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

Camarillo, Hon. Gabe, Under Secretary of the Army, Department of 
  the Army.......................................................    20
Cisneros, Hon. Gilbert R., Jr., Under Secretary of Defense For 
  Personnel and Readiness, Department of Defense.................     5
Ortiz Jones, Hon. Gina, Under Secretary of the Air Force, 
  Department of the Air Force....................................    23
Raven, Hon. Erik K., Under Secretary of the Navy, Department of 
  the Navy.......................................................    22

                                APPENDIX

Prepared Statements:

    Camarillo, Hon. Gabe.........................................    52
    Cisneros,Hon. Gilbert R., Jr.................................    45
    Ortiz Jones, Hon. Gina.......................................    71
    Raven, Hon. Erik K...........................................    63
    Speier, Hon. Jackie..........................................    43

Documents Submitted for the Record:

    [There were no Documents submitted.]

Witness Responses to Questions Asked During the Hearing:

    Ms. Escobar..................................................    81

Questions Submitted by Members Post Hearing:

    Ms. Jacobs...................................................    90
    Ms. Speier...................................................    85
    Ms. Strickland...............................................    91
                    
                    
                    
                    UPDATE ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF

               RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW

              COMMISSION ON SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THE MILITARY

                 AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF

                         SPECIAL TRIAL COUNSEL

                              ----------                              

                  House of Representatives,
                       Committee on Armed Services,
                        Subcommittee on Military Personnel,
                     Washington, DC, Wednesday, September 21, 2022.
    The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:49 p.m., in 
room 2118, Rayburn House Office Building, 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, everyone. Welcome.
    We'll call the committee--Military Personnel Subcommittee 
to order, and this hearing today is about the--an update on the 
implementation of recommendations of the Independent Review 
Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military and the 
establishment of the Office of Special Trial Counsel.
    We are delighted that you are all here. This is a very 
important hearing because, in fact, we are doing a benchmark 
review of the work of the DOD [Department of Defense] as it 
implements these particular recommendations.
    As you all know, the Independent Review Commission [IRC] 
released their report in July of 2021 so it's important that we 
closely monitor implementation of those recommendations.
    Also, last year's Defense Authorization Act included 
historic military justice reforms. So we need to ensure that 
the implementation of those provisions is closely aligned with 
the IRC's recommendations.
    The implementation of the 82 IRC recommendations is 
urgently needed because the situation is increasingly dire. The 
crisis of military sexual assault and harassment continues 
unabated.
    The fiscal year 2021 Department of Defense Annual Report on 
Sexual Assault in the Military delivered catastrophic news. 
Over 8 percent of Active Duty women and about 1.5 percent of 
Active Duty men indicated experiencing some form of unwanted 
sexual contact.
    For women, this is the highest prevalence rate reported--
the highest prevalence rate reported--since the annual study 
was instituted, and the news doesn't get better.
    In 2021, the survey results also found that 29 percent of 
service women experienced sexual harassment--29 percent--a 5 
percent point increase--and men and women alike experienced 
greater workplace hostility compared with findings in 2018.
    There have been plenty of studies that have indicated that 
sexual harassment begets sexual assault. Service members' 
sexual assault reports increased by 13 percent in 2021 compared 
to 2020, yet the overall rate of those who experienced sexual 
assault and came forward to report has decreased.
    So it's really the perfect storm, the worst of the worst, 
because you have numbers going up and you have reporting going 
down.
    Finally, and alarmingly, the data also shows that trust in 
the military to protect privacy of victims, ensure safety, and 
treat victims with dignity and respect is also going down.
    It's vital for the Department and services to implement and 
execute the IRC's recommendations expeditiously for the 
readiness of our force and the safety and well-being of our 
service members.
    It's essential for our military leaders to address the 
culture of harassment and mistrust, to teach our service 
members they can not only trust their leaders enough to follow 
them into harm's way but to also protect them from danger 
within the ranks.
    Sexual assault and harassment in our military is a 
readiness issue. It makes our force less lethal. It makes 
recruiting a challenge. It makes young men and women scared to 
serve.
    In fact, a July 2022 memo from the Army showed that the 
propensity to serve has gone down 9 percent and the reasons 
include 34 percent do not like the lifestyle and 28 percent 
fear the issue of sexual harassment and sexual assault.
    We cannot protect and defend the United States when we are 
protecting and defending our own service members from the enemy 
[within].
    We cannot ask our children to serve when their parents 
can't be sure their commands won't protect them from abuse. You 
know, I've spent the last 10 years battling this cancer and 
with the most recent report I know we still have a long way to 
go.
    But I also know the Department is working hard to implement 
new prevention strategies and a completely new and independent 
military justice system to eradicate this scourge is in the 
process of being stood up.
    I feel confident that if the Department of Defense keeps 
their foot on the pedal and Congress doesn't turn a blind eye, 
this is the beginning of the end for those who wish to harm 
their brothers and sisters in arms.
    I will not be sitting as chair of the Military Personnel 
Subcommittee come next year but I implore my colleagues to 
regularly provide oversight on the implementation of the IRC's 
recommendations.
    I will still be watching and I will still be speaking out. 
I will make sure the voices of our service members are heard 
and heard loudly.
    I'd like to hear from the first panel the status of the 
IRC's recommendations and implementation. What has been 
completed so far? What is going well? What challenges you're 
facing? What are your timelines for full implementation? What 
resources do you need to get this right--what resources you 
need to get this right for our service members.
    For the second panel, I'd like to hear how your military 
departments plan to execute DOD's IRC implementation plan and 
what progress your services have made in implementing military 
justice reform.
    What are your timelines? What resources do you need? 
Additionally, how are you going to increase trust in your 
military leaders?
    What cultural changes do you intend to make so that the 
military really is a place that treats all members with dignity 
and respect?
    Before I introduce our first panel, I'd like to offer the 
ranking member, Congressman Gallagher, an opportunity to make 
opening remarks.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Speier can be found in the 
Appendix on page 43.]

    STATEMENT OF HON. MIKE GALLAGHER, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM 
 WISCONSIN, RANKING MEMBER, SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL

    Mr. Gallagher. I thank the chairwoman, and I share your 
concerns about, let's say, the sense of urgency or lack thereof 
at times in addressing these challenges facing service members, 
their leaders, in our military.
    The IRC was created by the Biden administration to evaluate 
the handling of sexual assault, harassment, and victim support 
in the military and some of the commission's recommendations, I 
think, are worthwhile but others I find problematic.
    The Department has used the IRC to legitimize a wave of new 
regulations with minimal involvement from the legislative 
branch. DOD's own press releases and testimony highlight that 
IRC recommendations, quote, ``have or are being implemented 
wherever possible,'' unquote.
    Unfortunately, that implementation has come with minimal 
planning, arbitrary goals, and little regard to staffing 
requirements. For example, I was troubled to learn that the 
Department has plans to hire nearly 2,000 so-called prevention 
workforce staffers over 7 years while there's still no coherent 
plan for a new prevention program.
    Now, the impetus behind these new hires is, as was 
explained to us, concerning new sexual assault prevalence data 
and, indeed, it's very concerning.
    Recent DOD survey data shows that the prevalence of 
unwanted sexual contact has increased from 6.2 percent to 8.4 
percent.
    Moreover, it indicates that over 60 percent of sexual 
assaults go unreported. The same data also show that service 
member trust in the military justice system has plummeted in 
the last two years after being stable for a decade.
    As the chairwoman pointed out, there was nearly 30 
percent--a nearly 30 percent drop in key metrics centering 
around leadership, privacy, trust in military justice.
    That's a big alarm bell, I think, for all of us. And I'm 
concerned, however, that we have torn down rather than built up 
the role of leaders at the ground level in supporting and 
embracing victims or in being leaders at all in a meaningful 
sense.
    We need policies that give victims and leaders clarity. But 
funneling victims of trauma into a, let's say, cold or clinical 
or overly bureaucratic program that's divorced from leadership 
may not always be the best answer. And it's my belief that 
leaders on the ground are best positioned to rebuild the sense 
of trust, security, and privacy.
    This committee needs to know if those leaders are empowered 
to act or encouraged to take a hands-off approach to helping 
victims. And I think that driving--this may be driving the 
perception that leaders aren't involved or don't care.
    I'm also concerned that burnout among professionals who 
support victims is also on the rise and, apparently, much of 
this burnout was driven by COVID restrictions that prevented, 
for example, in-person victim services.
    So, hopefully, some of that pressure will ease now that 
pandemic restrictions have been lifted. But DOD is now pressing 
ahead with a massive military justice and prevention workforce 
hiring plan.
    And, again, in my opinion, we don't have a clear plan 
delivered by DOD for what these new hires intend to accomplish, 
how the roles of uniformed personnel will change, and how these 
changes will impact military career paths.
    So the standard response that we have heard from the 
administration of more bodies, more PowerPoints, more offices, 
quite frankly does not fill me with confidence. But I hope to 
learn today that the Department has a coherent plan for 
responding to these trends.
    And I thank you, Madam Chairwoman, and I yield back.
    Ms. Speier. I thank the ranking member.
    Let me just add, though, that one of the most significant 
changes is taking these cases out of the chain of command and 
creating Special Trial Counsel so that our service members will 
have the confidence in knowing that they're going to go to an 
independent source for both investigations and evaluations as 
to whether or not action should move forward for a court 
martial.
    So I don't think for a moment we should somehow suggest 
that that is not valuable.
    The other thing that's really important to point out is the 
reason why we have professionals now who are going to be 
focused on prevention is that before it was a collateral 
responsibility so it wasn't taken seriously.
    They weren't necessarily professionals. They weren't even 
interested in doing the job. Some of the SARCs [Sexual Assault 
Response Coordinators] were even found guilty of sexual assault 
and sexual harassment.
    So professionalizing this universe, I think, is very 
important.
    With that, I welcome our first panel.
    The Honorable Gilbert Cisneros, the Under Secretary of 
Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Department of 
Defense. He is no stranger to us since he used to sit with us. 
We welcome him here today.

STATEMENT OF HON. GILBERT R. CISNEROS, JR., UNDER SECRETARY OF 
   DEFENSE FOR PERSONNEL AND READINESS, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

    Mr. Cisneros. Chairwoman Speier, Ranking Member Gallagher, 
and distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for 
the opportunity to discuss the status of DOD's implementation 
of recommendations approved by Secretary Austin from the 2021 
Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the 
Military, also known as the IRC.
    Madam Chair, as I know you are departing Congress at the 
end of this term, I want to begin by taking the opportunity to 
thank you for your extraordinary public service and your 
dedication to our armed services.
    Your legislative accomplishments, passion, and constant 
dedication to work with the Department has made us better and 
improved lives of countless service members, so thank you. Most 
importantly, you have stood up for those who have often most in 
need--or in most need of allies and support.
    Your exceptional advocacy will be forever appreciated by 
service members now and many years into the future. Indeed, the 
historic and unprecedented nature of the reforms we are 
discussing today, which lay a foundation for progress that will 
outlast each of us, are in no small part because of your 
leadership.
    Since day one on the job Secretary Austin has made 
addressing sexual assault a top priority. In September of 2021, 
he signed the Implementation Roadmap Memorandum that directed a 
comprehensive approach to implementing the IRC recommendations 
across four tiers.
    These tiers represent the Department's efforts to implement 
necessary enhancements to infrastructure, apply best-in-
practice strategies, expand or endure programs and practices, 
and expand programs and policies outside of the DOD's purview.
    To ensure expedient, methodical, and standardized 
implementation of the IRC reforms, OSD [Office of the Secretary 
of Defense] has worked closely with the services to provide 
guidance and oversight mechanisms to ensure implementation 
stays on track.
    These mechanisms include the IRC Outcome Metrics Evaluation 
Report, which provides a framework for tracking implementation 
and effectiveness, and regular progress reviews through senior 
leadership forums that include membership from across OSD and 
the services.
    The level of oversight is a significant departure from 
previous reforms efforts in this area, and not only are we 
making progress, we are building the infrastructure needed to 
make real lasting change and rebuild trust with our service 
members.
    To this end, we are implementing a brand new specialized 
and dedicated prevention workforce, which at full operating 
capacity will include over 2,000 personnel stationed around the 
world.
    The Department has worked to create a targeted recruitment 
plan to support the services in their hiring efforts, and I 
established a dedicated direct hiring authority, which I signed 
out last week, to more quickly identify and onboard these 
prevention workforce professionals.
    We are also working closely with the military services to 
professionalize the Department's victim response workforce, 
which includes ensuring we have the capacity to focus on 
victims, ensuring independence of our response workforce by 
placing it outside of the chain of command, and standing up our 
Training Center of Excellence to standardize skills-based 
training across the services.
    Another significant undertaking at the Department is 
military justice reform through the implementation of the 
Office of Special Trial Counsel, which I know you will hear 
about in greater detail from the next panel.
    This effort will ensure independent expertise in 
prosecutorial decisions and is essential to the restoring of 
trust and to hold perpetrators of sexual assault accountable.
    The fiscal year 2021 Annual Report on Sexual Assault shows 
what our prior activities in the IRC on Sexual Assault in the 
Military have already documented: Sexual assault and sexual 
harassment remain persistent and corrosive problems in our 
force.
    While the numbers are deeply disappointing, they largely 
reflect the climate before the Department began implementation 
of this historic reform. The findings of this report reinforce 
the urgent need to continue these unprecedented actions the 
Department has undertaken to address sexual assault in our 
military.
    The Department has clearly heard from our service members 
that action and change are desperately needed, and the 
Department is answering that call. Getting this right requires 
we move [as] expeditiously as possible to implement change 
while also ensuring we do not rush to failure.
    If we improperly rush now, we will not be able to pick up 
the pieces and establish trust with our service members again. 
Progress thus far has been made possible with constructive 
leadership emphasis, your continued engagement on the issue, 
deliberate programmatic and procedural changes, and resource 
investments.
    Chairwoman Speier, we all recognize there is no one-size-
fits-all solution to solve the problem of sexual assault and 
sexual harassment. But we have the resolve to [effectuate] 
positive and lasting change.
    As Secretary of Defense Austin has stated on more than one 
occasion, we have a true opportunity to lead and we will.
    Again, I want to express my gratitude to you and this 
committee for the leadership and support as we partner together 
on this critical issue. Thank you, and I look forward to your 
questions.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Cisneros can be found in the 
Appendix on page 45.]
    Ms. Speier. Thank you, Under Secretary. I will now 
recognize myself for 5 minutes to ask questions.
    Let me start with the independent investigations of sexual 
harassment. Can you provide us an update on the Department's 
efforts in this regard?
    Mr. Cisneros. Ma'am, thank you for that question. This is--
the independent investigation is something that was part of the 
fiscal year 2022 NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act], 
that that be in there. We are making progress on that.
    We are providing guidance to the services. We expect to 
have a policy in place very soon. But, you know, we are on 
track to meet the timeline that was sent out in the--or the 
fiscal year 2022 NDAA to meet that process.
    Ms. Speier. So there will be independent investigations. It 
won't be done under the chain of command by someone assigned 
within the unit to provide that investigation who is not 
skilled to do so?
    Mr. Cisneros. Yes, ma'am. You know, what we did is we took 
it a step further. The IRC recommendation was that we provide 
an independent investigator. What we have done is we have 
stated that we will provide an independent trained investigator 
to do these independent investigations.
    But right now, as I've said, we are laying out the guidance 
for the services. You can ask the service as well. They're 
making progress on this as well. But what we will do, we are in 
place to meet the timelines that were set forth in the 2022 
NDAA.
    Ms. Speier. Thank you. I notice that Ms. Guillen is in the 
audience today. We all remember that her sister, Vanessa 
Guillen, was a victim of sexual harassment and then 
subsequently murdered and dismembered.
    What progress has been made in adding sexual harassment 
reports to the Catch a Serial Offender [CATCH] Program?
    Mr. Cisneros. Thank you, ma'am.
    You know, that was a recommendation of the IRC as well and 
it's something that we're working on. In regard to that, you 
know, we have run across privacy and policy concerns of 
implementation in that.
    So what we are going to do is we're going to study this. 
We're actually going to commission a study to look at this and 
how we can implement this into the CATCH data frame base--or 
database, I'm sorry--at the same time trying to take care of 
those privacy and policy concerns that are out there. But it is 
something we are working on and we're working to implement.
    Ms. Speier. You know, maybe for the record you can clarify 
what the privacy concerns are because the Catch a Serial 
Offender Program already exists for sexual assault victims and 
so that you do so voluntarily. So--and it is kept private 
except for those that are able to look at it. So maybe you can 
do that later and just report to us subsequently.
    So you're going to be training 2,000 prevention 
specialists. As the new workforce is trained, where are you 
going to assign them first?
    Mr. Cisneros. Chairwoman Speier, our--you know, thank you 
for that question. The prevention workforce is an integral part 
of what we're going to do and what we need to do in order to 
gain trust with our service members.
    This is something that we haven't done before is to have a 
professional workforce that's going to be dedicated to training 
not only our service members but working with the chain of 
command.
    One of the things that we continually hear from the chain 
of command is they want to do the right thing but they don't 
have the tools. This is going to help provide them with the 
tools in order to do that.
    So our emphasis is--what we have been able to do is we know 
those high-risk installations. They are our first priority. 
Those are the ones where as we build this workforce we want to 
make sure that they have the workforce in place first.
    But as we continue to build the workforce we'll make sure 
that it gets throughout the military and that we have a 
prevention workforce that'll be throughout the--throughout our 
global force.
    Ms. Speier. So you've already identified the high-risk 
facilities? Can you make that available to the committee as 
well?
    Mr. Cisneros. We can provide that to you, ma'am.
    [The information referred to was not available at the time 
of printing.]
    Ms. Speier. Thank you.
    Command climate--let me just end with that issue. We spend 
a lot of money, a lot of time, on command climate surveys. They 
provide a wealth of information about what's going right and 
what's going wrong.
    I want to know what progress is being made in implementing 
the recommendations in terms of creating what they call pulse 
surveys, which are short and can be actually rolled out very 
quickly; what corrective action plans; and how we're going to 
measure the climate at the unit level?
    Mr. Cisneros. Thank you, ma'am, for that question.
    You're right on the--the command climate surveys are very 
important. It's a tool that we are reworking right now. The 
pulse surveys are going to be part of that survey as well as we 
kind of build this.
    Our plan, going forward, is to kind of really use the 
command climate surveys, use the pulse surveys, and have the 
prevention workforce use this data to kind of implement plans, 
you know, at the local levels there.
    So it's not really that we're doing everything at a 
national kind of one general way to kind of do everything. But 
they can construct things and kind of really build the 
curriculum and how they're training personnel based on the 
local research and data that they're getting from their command 
climate surveys.
    Ms. Speier. So when will they be operational? When will you 
be actually rolling them out?
    Mr. Cisneros. Well, ma'am, we're in the process of building 
this right now. I think right now--it's something that we're 
building right now. We're working on it. We hope to have the--
again, the instruction policy this fall as to how to go forward 
with that and carry it out.
    Ms. Speier. Policy, but not the actual surveys?
    Mr. Cisneros. Ma'am, we're doing command climate surveys 
right now.
    Ms. Speier. Right.
    Mr. Cisneros. We have always done those. But to how to kind 
of restructure them and to kind of rebuild them and kind of 
make them so that we can use them and that, really, the 
prevention workforce can use them, we're in the process of 
changing those right now so that we can come up with this new 
format and that should be ready this fall.
    Ms. Speier. Okay. Thank you.
    Ranking Gallagher, you're recognized for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Gallagher. Thank you. So the most recent report that we 
both referenced on sexual assault in the military showed this 
alarming decline in trust in DOD systems and leadership.
    Well, I guess, at the most general level, I would love your 
thoughts on what we can do to arrest that decline and also, in 
particular, how you will empower our uniformed leaders at the 
ground level to rebuild this trust.
    Mr. Cisneros. You know, thank you for that question there, 
Mr. Gallagher.
    I think you're right on there. We need to build trust in 
our service members again. That is something that was clearly 
stated in the report that came out, that we are losing that 
trust and it's something that we need to do is to work to 
rebuild it.
    That starts with leadership and it's going to start with 
leadership from the top. As I stated earlier, Secretary Austin 
has kind of from the beginning when he first came into office 
that he, you know, instituted the IRC. He recommended that we 
implement all 82 recommendations.
    We have been in meetings where the service secretaries, the 
chiefs of the services, the Chairman of the Joint Chief have 
all--are all on board with this and they agree that we need to 
do this for--to take care of our service members and, really, 
as the chairwoman said, as well it is a readiness issue that we 
need to make sure that we are implementing.
    As I've also stated, things--as I've traveled around and as 
other members of our leadership team traveled around, from what 
they're hearing from those commanders that are on the ground is 
they want to do the right thing but they always haven't had the 
tools to do that.
    The IRC, the prevention workforce, is that tool that's 
going to enable them to do that and this is why it's so 
important because they're not only going to work with our 
service members but they're also going to work with the 
commanders that are on the ground, that are leading the troops, 
to ensure that they have the tools necessary to create a 
positive environment that's going to respect and make sure that 
every service member is treated with dignity there at the--on 
the ground.
    Mr. Gallagher. I mentioned burnout among those who care for 
victims and the fact that it's increased during the pandemic. 
We now have the data to prove it. What do you think we can do 
to address the looming retention issues in these positions?
    Mr. Cisneros. Well, I think the burnout issue is 
definitely--you know, we overwork, I think, a lot of our 
service members when we assign them these collateral duties, 
and as the chairwoman had said, you know, a lot of time this is 
a duty that somebody is tasked with to do. They're given it to 
as while they're carrying out their regular duties as well.
    What we see as the tool to kind of fix this is, again, the 
prevention workforce. By professionalizing and creating a 
professional workforce that's going to be able to work on this 
problem, that's going to be dedicated to doing prevention, and 
then later on as we are going to establish the response 
workforce, by having these dedicated workforces there that's 
going to relieve the burnout because people aren't going to be 
doing multiple tasks.
    They are not going to be doing this as well as having to do 
this collateral duty as well. It'll be a professional 
workplace, you know, in existence that is there to do the 
training, to work with victims, and it'll be in place there to 
kind of help and should help relieve some of the burnout.
    Mr. Gallagher. So the 2,000 new professionals in this 
space, that's still--we still have to go out and find those 
people and hire them, right?
    Mr. Cisneros. We are working with--the services are working 
to hire them right now. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Gallagher. Do we have any sort of timeline as to----
    Mr. Cisneros. Well, you know, we don't have an exact 
timeline. It is in our tier one as to what we want to do where, 
hopefully, we can make an impact coming up. We're hiring some 
this year. We are looking to make--really make an impact in 
fiscal year 2023.
    The thing that will help us achieve that is to ensure that 
we have the funding in order to do that--you know, an 
appropriations bill, the funding in the CR that will help us 
build the infrastructure, help us, you know, build the 
professional workforce that we need. That'll help us achieve 
that goal and be able to get it done sooner, sir.
    Mr. Gallagher. And that's for prevention, right? That's a 
prevention workforce----
    Mr. Cisneros. Yes.
    Mr. Gallagher [continuing]. As opposed to the response?
    Mr. Cisneros. Well, the response workforce will come later, 
too. But, again, the resources to kind of build the 
infrastructure and build the workforce that we need we're going 
to continue to need those and to get those on time that'll 
enable us to kind of continue our work and get this done 
sooner.
    Mr. Gallagher. Yeah. I think what I'm wrestling with is, 
you know, if we're taking a lot of this out of the local units, 
out of the chain of command, and into a different bureaucracy.
    Okay. But leaders in those units still have a 
responsibility to create a healthy culture and environment 
every single day. So we just don't want them to be able to sort 
of, you know, put it on autopilot or say, well, that's someone 
else's responsibility. That's what my comments were intended to 
convey.
    Mr. Cisneros. No, I--you know, I agree with you. The 
commanding officer is always responsible for the climate in 
their chain of command and really who are--you know, they're 
responsible for the climate of their command. That's not going 
to change.
    But, you know, as I stated earlier, when we're talking to 
commanders what we're hearing is they need tools that are going 
to help them better--you know, to provide the training that's 
necessary, to make sure that they know what's--what's needed, 
and creating that prevention workforce that's going to be there 
to work with the commanders, be able to work with our service 
members, that's what we're giving them through the IRC 
implementation.
    Mr. Gallagher. My time has expired.
    Ms. Speier. The gentleman yields back.
    The gentleman from New Jersey is recognized for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Kim.
    Mr. Kim. Yes. Thank you, Chairwoman.
    Good to see you, Under Secretary. I wanted to just kind 
of--just get a deeper sense of just the architecture of what 
you're talking about.
    You know, for instance, you were talking about the 
prevention workforce. You know, the chairwoman was asking 
about, you know, the pulse surveys. You talked about the 
curriculum.
    I'm just trying to figure out how do I explain to, you 
know, folks in my district at--you know, at Joint Base McGuire-
Dix-Lakehurst--how do I explain to them, you know, what they 
can expect to change, what resources they will be able to have.
    Like, I'm trying to get a sense of what they should be 
expecting and I'm having a hard time understanding with the, 
you know, prevention workforce it sounds like you're building 
that up. It's the idea that you will have people then embedded 
at these different establishments that they can turn to, to be 
able to engage with.
    But can you explain--just give us a little bit more greater 
detail?
    Mr. Cisneros. Thank you for that question, Congressman, 
and, hopefully, my statement here will help me clarify and, 
really, kind of be able for you to answer the questions of your 
constituents.
    But, you know, what we're doing is being done on a scale 
that's never been done before. You know, we have assigned 
people tasked as a collateral duty in order to do this. Like, 
hey, you're going to do the training on sexual assault and 
harassment; hey, you're going to be the victims advocate if 
somebody has, you know, a need where they need to see somebody.
    Our goal is to professionalize that workforce. It's going 
to be a civilian workforce. They're going to--the prevention 
workforce will do the training. And it's not just on sexual 
assault--you know, sexual harassment. They're going to cover 
child abuse. They're going to cover suicide prevention. They'll 
cover other subjects as well.
    And they will be there to do the training, to work with the 
service members, to help guide them. And they're going to use 
that data from the surveys that we're doing, whether it be the 
pulse survey or the command climate survey to kind of create, 
you know, based on the information and data that they're 
getting, to really, you know, manipulate and kind of conform 
the instruction that they're going to do based on the research 
that they have.
    You know, and the same thing with our response workforce 
when that eventually gets built. These are going to be 
individuals dedicated to work and to take care of individuals, 
to take care of victims when they're needed.
    You know, by creating this professional workforce it's 
going to enable them to kind of be dedicated to the tasks that 
they have, the job that they have, unlike today where it is a 
collateral duty for a lot of individuals that they have to do 
this, right, outside of their main core, you know, job that 
they have.
    Mr. Kim. So the idea is that there'll be a point person or 
your team at, for instance, this joint base that then will be 
working on establishing the training curriculum and so forth 
for the entirety of the service members in the community there 
at the base. Is that about right?
    Mr. Cisneros. It is. It'll be a team of individuals. You 
know, we're going to have people there, you know, at the 
installation level, at the command levels, you know, people 
working with--at the unit levels that'll go and will do this 
training and make sure that, you know, everybody understands 
what's expected of them, that our service members, you know, we 
expect to be treated with respect and dignity.
    They're going to, you know, basically, teach them right 
from wrong and what needs to be done and, really, how we can 
treat each other and make sure that we're taking care of our 
team members.
    Mr. Kim. What feedback are you getting from the different 
services in terms of the implementation of this? I'm curious--
you know, we'll be hearing from them as well but I'm just kind 
of curious from your position, your perch, what are the major 
challenges that you've been hearing from them in terms of how 
this will be implemented?
    Mr. Cisneros. You know, I'll say the services have been on 
board with this--you know, when we put out the POAM [plan of 
action and milestones] requirements they met those 
requirements. They're working hard. We meet--you know, they're 
working hard to make sure that we get this plan implemented.
    You know, I meet with the Under Secretaries on a regular 
basis where this is a topic that we discuss. Again, I 
mentioned--referenced a meeting that the Secretary had with the 
service secretaries as well as the service chiefs on this. And 
so it's receiving all the attention from the top level down and 
they're working hard to implement it.
    Again, I think, if the services have concerns and, you 
know, you would be better to address, you know, that question 
to them. But I think----
    Mr. Kim. Well, you raised some--you raised----
    Mr. Cisneros [continuing]. Ensuring the----
    Mr. Kim [continuing]. Some of the challenges when it comes 
to, you know, in terms of manpower, for instance----
    Mr. Cisneros. Right.
    Mr. Kim [continuing]. You know, to have personnel, you 
know, what are the--I'm sure there's a funding challenge. What 
are the main challenges that----
    Mr. Cisneros. And, you know, Mr. Kim, I think you're right 
on there, right, and that's what I was getting ready to say is 
that I think if--you know, I don't want to speak for them but, 
you know, what I'm hearing from them is to make sure that we 
have the resources, that we have the funding, to implement the 
plan and build the infrastructure and hire the workforce that 
we need and that they're expecting to do, and to have it done 
on a timely manner.
    You know, if--you know, last month or--I'm sorry, last 
month--last year--last fiscal year we didn't get appropriations 
for this until 6 months into the fiscal year. You know, if 
that's going to happen again, then, you know, that's going to 
set us back.
    Mr. Kim. Okay. Thank you. I yield back.
    Ms. Speier. The gentleman yields back.
    The gentlewoman from Texas, Ms. Escobar, is recognized for 
5 minutes.
    Ms. Escobar. Thank you, Madam Chair, and so wonderful to 
see you, Mr. Cisneros. Thanks for the time that you're taking 
today and thanks for the ongoing dialogue that we are having on 
a number of issues.
    And I want to raise something that I have raised with you 
and that I have been in conversations with the chairwoman 
about. I want to make sure that the subcommittee is--I want to 
make sure that the subcommittee also is aware.
    But for the subcommittee's purposes, I wanted to share with 
you a story from Fort Bliss. There was a service member, 
Christian Alvarado, an Army Private First Class, who was 
accused of sexual assaults and during questioning he 
acknowledged that he had had sex with another service member 
when she was severely intoxicated and could not--obviously, 
that was sexual assault.
    Despite that admission, he was not detained on pretrial 
confinement and he then went on to sexually assault another 
person.
    And pretrial confinement is, obviously, in the military 
different from the way that it exists in civilian life. Under 
other circumstances in civilian life, someone would have access 
to bail and so they would be able to post bond and get out even 
though they were under pretrial detention.
    But in the military it is essentially taking away someone's 
liberty completely without access to bond. So it is a serious 
decision to make.
    However, it does seem to me that this is something that we 
need to explore a little bit further. I, personally, would like 
to do a deep dive on what happened at Fort Bliss, why this 
individual, Mr. Alvarado, was not placed in pretrial 
confinement.
    I would like for leaders at the Pentagon to take a deep 
dive on that as well and to take a look at whether we need to 
change policy, whether this needs to be part of a larger or an 
additional package of reforms that we might have to legislate 
on.
    But, Mr. Cisneros, you and I talked about this. I'm 
wondering if you have any thoughts that you can share with me 
or the committee on this.
    Mr. Cisneros. Congresswoman, you know, one of my goals and 
one of the things I'm striving for in this position, right, is 
to ensure that we're taking care of our service members, that 
we're taking care of their families.
    It's very important to me as I know it is to you and the 
other members of this committee to ensure that they're treated 
with dignity and respect and that, you know, those that are 
serving their country should be able to serve without, you 
know, the risk or any, you know, thought of sexual harassment 
or sexual assault or any type of harassment.
    And so we want to ensure that we're taking care of that, 
our service members, and that we're doing what's right by them 
and that we are protecting them, and I can guarantee you that I 
will be working on that to ensure that we do that.
    In regard to how we can change and make differences there, 
I think those are questions that are better answered by the 
Judge Advocate Generals of the services as to what we can do 
as--in really pertaining to the--you know, the case that you 
mentioned as to why that individual wasn't held in pretrial 
confinement.
    But we can take that for the record and, really, kind of 
bring it up to the Judge Advocate Generals and really kind of 
see what they can do and what options they may have to kind of, 
really, address this issue, going forward.
    But I can guarantee you that taking care of our service 
members, taking care of our families, is a top priority of the 
Department of Defense and we want to ensure that we can do what 
we can to make sure that it happens.
    Ms. Escobar. I appreciate that, Mr. Cisneros, and really 
would love to further engage on, you know, whether what--you 
know, reform could and should look like, going forward.
    So thank you so much, Madam Chair. I yield back.
    Ms. Speier. The gentlewoman yields back.
    The gentlewoman from Pennsylvania, Ms. Houlahan, is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
    Ms. Houlahan. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I also want to 
recognize that this may be your last chairing of this hearing. 
I hope that we will do this again in December but if we for 
whatever reason don't, I just wanted to express my appreciation 
and gratitude for the work that you've done and the path that 
you've blazed for all of us.
    You will definitely be missed and I hope that we will 
continue on in your model of leadership.
    I also very much appreciate the chance to see you, Mr. 
Cisneros, again on the other side, so to speak. My questions 
have to do with the prevention workforce and response 
workforce, and I'm trying to put my hat on as an operator and 
also as a veteran and trying to figure out how to build out a 
workforce that hasn't been done before, and you guys are 
effectively doing that across all of the services.
    And in trying to think that through, some of the data that 
you all have shared is that 32 percent of women and 31 percent 
of men do not report due to lack of trust, and so I guess we 
theoretically have some idea of the magnitude of the size of 
the problem that we're talking about in assault, and you also 
mentioned that these folks will be doing suicide prevention and 
all sorts of other services as well.
    How did you scale the size of the workforce that you think 
you need? How did you determine that number? How will we at 
various points--pressure points, checkpoints--be testing to see 
if that workforce is either rightsized, oversized, or 
undersized so that we might realize that we have overclubbed or 
underclubbed?
    And what kind of metrics are we using to understand the 
efficacy of these groups or is this something that we're 
building on the fly?
    I know that I've asked a lot of questions. My next and last 
question is, this isn't a unique issue. There are many large 
organizations, mostly for-profit organizations, in this country 
and in the globe that are doing this kind of reckoning and 
adjustment as well. Are we tapping into our civilian 
counterparts to understand what best practices are there?
    Mr. Cisneros. Thank you for that question and, again, you 
know, taking care of our service members and making sure that 
they are treated with respect and dignity is our top priority, 
and creating this prevention workforce and helping us get left 
of the problem, I think, is a step in that direction--that it's 
really going to help us build trust with our--you know, with 
them so that we can gain back trust and this is not something 
where we can--we can't fail at this.
    We must lead at this and that's really what we're doing at 
the Department of Defense and the Secretary, again, has really 
kind of done this since day one, going out forward and kind of 
implementing the IRC, that we need to go and do something about 
this problem.
    You know, we are looking at research-based solutions to do 
this. This is--we're not--this is not something that we just 
kind of thought up or just going with the IRC recommendations.
    But, you know, we are working, using research to inform the 
decisions that we make and really how we're building the 
workforce, both looking at information that's been provided by 
the Center for Disease Control--the CDC--as well as also kind 
of looking at what's being done out there in the private sector 
as to how we can do this.
    But how we kind of decided at this number and what was the 
right number was we actually told the services that they need 
to go out and they need to do manpower studies to kind of see 
what would be the right number that they would need at every 
installation to make sure that we're able to serve every 
command.
    You know, the other thing that we're doing around this that 
we have never done before is that we have included the National 
Guard and the Reserves as well. You know, the National Guard is 
a big part of this and we are also ensuring that they are going 
to have a prevention workforce, which has never been done 
before.
    Ms. Houlahan. And you mentioned that you had sort of 
already identified certain--and you mentioned this when we met 
as well, certain places that you were going to start with, 
given that you're going to have a runway onto insights, you 
know, early on, will there be, you know, check backs and 
reevaluations that are ongoing? I would assume so.
    Mr. Cisneros. Yes. You know, I think--you know, we're 
building this but not everything is set in stone, right. I 
think it wouldn't be right by us or done the right way if we 
said, hey, this is the way it's done and this is the way we're 
going to do it.
    We need to take back and look to see what's working, what 
we can improve. I think that's part of our process. It is part 
of our process is to how we plan to move forward to ensure that 
we are correcting ourselves as we move along.
    Ms. Houlahan. Yeah.
    Mr. Cisneros. And as you said, like, around, you know, 
maybe we do need a higher number. Maybe it doesn't need to be 
as high.
    Ms. Houlahan. Yeah, and I hope to have the conversations 
later on and see the successes later on to be able to ask the 
same questions again and see what the answers are.
    With my remaining time, I know that labor is going to be a 
huge issue. The civilian economy has a very low unemployment 
rate. What are you doing?
    I guess I've run out of time, largely, but I would like to 
know for the record maybe what you're doing to entice people to 
take this responsible job rather than some other similar 
responsible job.
    And I yield back.
    Ms. Speier. The gentleman can answer the question.
    Mr. Cisneros. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.
    You know, we're doing several things. As I stated, you 
know, I just signed out direct hire authority--that we're going 
to use direct hire authority to go out and allow the services 
to hire the personnel into these fields.
    We're working with colleges, universities. Georgia State, 
for example, has been a university that we have worked with--
been working with to create an internship program and build a 
pipeline as to see how we can bring people in from colleges 
into this workforce.
    And so, you know, as you said, there are challenges, you 
know, with the economy being--doing as well as it is with 
unemployment being as low as it is. But, you know, we have to 
get out there after this.
    We're going to do [inaudible]. You know, we want to show 
people that the Department of Defense can be an employer of 
choice. That's something we're working for. And this is a 
totally different issue but it's something we are working to 
strive there to show that we can be that employer of choice for 
individuals that want to come and serve their country. It 
doesn't always have to be in uniform. There are other ways to 
do that.
    Ms. Speier. Thank you. The gentlewoman yields back.
    The gentlewoman from California, Ms. Jacobs, is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
    Ms. Jacobs. Well, thank you, Madam Chairwoman, for all of 
your leadership on this important issue, and I'm told we will 
have one more hearing so I'm not going to give my final 
goodbyes just yet.
    But Mr. Cisneros, good to see you. One of the IRC 
recommendations is to allow survivors flexibility to take 
nonchargeable time off for seeking services or time for 
recovery from sexual assault. Will the DOD allow service 
members this critical time off to help recover?
    Mr. Cisneros. Ma'am, you know, definitely, I think anytime 
we have--again, sexual assault is a behavior that's 
unacceptable in our U.S. military. The victims that have to 
suffer through this is not something that we are--that we want 
and we need to change this behavior and that is the big focus 
that we're doing.
    But in instances where, you know, any individual has been 
assaulted or where they need time off, you know, by going to 
the medical--we want them to go to the MTFs [military treatment 
facilities]. We want them to be treated.
    We want them to be seen by a physician so that they can get 
that time off and ensure that they're getting treated properly 
and have the proper time off in order for them to recover.
    Ms. Jacobs. Thank you. I wanted to ask you--I, as you know, 
represent San Diego. So we have got a lot of family members and 
folks who serve in the Marine Corps and I have to answer to 
their parents about how they're doing and, unfortunately, the 
Marine Corps has the worst sexual assault and sexual harassment 
rates in the DOD with 13.4 percent, or 2,204, women service 
members who reported their incident to DOD.
    In your assessment, why do they have the worst record? Is 
it a command issue, a climate issue, culture, leadership, and 
what are you doing to fix it so that I don't have to keep 
answering these questions from my constituents?
    And, you know, the Marine Corps has, unfortunately, long 
had the highest rates of reported harassment. So this isn't a 
new problem.
    Mr. Cisneros. You know, Representative Jacobs, we don't 
want you to have to keep answering those questions. You know, 
every individual that sends their child away to serve their 
country should be expected that that child is going to be 
treated with respect and dignity, that they're going to be 
taken care of, that they're going to be safe.
    I mean, obviously, there are risks, you know, to a 
professional military career but sexual assault, sexual 
harassment, should not be one of those. And it's going to 
take--you know, again, it's going to take leadership at the top 
and we have that leadership at the top that is dedicated to 
making this change.
    We are trying to, you know, implement--this is a cultural 
change for us and it's, I think, not just in the Marine Corps 
but through all the services that we need to institute a 
cultural change and let people know that this type of behavior 
is not acceptable and it won't be tolerated anymore. And that 
is really what we are working to do.
    And, again, we are creating this prevention workforce to 
give our commanders on the ground the tools that they need so 
that they can work with their service members and let them know 
and give them the proper training that, you know, that they 
need and give the commanders the proper training as well to see 
how they deal with these issues.
    And so we are working towards that. We are working to 
change the culture. That is a big part of what we're doing. We 
do not take this mission lightly. We know this is about 
protecting our service members.
    It's about taking care of them. And, again, you know, one--
you know, I've had the opportunity to kind of travel around and 
visit different installations and talking to different service 
members out there.
    You know, there's one individual that I remember just 
saying just one case of sexual assault in a command can just 
disrupt the whole command and it is really coercive in the 
command and, really, what it can do and how interrupted--and 
interrupt their readiness.
    And so these are things that we're trying to overcome and 
we're going to work towards that to ensure that we do it. But 
we want to--you know, I don't want you to have to have those 
conversations with parents anymore.
    Ms. Jacobs. Well, thank you, and I look forward to working 
with you on that.
    And one last quick question on the National Guard. I know 
you talked about it briefly. But last January, we did a hearing 
on the jurisdiction, investigation, and prosecution of sexual 
assault in the National Guard and one of the recommendations in 
the IRC is that the National Guard Bureau should develop Army 
National Guard and Air National Guard prevention strategies 
aligned with the DOD prevention plan of action.
    What steps have you taken to carry out this recommendation?
    Mr. Cisneros. No, and that is happening. The National Guard 
has been a big part of this. They have--are creating--they're 
out hiring a prevention workforce as well. You know, they have 
challenges because it is--you know, it's different in every 
State and there's National Guard installations all over the 
place and things vary from State to State.
    But they are very much a part of this. They are very much 
going to be a part of the prevention workforce. We'll make sure 
that we have a prevention workforce that--that services the 
various National Guard installations around the country.
    So and they've been very aggressive on this and they've 
been excited about this that they've had the opportunity to go 
and to address these issues.
    Ms. Jacobs. Thank you. I yield back.
    Ms. Speier. The gentlewoman yields back.
    Could you provide to the committee the specific States 
which have copied the UCMJ [Uniform Code of Military Justice] 
in their State constitution or laws--statutes, I guess--and 
those that have not?
    Mr. Cisneros. We can take--we can take that back for the 
record.
    [The information referred to was not available at the time 
of printing.]
    Ms. Speier. Yes. If you would just do that it would be 
important for us to know, moving forward. Thank you.
    Finally, Ms. Garcia is recognized for 5 minutes.
    Ms. Garcia. Thank you, Madam Chair, and, Mr. Under 
Secretary, good to see you again.
    And here we are again. I still remember when you and I had 
lunch with the Secretary of the Army at the time when we, 
together with members of LULAC [League of United Latin American 
Citizens] and others, went to speak with him about the case 
that brought all this to my attention and to later the national 
attention, Vanessa Guillen's case.
    And I know you were concerned there and I know you still 
are because, as you said earlier, you don't want to have 
parents have to worry about these issues again.
    So my questions today, really, will be about specifically 
the implementation of the special counsel regulations.
    So, first of all, are you handling that out of DOD? And I 
apologize, I missed your opening remarks. I've got like--I've 
got a markup in Judiciary and a hearing in FSC [Financial 
Services Committee] and this hearing here, so I'm dividing my 
time in threes this afternoon.
    So here's the third, speaking at this hearing. What exactly 
in direction are you giving them? Are you taking charge of the 
whole thing or are you expecting each individual service to do 
their own thing?
    Mr. Cisneros. Representative Garcia, good to see you again 
and thank you for all your hard work, and I know you've been an 
advocate, you know, even though you don't serve on this 
committee but I know this has been an issue that's been very 
important to you.
    And I do remember meeting with the Secretary of the Army 
and, really, you know, sitting there with you and kind of 
hearing, you know, the things that needed to change back then, 
right, that we need to go and how we need to make a difference.
    And we're working here to do that now and to make sure that 
we can change it and so that we don't have----
    Ms. Garcia. Can you tell us specifically what you are doing 
because Mr. Terry----
    Mr. Cisneros. So the----
    Ms. Garcia. I just--you know, it's very troubling because, 
you know, people see and do what others do and we're seeing, of 
course, that the military academies have this problem and now 
I'm beginning to see it and they've gotten a complaint or two 
from local high school ROTCs [Reserve Officers' Training 
Corps].
    So we have got to take care of the problem because it's 
trickling down. So the leadership begins with you and the 
Secretary of Defense. So what are you all doing to make sure 
the--what timeline are you following?
    Mr. Cisneros. So the Special Trial Counsels--so my 
responsibility is to ensure and to track to make sure that 
these changes are being--are taking place.
    Ms. Garcia. Right.
    Mr. Cisneros. The Office of General Counsel is the one 
who's working with the services on the implementation of the 
Special Trial Counsel to implement that and to make sure that 
they are working to bring that up.
    The services, I know, are implementing these plans. They're 
coming up with the--you know, what they're going to do, they're 
working to identify the individuals that will be kind of 
directing those offices.
    And so they are the ones that are working there that are 
doing the day-to-day work.
    Ms. Garcia. So each branch is doing in their own thing. 
What is their deadline that's presented through you or through 
the Secretary of Defense?
    Mr. Cisneros. Well, it's a--you know, this is a tier one 
priority, right. So we are working to get it done now. There's 
not a specific deadline that it has to be done by this time. 
But, again, ensuring that we have the resources in order to 
build this up so that they can set up this infrastructure, so 
they can set up this office will enable them to get it done 
sooner.
    Ms. Garcia. Well, do you feel like you've provided enough 
resources--people power, money, facilities, training, 
education?
    Mr. Cisneros. I think that that's all going to be part of 
it and, you know, we have had--again, a lot of those resources 
came late this year. It kind of put us behind the power curve. 
The sooner we can get those resources going into the next 
fiscal year will enable us to kind of stay on pace.
    But, again, setting up the Special Trial Counsel, ensuring 
that that gets done, is important to the Department of Defense 
to ensure--and we know that is a big part of the IRC 
recommendations in what we are doing here.
    Ms. Garcia. Well, I'm just concerned that things aren't 
moving fast enough because, again, I mean, my colleague from El 
Paso just mentioned another case and it doesn't--you know, 
there was a minute there that I was encouraged. But I'm 
beginning to lose that encouragement because I keep hearing of 
more cases.
    So I would strongly urge you to make sure that all the 
branches have the resources--the people power, the facilities, 
the training, the education, and the skill set--and to get it 
done and get it done as quickly as possible.
    Mr. Cisneros. Ma'am, we're--you know, that is our intention 
is to provide them with the resources that they need that 
they're going to have to get these set up.
    Where you can help us out in Congress here is to ensure 
that we have those resources in order to do that.
    Ms. Garcia. Well, and I think you could help out by giving 
them a deadline. Everybody always needs to know what the 
deadline is.
    But thank you, Mr. Under Secretary.
    And, Madam Chair, I know you've recognized my constituent, 
Mayra Guillen, who is here and I just also want to say hello to 
her and let her know that we're still pushing forward--that 
we're working till we get it done.
    Thank you, and I yield back.
    Ms. Speier. The gentlewoman yields back.
    If there is no further question of our Under Secretary, we 
will thank him for his participation today, thank him for his 
leadership, and look forward to working with you in the future.
    Mr. Cisneros. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. Appreciate it.
    Ms. Speier. All right. We'll now take a short recess to 
switch out our second panel.
    My understanding is that the second set of votes will be 
called between 3:45 and 4:15. So we're hoping for 4:15 so that 
we can hear from our second panel.
    [Recess.]
    Ms. Speier. We welcome our second panel: the Honorable Gabe 
Camarillo, Under Secretary of the Army, Department of the Army; 
the Honorable Erik Raven, Under Secretary of the Navy, 
Department of the Navy; and the Honorable Gina Ortiz Jones, 
Under Secretary of the Air Force, Department of the Air Force.
    Thank you all for joining us.
    We will begin with you, Mr. Camarillo, with your opening 
remarks.

STATEMENT OF HON. GABE CAMARILLO, UNDER SECRETARY OF THE ARMY, 
                     DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY

    Mr. Camarillo. Thank you.
    Chairwoman Speier, Ranking Member Gallagher, distinguished 
members of this committee, thank you for the opportunity to 
appear before this subcommittee representing the Army.
    The Army's number one priority is its people--our soldiers, 
civilians, retirees, veterans, and their families. Our focus 
remains on taking care of our people, treating them with 
dignity and respect, and promoting a culture of where everyone 
can serve and trust those who can serve with them.
    Army leadership was concerned by the results in the fiscal 
year 2021 Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military, 
which revealed a significant increase in the prevalence of 
sexual assault alongside a decline in trust in the military 
system to deal with those problems.
    Put simply, despite many years of prior effort to address 
this challenge, we are not where we want to be. This is why the 
Army has fundamentally changed its approach. Since the murder 
of Specialist Vanessa Guillen and the release of the Fort Hood 
Independent Review Committee report, we have taken 
unprecedented steps to make systemic and lasting changes to the 
way that we prevent harmful behaviors.
    Fort Hood serves as a line of demarcation for the Army. Our 
efforts have shifted from a narrow focus on response to these 
crimes and compliance with related policies to a more balanced 
approach rooted in prevention, building positive command 
climates, and in detecting and acting on warning signs before 
damaging acts occur.
    Since the release of the Fort Hood report, the Army has 
made significant changes on the way that it counters harmful 
behaviors. We have innovated our sexual assault and harassment 
training to focus on experience-based scenarios.
    We have also doubled down on our battalion and brigade 
level commander selection process that's allowed us to select 
leaders better suited to building positive command climates. 
And these changes coincide with Secretary Austin's decision to 
create, at the direction of the President, the Independent 
Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military.
    So the Army is well positioned to continue driving change. 
We're focused on preventing violent acts to include sexual 
assault by rapidly and effectively implementing the 
recommendations of the IRC and the Fort Hood independent 
report.
    The Army has already implemented 63 of the 70 Fort Hood 
recommendations and 4 of the 6 priority IRC recommendations 
assigned to the Army, including ensuring that survivors can 
access the help they need no matter who they ask.
    We are implementing fundamental changes to our response 
system that directly address the lost confidence of survivors 
of these crimes.
    The Army has established its Office of Special Trial 
Counsel reporting directly to the Secretary of the Army, which 
will prosecute sexual assault and several other violent 
offenses, and we're continuing to ask hard questions about our 
own performance and hold ourselves accountable for getting this 
right.
    As the Army's designated lead for IRC implementation, I 
receive weekly updates on our progress, checking to ensure that 
our implementation efforts are effective and on time. And in 
addition, I would note that the Army has developed other 
initiatives that we believe will help address harmful 
behaviors.
    This April, we launched a multidisciplinary sexual 
harassment and assault fusion directorate pilot at seven 
locations in the Army. When one of our soldiers, civilians, 
retirees, veterans, or family members need help, they can go to 
one location and get assistance at that same location on the 
installation.
    We have also stood up the People First Center at Fort Hood, 
a centralized training facility that develops units into 
cohesive teams. I visited this facility last July and was 
impressed by the progress that it's making in delivering 
effective training based on real-world scenarios. And this 
approach supports our efforts to prevent harmful behaviors of 
all manners and types in the Army.
    Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth and I are both 
immensely grateful to the Congress and this committee for its 
sustained focus on sexual assault in the military. Though years 
of leadership have struggled to address this pernicious 
problem, the good news is that with your help we have an 
unmatched opportunity for progress.
    To take advantage of it, we will need help to continue 
putting in hard work. We can't afford to fail our soldiers and 
civilians in this area, and getting this problem right and 
driving lasting change in the way that we prevent and respond 
to sexual assault will safeguard soldiers' physical safety, 
increase our military readiness, build trust, and ensure that 
every Army team member is treated with dignity and respect.
    The Army has made a serious commitment to change but we are 
not done yet. You have my commitment that Army leaders will 
keep pushing until the job is done.
    Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Camarillo can be found in 
the Appendix on page 52.]
    Ms. Speier. Thank you, Mr. Camarillo.
    Next, Mr. Raven.

 STATEMENT OF HON. ERIK K. RAVEN, UNDER SECRETARY OF THE NAVY, 
                     DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

    Mr. Raven. Good afternoon, Chairwoman Speier, Ranking 
Member Gallagher, and distinguished members of the 
subcommittee.
    I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to 
discuss the ongoing efforts by the Department of the Navy to 
implement the recommendations of the Independent Review 
Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military--the IRC--and the 
Offices of the Special Trial Counsel.
    On behalf of Navy Secretary Del Toro and the senior 
civilian and military leadership of the Navy and Marine Corps, 
I want to thank this committee for its leadership in reforming 
the military justice system in the fiscal year 2022 NDAA.
    This was a critical step in addressing military sexual 
assaults that continue among our ranks. I was saddened to read 
the findings of the Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the 
Military for fiscal year 2021. The crimes of sexual assault and 
sexual harassment, unfortunately, remain persistent.
    These crimes erode unit cohesion, the glue that holds 
together successful teams in their most difficult hours. More 
importantly, sailors and Marines, their teammates, and their 
families suffer emotional, psychological, and physical injuries 
because of these crimes.
    We owe it to our service members to use the data from the 
annual report, as well as the good work that the committee and 
others have done, to make informed decisions on how to prevent 
sexual violence and harassment within our department.
    I want to assure you that Secretary Del Toro, the Chief of 
Naval Operations, and the Commandant of the Marine Corps are 
laser focused on this matter. Prevention remains our number one 
priority.
    Consequently, Secretary Del Toro has prioritized and 
expedited IRC recommendations to train and develop leaders to 
deter violence and set conditions for healthy personal and 
professional relationships.
    This fosters command climates that do not tolerate 
destructive behaviors, that strengthen the dignity of military 
service, and increase our warfighting readiness.
    After the fiscal year 2022 NDAA became law, Secretary Del 
Toro established the DON [Department of the Navy] 
Implementation Advisory Panel, or IAP. The IAP brings together 
key senior leaders from across the DON to implement the 
recommendations of the IRC and the NDAA reforms.
    The IAP is driving action to streamline implementation 
work, allowing the Department of the Navy to move out ahead of 
schedule on numerous efforts. This includes initial operating 
capability of the Office of the Special Trial Counsel and 
establishing policies to empower victims and survivors to come 
forward and receive the support that they need.
    We have also made substantial progress in standing up a 
dedicated workforce to prevent harmful behaviors and 
professionalizing the sexual assault response workforce to best 
support survivor recovery.
    Our prevention specialists are our leaders who will call 
attention to problems with culture and climate before it is too 
late. Hiring these specialists is our top priority.
    To that end, I ask for congressional support for passing 
on-time budgets to keep hiring efforts on pace for new 
programs.
    Within the DON we fully recognize that preventing and 
effectively addressing sexual assault and sexual harassment 
requires systemic changes to climate and culture. We will not 
lose sight of this.
    Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today, 
and I look forward to answering your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Raven can be found in the 
Appendix on page 63.]
    Ms. Speier. Ms. Ortiz Jones, you're recognized for 5 
minutes.

STATEMENT OF HON. GINA ORTIZ JONES, UNDER SECRETARY OF THE AIR 
               FORCE, DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE

    Ms. Ortiz Jones. Good afternoon, Chair Speier, Ranking 
Member Gallagher, distinguished members of the subcommittee. 
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.
    I submitted testimony for the record on behalf of the 
Department of the Air Force, so I will keep my opening remarks 
brief to allow ample time for your questions.
    The Department of the Air Force is committed to supporting 
our service members and their families and removing every 
barrier to service. We will continue to strive to ensure that 
anyone who is eligible, ready, and willing to support and 
defend the Constitution has the opportunity to serve to their 
full potential.
    While there have been important policy changes due in part 
to the leadership of the members of this subcommittee, we have, 
frankly, not made enough progress in preventing or reducing 
sexual assault and sexual harassment in the military.
    The bottom line is we have more work to do. Our airmen, 
guardians, and their families are our greatest competitive 
advantage. We do not have time or talent to lose.
    Sexual assault and sexual harassment undermine our force 
lethality, operational readiness, and mission success. They 
also infect command climate, erode unit cohesion, and undermine 
good order and discipline.
    To successfully fulfill our mission to protect and defend 
our Nation, addressing sexual harassment and sexual assault 
must be a top priority and it is for Secretary Kendall and I. 
This is a warfighting issue, a readiness issue, and a 
leadership issue.
    The Department of Defense Annual Report on Sexual Assault 
in the Military for fiscal year 2021 showed that the Department 
of the Air Force estimated prevalence of sexual assault 
behaviors increased as did the total number of restricted and 
unrestricted reports.
    At the same time, we know we have more work to do as the 
overall Department of the Air Force reporting rate among airmen 
who experienced sexual assault decreased by 10 percent compared 
to fiscal year 2018 data.
    We are determined to make significant measurable progress 
to close the gap between the prevalence of sexual harassment 
and sexual assaults and the number of reports. This is 
fundamentally about trust in the process and we are committed 
to providing comprehensive support and response services for 
sexual harassment and sexual assault victims.
    As members of this subcommittee are aware, the IRC on 
sexual assault made recommendations related to accountability, 
prevention, climate and culture, and victim care and support. 
This year, the Department of the Air Force continued 
implementing the recommendations of the IRC, including the 
establishment of the Office of Special Trial Counsel to oversee 
the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault and other 
victim-based offenses.
    The OSTC is independent from the command reporting 
structure and reports directly to the Secretary of the Air 
Force.
    Additionally, the Department of the Air Force recently 
updated its discharge criteria for those who are found to have 
committed a sexual assault.
    The discharge criteria are more stringent and objective. 
Sexual assault is incompatible with military service and our 
core values and these revised criteria better reflect that.
    In 2015, the Department of the Air Force established a 
dedicated prevention workforce and policy, which served as a 
model for some of the IRC's recommendations. This dedicated 
prevention workforce will lead, develop, plan, evaluate, and 
coordinate integrated primary prevention across the Department 
of the Air Force.
    When combined with 103 new positions authorized and funded 
for 2022, we anticipate having onboarded 227 full-time 
dedicated prevention professionals by the end of 2023.
    The Department of the Air Force is also addressing 
attitudes and beliefs that lead to a harmful environment by 
designing actions that increase protections for our airmen and 
guardians.
    By empowering and equipping leaders at all levels, these 
initiatives will increase critical intervention skills and 
promote a positive unit culture that is rooted in treating 
fellow service members with dignity and respect as well as 
enforcing accountability when those basic tenets are violated.
    The Department of the Air Force response programs include 
increasing our SAPR [Sexual Assault Prevention and Response] 
workforce of professional full-time advocates and phasing out 
the reliance on collateral duty victim services personnel.
    These programs, additionally, will expand restricted and 
unrestricted reporting processes and ensure trauma-informed 
victim advocacy, mental health, and health care.
    To that end, I directed the Department of the Air Force to 
initiate a 6-month integrated response pilot program based on a 
recommendation of the IRC to co-locate these services.
    This pilot aims to improve the response to and outcomes for 
personnel who experienced harm and violence such as sexual 
assault, sexual harassment, domestic violence, stalking, and 
cyber harassment.
    Further implemented challenges--excuse me, changes to 
improve survivor support include flexibility to take 
nonchargeable time off for sexual assault victims, expanded 
victim service options including advocacy for military sexual 
harassment survivors and victims counsel support in post-trial 
period, restricted reporting, and maximized survivor 
preferences in expedited transfers.
    The Department of the Air Force is resolute in our 
responsibility to ensure our airmen and guardians live and work 
in an environment safe from sexual harassment and assault.
    We are leaning forward to shrink the gap between reporting 
and prevalence by implementing the IRC recommendations to 
include establishing the OSTC. We are strengthening 
accountability at all levels and enhancing prevention efforts.
    We must remember what is at stake--the safety and well 
being of our airmen, guardians, and their families as well as 
the trust of the American people. Combating this continual harm 
is paramount to our ability to deliver air and space power.
    Our ability to remain competitive as an employer of choice 
requires that we prioritize and resource what is most 
important, our people. Continued congressional support and 
advocacy will help us achieve that end.
    Madam Chair, if I may also echo the thanks for your decades 
of leadership on this issue, efforts that have moved the needle 
in many ways and, frankly, have helped to keep this topic at 
the forefront. So my personal thanks for your leadership.
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today 
and for your continued oversight for the implementation of the 
IRC recommendations on sexual assault, and I look forward to 
your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Ortiz Jones can be found in 
the Appendix on page 71.]
    Ms. Speier. Thank you. I recognize myself for 5 minutes.
    Let me start off by just going across the table and find 
out where we are on the numbers.
    How many Special Trial Counsels have been certified and are 
in place, Mr. Camarillo?
    Mr. Camarillo. Chairwoman Speier, my current numbers for 
the certified Special Trial Counsels are 29 in the Army.
    Ms. Speier. Okay.
    Mr. Raven.
    Mr. Raven. Thank you. There are approximately 40 litigation 
professionals in the Navy and approximately 12 in the Marine 
Corps, which are on the job. Not in the Office of Special Trial 
Counsel today--they are actually performing the mission within 
the JAG [Judge Advocate General] and SJA [Staff Judge Advocate] 
today.
    Ms. Speier. Okay. So you have not yet selected any as 
Special Trial Counsels?
    Mr. Raven. We have a corps of about--it's, roughly, about a 
dozen split between the Navy and Marine Corps and, again, they 
are the initial capability but we have these missions ongoing 
today within the JAG and SJA and they are--we are preparing for 
those to transfer upon the timeline that we can brief you on.
    Ms. Speier. And in the Air Force?
    Ms. Ortiz Jones. Madam Chair, the Department of the Air 
Force has 19 Special Trial Counsels. Those folks were certified 
in June. That certification process was informed by Department 
of Justice expertise.
    We also know that as important to that is making sure that 
our investigators have the expertise. So we actually also had 
two individuals from the Office of Special Investigations 
participate in that training and we will be full operational 
capability with a complement of 32 Special Trial Counsels by 
December of 2023.
    Ms. Speier. Okay.
    Ms. Ortiz Jones indicated that there are 227 prevention 
officers that you will have in place by the end of 2023, 
correct?
    Ms. Ortiz Jones. Yes, Madam Chair.
    Ms. Speier. Mr. Raven, in the Navy and Marines, how many 
will be trained and ready to move out?
    Mr. Raven. Yeah. We are in the process of hiring 82 during 
this fiscal year. So by the end of this fiscal year we expect 
to have them, roughly, half on board. There was a problem with 
the continuing resolution--our pace of hiring that. But our 
goal is to have at least 225 by fiscal year 2024.
    Ms. Speier. Okay, but 83 by the end of 2023?
    Mr. Raven. It will be more by the end of 2023 because we 
expect to hire additional professionals in the year 2023. But I 
don't have that number right on hand.
    Ms. Speier. Mr. Camarillo.
    Mr. Camarillo. Chairwoman Speier, similar to the Navy, by 
fiscal year 2022 and going into 2023, we expect the first wave 
of hiring to be 81 professionals that are focused primarily at 
6 locations within the Army, and I'll have to take for the 
record the number we expect to arrive at by the end of fiscal 
year 2023.
    Ms. Speier. These are Special Trial Counsel or----
    Mr. Camarillo. These are prevention workforce.
    Ms. Speier. Prevention workforce. Okay. So starting with 
Under Secretary Ortiz Jones, the prevention workforce--what do 
you believe is the highest priorities for this new prevention 
function?
    What installations will receive the prevention workforce 
first and how will we know if it's working?
    Same question for all of you.
    Ms. Ortiz Jones. Madam Chair, the prevention workforce, as 
I mentioned in my opening comments, we have had this in place 
since 2015 and so we really, you know, appreciate the work that 
has been done over the years to ensure that we are where we 
are.
    We will move--so let me just be clear. Every major 
installation currently has one prevention specialist there now. 
We will move to four. I'll have to follow up with you to give 
you the exact order of those.
    But our priority given under--who we understand to be the 
preponderance of the victims, will be those that have, for 
example, a large young junior enlisted population to ensure 
that we are best supporting those large populations.
    In terms of how will we know--how will we know if it's 
working, one of the efforts that we have that I mentioned in my 
opening comments is the direction of the integrated response 
co-location effort, and this is an effort to, again, based on 
one of the IRC recommendations, how can we minimize the 
retraumatization of victims, how can we also ensure that our 
response providers are supported and have the resources that 
they need.
    Madam Chair, that'll be complete--the pilot--in about 6 
months and we'll have a better idea, I think, based on that in 
terms of where we might be able to improve on things that we 
are less familiar with, for example, on grooming and stalking 
and how we can ensure that we are adequately incorporating that 
into our prevention efforts.
    Ms. Speier. I'm impressed that you're doing that pilot 
program. I think the Air Force has shown itself to be the most 
innovative so far and actually the farthest along in this 
process.
    Under Secretary Raven, same questions.
    Mr. Raven. Thank you, Madam.
    Our priority for the prevention workforce is really 
relieving the strain on numerous members of both the Navy and 
Marine Corps who are conducting these as collateral duties, and 
so being able to have a dedicated prevention workforce relieves 
that strain and also upskills the workforce to be able to 
understand the challenges that are being faced.
    In terms of where are they going, we can provide for the 
record a lay down of where these individuals will be headed. 
The priority will be on fleet concentration areas so think 
Norfolk, San Diego, Hawaii, where so many of our forces are co-
located.
    And as to how will we judge the effectiveness of this 
workforce, I think it's going to be a combination of measuring 
what impact they have in those fleet concentration areas, at 
the bases.
    We need to do more in collecting data to have an ongoing 
assessment process so that we know what is making an impact and 
where we need to focus our attention.
    Ms. Speier. Right.
    Under Secretary Camarillo, your highest priorities?
    Mr. Camarillo. Highest priorities, ma'am, first relate to 
five installations. They are Fort Hood, Fort Sill, Schofield 
Barracks, Camp Humphreys, and Fort Riley. These areas were 
selected, in addition to kind of our headquarters function in 
the Army, primarily based on several factors: the size of the 
installation and the missions therein, recent risk factors that 
were identified by our DEOCS [Defense Organizational Climate 
Survey] climate surveys, and a good blend of units where we 
feel that it will help us or enable us to show how the 
prevention workforce can be best integrated into the program 
set.
    Like the Air Force, following the Fort Hood Independent 
Review Commission, we had initiated back then also a fusion 
directorate pilot at many of our installations to provide 
single-stop shopping for anybody who needs care across the 
installation.
    As we all know, it's very difficult for a potential victim 
to have to look for it across a very diverse installation, and 
metrics for success for me are primarily as we implement and 
bring the prevention workforce on board is how are we tailoring 
our programs more effectively to deal with the specific issues 
and climate factors that are relevant at those specific 
installations and, hopefully, that's what we hope to see coming 
out of the prevention workforce.
    Ms. Speier. All right. Thank you. I exceeded my time so 
feel free to take another 2 minutes and 42 seconds.
    Mr. Gallagher is recognized for 5 minutes or 7 minutes.
    Mr. Gallagher. I appreciate the reciprocity. It's very 
nice.
    As we talked about it on Panel 1, we have a major issue now 
with perceived lack of trust in leadership and in military 
justice.
    So I just would ask similar to what I asked Mr. Cisneros, 
what are each of your services doing to focus on building--
rebuilding that trust in leadership, particularly in the sense 
of kind of directly engaging leaders with service members, 
junior enlisted members in particular, and maybe we'll just 
start Air Force and go that way.
    Ms. Ortiz Jones. Representative Gallagher, thank you for 
the question.
    I think we know the importance of climate and culture and 
ensuring that we've got the right protective factors in place 
and a lot of this is tied to understanding of kind of nit 
cohesion, right, just kind of basic connectedness.
    And so one of the things that we started doing--this is 
really General Brown and Chief Master Sergeant Bass--is called 
Airman's Time, right, and this is really just setting aside 
time, talking to your folks.
    I mean, I think, you know, listening to your comments 
earlier, what we don't want anyone to think is that because 
there are these response services and prevention workforce 
things outside of the unit, that leaders are not somehow 
responsible for the climate within their units. That's 
absolutely not the case.
    And so, you know, ensuring that our leaders, our frontline 
supervisors, understand that they're still responsible for the 
climate in their organizations and ensuring that that 
connectedness is tied to good order and discipline. Those are 
the things that we are continuing to reinforce and are looking 
for additional ways to do so.
    Mr. Gallagher. Thank you.
    Mr. Raven. Ranking Member, thank you for the question.
    Trust is important not only for addressing the issues that 
this hearing is about today but for the core of military 
readiness. Each service member needs to have trust in their 
chain of command to make life or death decisions but also 
respond to crises when they occur.
    What we are doing about trust is putting together not only 
tools but an education campaign that goes from the lowest 
levels of training all the way up to senior levels to make sure 
that commanders and all service members as they advance through 
their career understand the importance of trust in building 
those relationships with their units.
    Just a couple of examples of what we are doing specifically 
on this. We have put together a commander's playbook so that as 
commanders are faced with difficult issues they have something 
to refer to to understand what options are open to them, to 
increase their sensitivity to issues as they come to their 
attention.
    Another specific example is that the Commandant revised the 
Commandant's Combined Commandership Course professional 
military education system and this is really focused on 
selected commanders and sergeant majors, so a lot of those 
service members who are in that day-to-day command position, to 
make sure that they have a better understanding of what trust 
and what right looks like when it comes to leadership.
    Mr. Gallagher. Thank you.
    Mr. Camarillo.
    Mr. Camarillo. Ranking Member Gallagher, three items that I 
would mention in response to your question.
    The first is policy. One of the things we've done to 
restore trust is to ensure that our policy is aligned to 
promote reporting by our victims, two in particular, I would 
note, that are related to the IRC.
    The first is the Army policy to ensure that it's safe to 
report crimes of all types and what that means is collateral 
minor offenses will not be used against the victim when it 
would otherwise be a barrier to encouraging them to come 
forward with reports.
    Similarly, we have implemented the policy to ensure that 
there's no wrong door. If a victim were to report a crime to a 
family advocacy center or MFLC [Military and Family Life 
Counseling] or anywhere else on the installation, we want to 
make sure that we connect them to the right care.
    Secondly, I would note that the Army, since Fort Hood, has 
instituted cohesion assessment teams. These are specifically 
designed teams run out of TRADOC [U.S. Army Training and 
Doctrine Command] that we deploy to different installations to 
help commanders at the brigade and below level to assess the 
cohesion of what their individual organizations include.
    So we help them determine where they have blind spots 
within the organization and how they might work quickly, based 
on best practices, to address those gaps.
    And then, finally, our leader selection. So the way that we 
have instituted changes since Fort Hood has been focused on our 
command selection programs, looking at brigade and battalion 
commanders, primarily looking at a 360 evaluation that also 
focuses on how effective these leaders can be in leading 
organizations that promote cultural change of the type that we 
want to see as part of this.
    Mr. Gallagher. Thank you.
    I know I technically have two more minutes but Chairman 
Smith has so trained me not to go past the 5 minutes that, like 
Pavlov's dog, I fear I would get a shock if I did.
    So I will yield back.
    Ms. Speier. The gentleman yields back.
    Let's see. The gentlewoman from Texas, Ms. Escobar, is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
    Ms. Escobar. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Many thanks to all three of you for your incredible service 
and your leadership, especially during a time of reform and 
change and, really, truly, innovation. So thank you all.
    And, of course, a special thank you to El Pasoan Mr. 
Camarillo, who the community is so proud of. And I'm so 
grateful for your visit to Fort Bliss recently, to the 
community, and it was a really incredible opportunity for us to 
be able to highlight the opportunities and the challenges that 
we have at Fort Bliss.
    Given that recent visit, I have to tell you I was--not 
given that recent visit but given a report from last year that 
identified Fort Bliss as one of the top five installations 
where women were at risk for sexual assault, I was surprised 
that Fort Bliss is not on that list of the military 
installations on your top five list.
    And am wondering is the report outdated at this point? Is 
the information outdated? What are the factors that you took 
into consideration that made it so that Fort Bliss was not on 
your list?
    Mr. Camarillo. First of all, Congresswoman Escobar, thank 
you so much for your leadership on this issue.
    Certainly, we want to make a full-court press in terms of 
hiring the prevention workforce across all of our Army 
installations and we have a robust plan to do that over the 
next couple of years. And, certainly, the focus on these 
installations was not intended to be exclusive in any way of 
any one set of concerns at the exclusion of others.
    We'll continue to develop the job requisitions, the hiring 
plans, exactly how these folks are going to work at every 
installation to include Fort Bliss.
    The idea was that we will be able to prove out how this 
works at some of these initial installations and we'll learn to 
be able to adjust how these prevention workforce specialists 
are employed at other gaining installations as we go.
    I think as you heard Under Secretary Cisneros testify, 
we're learning as we're going through the implementation of 
this process and will continue to do that here. But, certainly, 
we continue to move forward very, very expeditiously on hiring 
the workforce that would be in place at all of these 
installations to include Fort Bliss.
    Ms. Escobar. Okay. I hope so. Thank you so much. Appreciate 
that.
    And this is a question for all three of you. You know, 
obviously, the implementation is based on Fort Hood, the 
findings there, the recommendations from the report. But I'm 
wondering how informed some of the either training or some of 
the processes are by other victims of sexual assault.
    Is that something that you all are doing, interviewing or 
meeting with or learning from prior victims to sort of broaden 
the approach and the perspective because every situation is so 
different and this is really our opportunity to get it right.
    And I completely understand--you know, Mr. Cisneros had 
shared with me they're trying to not rush the implementation 
because the desire is to get it right, and I think in order to 
get it right those other voices really need to be a part of it.
    So I'm curious as to whether you all have thought about 
that. Is that appropriate? Is that something that could be 
considered.
    And happy to yield to whoever would like to go first.
    Ms. Ortiz Jones.
    Ms. Ortiz Jones. Representative Escobar----
    Ms. Escobar. Wonderful to see you as well.
    Ms. Ortiz Jones. Thank you.
    Absolutely. One of the other data points in addition to the 
IRC for the Department of the Air Force, in particular, is the 
interpersonal violence report that was published last summer 
and that really provided us some great insights.
    In particular, one of the real impetus for this co-location 
as well was, for me, Representative Escobar, the disconnect in 
how victims thought those services--how well those services 
were provided, versus how commanders thought that--and there 
was about a 30-point gap in that understanding.
    And so it was really important, to your point about 
bringing in those folks that have gone through this process, 
that needed that help and, unfortunately, felt like we fell 
short of what we should have provided.
    So as we are standing up and going through this pilot we 
are absolutely including the voices, the experiences, of those 
that have, unfortunately, been victims and survivors to help us 
understand how we can do this better, make sure we're not 
making any assumptions.
    And, in particular, this is--you know, these co-location 
pilots, again, are across the continuum, right, so it's not 
just sexual assault, sexual harassment, but also domestic 
violence and to--also to the extent we can understand other 
pieces of this, right, financial abuse--did this start with 
stalking and grooming, right--how can we understand the full 
continuum of this to ensure that our prevention efforts, our 
response efforts, are as well informed as they can be.
    Ms. Escobar. Okay. I'm out of time. But, Mr. Raven, Mr. 
Camarillo, if you all wouldn't mind, for the record, letting me 
know how victims are informing the process.
    Thank you. I yield back, Madam Chair.
    [The information referred to can be found in the Appendix 
on page 81.]
    Ms. Speier. The gentlewoman yields back.
    The gentlewoman from Pennsylvania, Ms. Houlahan, is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
    Ms. Houlahan. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you guys 
for all being here and it's lovely to see so many friendly 
faces--familiar faces.
    It seems as though the buzzword of both of these hearings 
and testimonies has been trust--Mr. Camarillo, you spoke a 
great deal about it as did Under Secretary Cisneros as well--as 
being the largest barrier right now.
    We spoke last hearing that 32 percent of women and an 
estimated 31 percent of men don't report some sort of 
harassment due to a lack of trust in their command or in the 
structure or response that their command would have.
    Mr. Camarillo, one of the things you said that really 
stunned me--let me make sure I find it in your opening 
statement--was part of the way you're addressing this is 
finding leaders that are better suited for a positive command 
and climate.
    What the heck is that? Why aren't we already finding 
leaders that are better suited for a positive command? What 
have we innovated on to allow for that to happen?
    Mr. Camarillo. Thank you, Congresswoman, for the question.
    So what I was referencing in my opening statement was our 
command selection program, and this was really in response to 
the Fort Hood Independent Review Commission's report.
    One of the things that we found was part of building 
positive command climates at scale at different installations 
and within our units requires us making sure that we build and 
identify leaders who are attuned to the issues that are going 
to build those positive command climates.
    So our selection process has changed in the last couple of 
years. What we have done is we've taken over 3,000 lieutenant 
colonels and colonels as part of this program and we have 
looked at them in a 360 evaluation to determine how much 
empathy would they have for issues and situations that would 
arise within their formations in which a victim of sexual 
assault or sexual harassment would want to come forward.
    Ms. Houlahan. And how do you measure empathy in that 
particular case and are you also looking at captains and majors 
as well?
    Mr. Camarillo. Yes, ma'am. Our plan is to very much expand 
this to other levels as well. We initially started with the 
battalion and brigade command leaders just in order to be able 
to show how this would work and it's had tremendous amount of 
success so far.
    We, certainly, intend to scale this out to other parts of 
the Army, moving forward.
    Ms. Houlahan. And I know I don't have very much time, but I 
am interested in how you measure empathy because that seems to 
be a challenge, and if you have the answer in a half a minute 
that'd be great. But I have other questions and happy to take 
that for the record. If I could understand----
    Mr. Camarillo. I can take that for the record and provide 
you----
    [The information referred to was not available at the time 
of printing.]
    Ms. Houlahan [continuing]. What it is that you're modifying 
and how this is any different than it ever has been. We are 
always looking for quality leadership and we're always looking 
for people who can empathize, and so I'm just intrigued to 
understand that in this day and age.
    Ms. Ortiz Jones, you mentioned--and Air Force is better and 
Air Force does lead the way--you mentioned the 6-month pilot 
program that you are starting--you were talking about.
    How will you staff it, where will it be, and how will you 
make sure that it's not perceived as being outboard and not 
kind of embedded in whatever organizations it's set to serve?
    Ms. Ortiz Jones. Well, thank you for the question.
    And this was was really--and I've been very clear with the 
team about what this is about, right. This is not about 
bureaucracy. This is about supporting victims--how do we help 
people minimize the number of times they have to tell their 
story. To your point, what are the metrics that we are going to 
look at to ensure that this is moving the way that we want it 
to.
    So some of the things that we are looking at, for example, 
does the co-location as a result of that, are we seeing a 
decrease in time, for example, from the time an incident 
happens to when it's reported, right. Are we seeing an 
increased synergy collaboration between these response 
providers to the extent, again, we get a better, more complete 
picture of what has happened in the situation.
    In terms of staffing, many of these offices already were on 
the base and so we have identified space where we could co-
locate and we are working through and identifying, frankly, 
some of the IT [information technology] challenges, and I may 
actually come back and provide some additional also requests as 
we identify some MILCON [military construction] to make sure 
that these are safe and welcoming environments that are 
conducive to this type of work.
    But the intent has always been what do you need to do this 
better, how can we ensure our victims feel supported, and how 
can we ensure that this co-location effort is gathering the 
data that'll help us not only provide the the support better 
but also inform our follow-on education efforts, certainly, for 
our commanders and other elements.
    Ms. Houlahan. And with the last half minute of my time--
this came up in the last hearing as well, this concept of 
nonchargeable time off. How do you execute on something like 
that? It came up most recently with you, Ms. Ortiz Jones. What 
is the thought process there?
    Ms. Ortiz Jones. Well, the thought process is that somebody 
should not have to take personal leave in these situations and 
so, again, to the point that we want folks to feel supported 
and they can get the care that they need, this is something 
that we wanted to communicate very clearly about--you know, 
having the time and the space and the level of privacy to do 
what is needed.
    Ms. Houlahan. Thank you. I yield back. My time is expired.
    Ms. Speier. The gentlewoman yields back.
    The gentlewoman from California, Ms. Jacobs, is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
    Ms. Jacobs. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Thank you for being here.
    Ms. Jones, I want to start with you. Good to see you, and 
also I want to reiterate the comments of the chairwoman. It 
really does appear the Air Force has gone further than any 
other service at tackling this problem in an innovative way.
    And, you know, I wanted to ask if you can explain the Air 
Force's actions in progress, specifically, the four lines of 
effort with the 24 initiatives focused on culture change, 
training, education, operations, and resourcing.
    Ms. Ortiz Jones. It's good to see you as well, 
Representative Jacobs.
    So this is--you know, we are on track and really leaning 
forward to ensure that we meet, certainly, the [inaudible] 
objectives as soon as possible, certainly, by 2027.
    But when we think about those factors that are--contribute 
to the type of environment where, you know, sexual assault, 
sexual harassment is eradicated, it does come back to climate 
and culture.
    Many of the things that are, frankly, not only in this 
space, right, but how do we ensure that folks feel welcome, can 
serve to their full potential, and are treated with dignity and 
respect.
    So some of those elements--right now we're taking a hard 
look at how might we better incorporate some of this into our 
professional military education at all levels.
    This is not a separate thing, right. This is just part of 
being a good leader and, frankly, a good service member. How 
are we looking at ensuring that we're also--ensuring we have 
got the appropriate, for example, investigative services to 
ensure that the OST [Office of Special Trial Counsel] is well 
supported.
    So I can provide a more full--I know in the interest of 
time I can provide a more fulsome list for the record. But I 
wanted to touch upon just a couple of those things. But this 
is--again, has the highest attention and priority of Secretary 
Kendall and I.
    Ms. Jacobs. Well, thank you.
    Mr. Raven, I want to turn to you.
    As you know, I represent San Diego so have a lot of my 
constituents who have loved ones, family members, who 
themselves serve in the Navy and the Marine Corps. And, 
unfortunately, the Marine Corps long has had the worst sexual 
assault and sexual harassment rates in DOD--13.4 percent, or 
2,204, women service members who reported their incidents to 
the DOD, and this came up in the last panel as well.
    But I wanted to ask you, what do you attribute this to and 
is this a command, climate, culture, leadership issue, and then 
what are you doing for both the Marines and the Navy to select 
and develop and evaluate the right leaders for command 
positions and why hasn't the Navy pursued implementing a 
command assessment program like the Army and other services 
have?
    Mr. Raven. Thank you for those questions, and let me take 
them in backwards order.
    First of all, in terms of growing leadership, this begins 
the moment you enter boot camp--that we need to instill as part 
of the regular training curriculum from boot camp all the way 
to the highest levels of professional military education.
    That team building, building trust and respect, is part of 
military readiness and is part of tackling these issues that we 
have before us today.
    So that is happening at all levels.
    In terms of what we expect on leaders, this is not solely 
about picking the right leaders for the right jobs. This is 
about looking at the whole institution of the Navy and Marine 
Corps from the bottom up and the top down to make sure that at 
every level of responsibility leaders have the right 
understanding of the issues, they understand the tools that are 
available to them, and they also know what right looks like so 
they can evaluate their command, whether they're heading a 
division on a ship or in command of a major shore facility.
    We need to make sure that each level of command has the 
tools to be able to tackle these issues before it becomes a 
crisis.
    In terms of the Marine Corps and the Navy, the numbers are 
very disappointing. It is the exact reason why this is a top 
priority for our leadership of tackling these issues in an 
aggressive way.
    We are working on the policies from No Wrong Door to cyber 
harassment to Safe to Report to make sure that we are setting 
the tone from the very top that these behaviors are absolutely 
unacceptable, and we're also looking after those who have 
suffered these injustices.
    One example there, for the victims legal counsel, that 
provides assistance to victims of these crimes. One thing I am 
proud to say that it is working. The responses from those who 
have to resort to these services tend to be overwhelmingly 
favorable.
    So we believe that we can tackle these issues in a smart 
way. We just need to get it instilled through the whole 
institution of both the Navy and Marine Corps.
    Ms. Jacobs. Got it.
    Well, I hope you'll also take some best practices from some 
of the other services and I look forward to working with you on 
this so I have to stop talking to family members in my district 
who are very concerned about the safety of their loved ones, 
not only when they're deployed abroad but actually when they're 
at their bases in San Diego.
    So thank you.
    Ms. Speier. The gentlewoman yields back.
    The gentlewoman from Texas, Ms. Garcia, is recognized for 5 
minutes.
    Ms. Garcia. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for the 
witnesses for being here today.
    And I apologize, I missed your opening remarks. But I've 
got three hearings going on at the same time so I'm trying to 
bounce around the hall all afternoon.
    But I wanted to get just to the bottom line for each of you 
to respond to the same question. Do you feel like you've got 
the resources, the staff, the training, the facilities, to 
fully implement this program, and what is your timeline? When 
will it be fully implemented?
    All three of you, same question. We can start with Mr. 
Camarillo.
    Mr. Camarillo. Thank you, Congresswoman.
    I think for fiscal year 2022, certainly, we're grateful for 
the resources that Congress has provided and we look forward to 
and require additional resources in 2023 and beyond to be able 
to do things like scaling up the prevention workforce.
    Ms. Garcia. Are you getting what you need from DOD?
    Mr. Camarillo. From DOD, we are getting what we need. What 
I think we need to continue to have is a long-term sustained 
focus to do the culture changes required. It's going to take 
determined leadership at every level in the Department of 
Defense to get success over time.
    Ms. Garcia. Okay. What is your deadline? When do you--when 
will you fully implement the program?
    Mr. Camarillo. The full IRC recommendations will take 
several years and I'll have to get back to you for the record 
as far as what is our timeline for the very last one.
    But it will take multiple years to fully implement all of 
the recommendations directed by the IRC. But we are working 
very closely with the Office of Secretary of Defense to ensure 
that our implementation timelines match the analysis and 
preparatory work that they're doing.
    Ms. Garcia. All right.
    Mr.--is it Raven?
    Mr. Raven. Yes. Thank you very much for that question.
    In terms of resources, for fiscal year 2022 we are in a 
good position. Looking forward, we are taking this on 
ourselves. We expect to budget for those costs and find those 
people that are needed to carry out these reforms and serve our 
service members who need this help.
    So my expectation is that when we present future budgets to 
you we want to have these costs fully covered.
    Now, there may be things that we learn during the process 
and we will be open with communication where we learn of 
additional needs and we'll be transparent about that. But our 
expectation is that we are charged with carrying the water for 
making these reforms and we commit to do that.
    In terms of implementation, there are a variety of 
different policy changes that are being made. Perhaps the most 
significant one is the stand-up and full operational capability 
of the Office of Special Trial Counsel.
    We will meet the legislative required deadline of December 
2023. As we look across the IRC and the other NDAA mandates, 
we're looking to see where things can be expedited. For 
example, Secretary Del Toro has selected five priority areas 
where we're pulling forward the implementation deadline 
compared to what is expected, and in the interest of time, I'll 
be happy to provide those for the record.
    Ms. Garcia. But you're on track to complete it?
    Mr. Camarillo. Yes.
    Ms. Garcia. December 2023. And same for you, sir?
    Mr. Raven. Yes, ma'am.
    Ms. Garcia. All right.
    Ms. Jones.
    Ms. Ortiz Jones. Representative Garcia, we are also on 
track, and I want to echo my colleagues' expression of thanks 
for the support of this body, not only for your attention but 
also the way in which you've also helped us resource this so 
that we can adequately implement the recommendations.
    Similarly, 2023 is when we will have full operational 
capability for the Office of Special Trial Counsel and, as 
mentioned, the--we have got the 6-month pilot for the 
integrated response co-location pilot and 6 months into that we 
will have a better understanding of them.
    If there may be additional resources that would be helpful 
to ensure as we expand that we can do so adequately as we also 
look to--look where we might be able to incorporate aspects of 
this, for example, to professional military education and so 
forth.
    There may be also additional resources that would help us 
do that as expeditiously as possible. So I appreciate the 
attention in that regard.
    Ms. Garcia. All right. I know you all have talked about 
some of the trustworthiness and the culture and the climate 
issues. But is there any other barriers that would--that are in 
the way to make sure that this program is fully implemented but 
also succeeds that we should be aware of?
    And that same question for the three of you. We have got 45 
seconds, so 15 seconds each.
    Mr. Raven. Ma'am, I would say we understand what we must do 
and we have a plan to get there. But we are going to learn 
things along the way, and what I can promise to you is that we 
will be transparent. As we learn of barriers we will 
communicate them to you as well as trying to tackle them on our 
own.
    Mr. Camarillo. And I'll just piggyback on my colleague's 
comments. One such example is the direct hiring authority that 
the Department of Defense just provided to all the services.
    Those are the types of removals of barriers that has been 
very, very helpful and we'll continue to work with OSD to make 
sure we identify those.
    Ms. Garcia. Ms. Ortiz Jones.
    Ms. Ortiz Jones. Representative Garcia, this is a 
leadership issue, right. We're going to go as fast as we 
possibly can making sure that people are very clear about where 
Secretary Kendall and I are on this issue.
    This is not periphery to what we do. This is core to what 
we do, not only for the men and women that are serving today 
but also the ones--airmen and guardians of the future.
    Ms. Garcia. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Ms. Speier. The gentlewoman yields back.
    Let me thank you for your service, for taking on this most 
important reform within the military. When you have men and 
women who are reluctant to even consider coming into the 
military because of sexual assault and sexual harassment, that 
is going to affect recruitment, it clearly impacts retention, 
and it will have an effect on readiness as well. So we have to 
fix this.
    Think of this committee as your greatest advocates. We want 
you to succeed. We want to make sure that every service member 
no longer fears the enemy within. So do not be timid if there 
are things that have to be fixed.
    We want this reform to be the best it can possibly be, and 
to do so may take some pilots that work or don't work. We 
understand that. But we want to get this right.
    I hope that as we move forward that we'll recognize the 
importance of making some of these benefits uniform across the 
services. The amount of leave that one should be able to 
receive after they've been a victim of sexual assault should be 
the same across every service.
    The issue of revenge porn has come to my attention as one 
in which some of the services have chosen rather than to put 
someone through a court martial, even though it is a crime in 
the UCMJ, that they have decided to administratively separate 
them and give them a general discharge.
    No one should get a general discharge by being the person 
that's committed the crime of revenge porn. No one should be 
able to, you know, have the benefits of the VA [Veterans 
Affairs] system, the health system, who has so defiled another 
person that they have put photographs--nude photographs--of 
them without their consent onto the Web that stay there 
forever.
    So as you become aware of some of these decisions that are 
being made by, I guess, the TJAGs [The Judge Advocate Generals] 
from time to time, when you see something that doesn't look 
right, that isn't right, I hope that you will address it 
without having these victims come to us and then us having to 
take action, you know, through the NDAA.
    And then in terms of the climate surveys, I can't impress 
upon you enough the importance of every person within the chain 
of command reviewing them. That's the way we find out that 
there's problems.
    What happened at Fort Hood was readily noticeable if you 
looked at those climate surveys, but no one was. No one was 
looking at them above the chain of command--up the chain of 
command.
    So the climate surveys are critical. These new pulse 
surveys are going to be great opportunities to get instant 
notification of where there are issues and problems.
    So this will be the last hearing we have on this topic. 
It's one that you know that I have been passionate about during 
my time in Congress.
    But I could not have done this work without the outstanding 
leadership of members of my staff, starting with the now 
departed chief of staff, Josh Connally, with Brian Collins and 
Christine Seibert, who is in the room, and my former fellow, 
Chuck Johnson, who is there as well, to Hannah Kaufman for her 
work and diligence as well.
    So I thank you all for what you have done but, more 
importantly, what you will do.
    And with that, the committee stands adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 4:42 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]    
=======================================================================

                            A P P E N D I X

                           September 21, 2022
      
=======================================================================


              PREPARED STATEMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

                           September 21, 2022

=======================================================================
   
      
    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] 
    
    =======================================================================


              WITNESS RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS ASKED DURING

                              THE HEARING

                           September 21, 2022

=======================================================================

      

             RESPONSE TO QUESTION SUBMITTED BY MS. ESCOBAR

    Mr. Raven. Currently, the Department of the Navy (DON) conducts 
informal surveys and utilizes feedback processes to collect data and 
experiences of Sailors and Marines who have been sexually assaulted. 
The Navy does ask victims if they would like to participate in surveys 
to provide feedback on satisfaction with services provided by the 
servicing Sexual Assault Response Coordinator(s) (SARC) and Victims' 
Legal Counsel. The Marine Corps conducts periodic program evaluations 
and utilizes relevant data from Department of Defense (DOD) surveys. 
Both Navy and Marine Corps use responses from these surveys and 
evaluations to inform leadership of victim satisfaction with assigned 
personnel and improve services provided. Additionally, both Navy and 
Marine Corps are also participating with Department of Defense (DOD) 
Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office and the Office of People 
Analytics to develop and implement the Sexual Violence Support and 
Experiences Study. This survey seeks to learn directly from service 
members who have experienced sexual violence or assault to improve 
support services and accountability processes.   [See page 31.]

=======================================================================


              QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS POST HEARING

                           September 21, 2022

=======================================================================

      

                   QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MS. SPEIER

    Ms. Speier. Please provide a brief summary of actions taken so far 
to implement each IRC recommendation that has been tasked to the 
services.
    Mr. Raven. [No answer was available at the time of printing.]
    Ms. Speier. How will you ensure that the Special Trial Counsels are 
highly experienced and effective, and that you have enough of them for 
the rising caseloads of covered offenses? How will you ensure that 
allegations of covered offenses are appropriately referred to the 
Special Trial Counsel?
    Mr. Raven. The Navy has taken great care to ensure that the Office 
of the Special Trial Counsel (OSTC) is implemented as intended. To 
ensure highly experienced and effective STC, the Secretary of the Navy 
issued guidance on 7 September 2022 with certification qualification 
criteria designed to meet the statutory requirement of identifying 
counsel with the requisite education, experience, training, and 
temperament to serve as STC. The Navy leveraged the existing experience 
and selection standards of the Military Justice Litigation Career Track 
(MJLCT) to develop criteria for certification of the STCs that will be 
assigned to the OSTC. Officers to be certified as STC will be required 
to be a member of the MJLCT. In preparation for the expansion of 
billets anticipated with the development of the OSTC, multiple 
additional billets will be filled with MJLCT members. The Navy 
developed an optimum military justice caseload for each STC using a 
careful analysis of investigative and court-martial data. These 
caseload goals were used to inform Navy planning and manning design for 
STC, and are subject to change based on the results of the study taken 
by the Department of Defense pursuant to IRC Recommendation 1.8. The 
Navy will review the caseloads once OSTC is established and reevaluate 
whether manning should increase. To ensure appropriate referral of 
cases to the STC, the Navy has prepared a multipronged effort to 
address all entities involved in the military justice process. The Navy 
is drafting memorandums of understanding with both the Naval Criminal 
Investigative Service and Region Legal Service Office (as currently 
established, prosecution office) to ensure standardized procedures for 
efficient identification of all covered and related offenses to ensure 
requisite OSTC notification. The OSTC is developing standard operating 
procedures (SOPs) to receive, assess, and assign criminal allegations 
across the enterprise and to cross-reference the accused and potential 
witnesses with existing cases via a case management system. The Navy 
will train 2 all relevant parties in the establishment of the OSTC, 
which will emphasize the new and standardized process for the 
investigation and disposition of covered offenses. This training will, 
to some extent, directly involve coordination and education to the 
Fleet to ensure broad understanding. In sum, the Navy is well prepared 
for OSTC implementation, including by ensuring highly experienced and 
effective STC, establishing a optimum caseload, and developing a 
standardized and publicized process for referral of covered offenses.
    Ms. Speier. What specific actions are your services taking to build 
out military justice career tracks for judge advocates?
    Mr. Raven. The Navy's Military Justice Litigation Career Track 
(``MJLCT'') was created in 2007 in recognition of the fact that 
military justice ``is both a core competency and a primary mission of 
the JAG Corps.''1 The MJLCT was established to ``identify, select, 
develop, train, and retain judge advocates who have demonstrated an 
aptitude for military justice litigation.''2 Consequently, the Navy has 
consistently maintained an emphasis on litigation training and 
development since 2007 to develop and retain a cadre of specialized 
litigators to serve across the spectrum of military justice billets. 
There are currently 101 MJLCT designated officers in paygrades from O-3 
(Lieutenant) to O-7 (Rear Admiral (Lower Half)). These officers serve 
in the Navy's most important military justice positions. By internal 
policy, Naval Legal Service Command (NLSC) requires the assignment of a 
MJLCT Officer in at least one of three senior leadership positions at 
each command: Commanding Officer, Executive Officer, or Senior Defense 
Counsel/Trial Department Head. Once board-selected for MJLCT 
designation (MJLCT Specialist I), career track officers spend the 
majority of their careers in military justice roles, and also screen 
periodically for advancing designations within the MJLCT (Specialist II 
and Expert).
    Ms. Speier. Mr. Raven, how will the Navy improve victim services in 
the deployed environment on ships and submarines where full-time victim 
advocate positions may not be present?
    Mr. Raven. The Navy will maintain trained and certified collateral 
duty Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Unit Victim Advocates on 
all deploying ships and submarines and remotely located units to 
provide around-the-clock victim advocacy services to victims of sexual 
assault.
    Ms. Speier. How are you revising and updating initial and annual 
sexual assault and sexual harassment prevention training for soldiers, 
sailors, airmen, Marines, and guardians to make it more effective?
    Mr. Raven. The Department of the Navy (DON) requires initial and 
annual sexual assault and sexual harassment prevention and response 
training for Sailors and Marines. Both Navy and Marine Corps are in the 
process of revising their training in order to build better people, 
leaders and teams that ultimately will drive healthy command climates.
    As part of the Get Real, Get Better initiative, the Navy is 
revising and updating their training and specifically incorporating the 
principles of building great people, leaders, and teams into the 
training efforts which develops and sustains Navy culture that is 
exemplary of the core values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment. The 
focus on people, leaders and teams drive healthy unit climates 
resulting in increased unit connectedness, cohesion, and inclusivity. 
Enhancing the effectiveness of these critical trainings in this manner 
will reduce risk factors that account for toxic work environments, 
sexual harassment and sexual assault, and self-harm.
    The Marine Corps is focusing on revising the initial and annual 
sexual assault prevention and response (SAPR) Professional Military 
Education (PME) requirements to prepare leaders to engage proactively 
in prevention and provide trauma-informed leadership and response. 
These trainings include practical exercises and small group discussions 
to ensure their leaders understand their unique roles and 
responsibilities in prevention and response. Aligned with the 
Department of Defense Instruction 6495.02, Marine Corps has tailored 
the PME training commensurate with the rank, grade, experience, role, 
and responsibilities of those receiving the training in order to 
enhance proficiency. For example, the Commandant's Combined 
Commandership Course, instructed by Headquarters Marine Corps (HQMC) 
SAPR staff, is geared toward slated Commanders and their Sergeants 
Major. First Sergeants Course, also instructed by HQMC SAPR staff, is a 
discussion-based course specifically for newly promoted First Sergeants 
or Gunnery Sergeants that have been selected for First Sergeant to 
prepare them for company leadership.
    As an additional step in ensuring effective training, the DON is 
redoubling our efforts to remove barriers to foster a more respectful 
and inclusive culture throughout the force. On February 7, 2022, the 
Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) provided strategic guidance across DON 
and directed stakeholders to accelerate implementation of five 
recommendations from the 2021 Independent Review Commission (IRC) on 
Sexual Assault in the Military that focused on developing, educating, 
and promoting leaders. The implementation of these recommendations will 
equip leaders with the training and education necessary to deter 
violence and set conditions for healthy personal and professional 
relationships. The five accelerated recommendations are outlined below:
 [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    SECNAV has charged the Assistant Secretary of the Navy 
(Manpower and Reserve Affairs) with oversight of these IRC 
recommendations to ensure the DON, Navy and Marine Corps make progress 
on their implementation. In August 2022, DON established a standalone 
definition of cyber harassment to clarify contributing behaviors and 
uniquely identify and distinguish this unacceptable behavior. DON is 
currently developing virtual training to educate leaders on technology-
facilitated sexual harassment and sexual assault and is on track to 
launch the training modules in 2023. Navy Personnel Command and Marine 
Corps' Military Manpower are incorporating qualitative data to select 
and develop leaders. Navy and Marine Corps are providing a more 
comprehensive review of training, compliance and mentoring in 
performance feedback. Additionally, as highlighted in the training 
mentioned above, both Navy and Marine Corps are making great strides in 
reviewing and revising leadership development requirements to ensure 
key aspects for fostering healthy environments with leadership capable 
of reducing and eliminating sexual assault and harassment across the 
Fleet. These key aspects include, at minimum, developing skills for 
leading discussion around difficult topics, cultural norms, unit 
culture, addressing bias, training scenarios, and highlighting 
exemplary practices.
    Ms. Speier. Mr. Raven, what is the Navy doing to select, develop, 
and evaluate the right leaders for command positions? Why hasn't the 
Navy pursued implementing a command assessment program like the Army 
has and other services are considering? What is the status of the 
Marine Corps implementation of a command assessment program?
    Mr. Raven. The Department of the Navy (DON) will always strive to 
select, develop, and evaluate the right leaders for command and other 
leadership positions. To meet that goal, both the Navy and Marine Corps 
are piloting additional programs to produce comprehensive, timely data 
for command selection. Like the Army's Command Assessment Program, 
these programs provide actionable information to decision makers to 
best ensure Sailors and Marines are commanded by the right leaders.
    The Navy is improving upon their Administrative Selection Boards 
through its Navy Leadership Assessment Program (NLAP). NLAP integrates 
relevant and timely data into the existing community-driven command 
qualification process, including cognitive and non-cognitive 
assessments, 360 evaluations, structured job-related psychological 
interviews, and formal board interviews with Navy leadership. NLAP will 
better equip decision makers in developing, selecting and slating the 
most qualified and effective leaders for command and senior leadership 
positions. NLAP is currently in the testing and development phase, with 
a pilot program at seven major Navy commands and officer communities: 
Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Command's Leadership Assessment Program, 
Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) (Explosive Ordnance Disposal--
EOD), Naval Submarine Forces (SUBFOR), Naval Surface Forces (SURFOR), 
Naval Air Forces (AIRFOR), the Engineering Duty Officer (EDO), and 
Human Resources (HR) Officer. Additional pilots are planned for the 
Public Affairs Officer (PAO) and Foreign Area Officer (FAO) 
communities. The findings from the initial piloted efforts will be 
available in January 2023.
    The Marine Corps is using an industry-developed, research-informed 
tool to improve its existing leadership development program for 
commanders. This tool uses 360+ reviews to identify personal blind-
spots, target areas for focused development, and assess personal 
growth. The Marine Corps began a multi-phased approach to implement the 
360+ review pilot tool in April 2022 using sitting O-5/O-6 commanders 
to test the tool's processes and its execution. Newly selected O-5/O-6 
commanders will participate in the next phase of the pilot during 
Calendar Year 2023 and the tool will be featured at the Incoming 
Commander Preparatory Course in April 2023. The remainder of the pilot 
will expand the scope of participants and refine processes as necessary 
to ensure the greatest impact to the development of Marine leaders at 
all levels.
    Ms. Speier. Please provide a brief summary of actions taken so far 
to implement each IRC recommendation that has been tasked to the 
services.
    Ms. Ortiz Jones. The DAF established its IRC Task Force to oversee 
the development of the Plans of Actions and Milestones for the 
recommendations and to track implementation progress. The Deputy 
Secretary of Defense provided a 4-tiered structure for IRC 
implementation, with Tier 1 as the foundation and Tiers 2, 3, and 4 
building on that foundation. Recommendation implementation timelines 
coincide with the tiered structure. The DAF IRC Task Force also 
oversees the working groups with the Offices of Primary Responsibility, 
which work expeditiously to implement all of DAF's Plans of Actions and 
Milestones. The DAF IRC Task Force monitors these actions twice a month 
to ensure actions and milestones are on track and issues or concerns 
are elevated for awareness and action. We have completed 21% of the 
milestones across 47 recommendations through this process. Every 
recommendation the DAF is responsible for is underway and on track. 
Four recommendations are complete, and two more will be complete in the 
next few months.
    Ms. Speier. How will you ensure that the Special Trial Counsel are 
highly experienced and effective, and that you have enough of them for 
the rising caseloads of covered offenses? How will you ensure that 
allegations of covered offenses are appropriately referred to the 
Special Trial Counsel?
    Ms. Ortiz Jones. Part 1: Ensuring Experienced and Effective Senior 
Trial Counsel (STC):
    The DAF JAG Corps has conducted an in-depth analysis of 
investigative and court-martial trends over the last five years to 
proximate the anticipated growth in workload for the OSTC. Based on 
this expected growth, the OSTC resourcing plan is being time-phased 
over four fiscal years to ensure resources keep pace with caseloads. 
Currently, the DAF projects having 32 judge advocates assigned to 
support the OSTC by the end of December 2023 with incremental growth in 
officer and paralegal positions year-over-year until we reach end state 
requirements of 62 judge advocates, 2 civilian employees, and 13 
enlisted paralegals by the beginning of fiscal year 2026.
    The DAF has developed a robust selection process for STCs to ensure 
they possess the necessary qualifications, experience, and expertise. 
This includes an assignment selection process that analyzes multiple 
data points, including prior military justice experience and duties, 
military justice and litigation training, criminal justice experience 
prior to military service, the number and types of courts-martial and 
other proceedings participated in, military grade and assignment 
history, temperament and interpersonal qualities, levels of civilian 
and military education, and personal interest in criminal litigation. 
Generally, personnel selected for assignment as an STC will have 
completed one or more assignments as victims' counsel, defense counsel, 
or as more senior trial or defense counsel, and will therefore have 
demonstrated experience working with adults and children who have 
experienced sexual assault, domestic violence, and other serious 
offenses. The candidates are further vetted with the leadership of the 
provisional Office of Special Trial Counsel (OSTC) for fitness for duty 
in the position based on a holistic review of each candidate's 
experience, expertise, and acumen for special victims' litigation. Once 
the most qualified candidates are identified for the OSTC, they must 
then undergo an additional training and vetting process prior to 
certification as STCs. Upon successful completion of these 
certification requirements, The Judge Advocate General personally 
assesses their qualifications and certifies them STC duty. In addition 
to this selection process, judge advocates selected for STC positions 
are also required to complete a foundational STC qualification course 
before performing duties. During their tour, OSTC leadership will 
continuously monitor each STC's performance to ensure they maintain the 
requisite proficiency; procedures have been established for the Lead 
Special Trial Counsel (LSTC) to remove STCs should such action be 
required. To ensure STCs develop and maintain effectiveness, fixed 
terms of three-year assignments for STCs have been established, with 
the option for extensions, and they are only permitted to perform STC 
duties, unless alternate duties are approved by the LSTC.
    In conjunction with the standup of the OSTC, this year the DAF also 
instituted the Career Development Litigation Program (CDLP) to 
establish career litigation billets for a cadre of judge advocates to 
progress through over the course of their career. This program will 
deliberately vector certain judge advocates through successive military 
justice-focused assignments to create and maintain specialists in 
litigation and the administration of military justice. This program 
includes positions where judge advocates directly represent Airmen and 
Guardians or the United States Government in trial and appellate 
proceedings, military justice policy development, military justice 
instructor positions, military judge positions, and various other 
positions responsible for advising on, or administering military 
justice and disciplinary matters. This program will build a specialized 
cadre of military justice practitioners who will have a breadth of 
experience well suited for litigation positions like the OSTC.
    Maintaining a Sufficient Pool of STCs to Meet Rising Caseloads: The 
DAF JAG Corps is capitalizing on these groundbreaking military justice 
reforms by championing the importance of the functions performed by the 
OSTC and the opportunity to specialize in litigation and the 
administration of military justice over the course of a career rather 
than a few assignments. Part of this effort involves creating special 
instructions from the Secretary of the Air Force to officer promotion 
boards to underscore the value of litigation experience to the Air 
Force and Space Force, and to clarify that judge advocates in the OSTC 
may not have completed traditional leadership or career-development 
assignments commensurate with other judge advocates, but their 
successful performance in the OSTC should be a significant indicator of 
potential for promotion to the next higher grade.
    Finally, to grow the future pipeline of judge advocates to develop 
into STCs, the JAG Corps is actively recruiting experienced civilian 
attorneys with litigation experience and aptitude, and is using this 
legal background as a weighted factor in the selection criteria for 
accessions boards. In order to improve recruitment efforts, the DAF is 
also exploring authorities and funding to increase financial incentives 
to attract and retain talented litigators and military justice experts.
    Part 2: DAF is developing an OSTC module for its Disciplinary Case 
Management System (DCMS). DAF expects the OSTC module to go live in 
Fall 2023, prior to OSTC's full operational capability. When an 
installation enters a case into DCMS involving a covered offense, DCMS 
will send automatic notifications to the corresponding District OSTC 
office, through the OSTC Module and via e-mail, allowing the District 
OSTC to determine whether the offenses fall within OSTC's authority, 
and if so, to triage their case load. Moreover, any additional known or 
related offenses entered into DCMS will trigger a notification to OSTC. 
While a covered, known, or related offense is pending with OSTC, DAF 
legal offices will be unable to take certain actions with respect to 
the case (e.g., preferral, referral, closing out the case).
    Currently, and until the OSTC DCMS module is live, DAF instituted a 
requirement in DAFI 51-201 for installation legal offices to notify 
OSTC within 24 hours of receiving an allegation involving certain 
covered offenses, via e-mail using a standardized form. The 
notification process ensures OSTC receives prompt notification and that 
installations learn how to identify covered offense cases. The JAG 
Corps tracks the performance of each Major Command and publishes a 
report card monthly, identifying the percentage of cases for which OSTC 
properly received notification. [Question #19, for cross-reference.]
    Ms. Speier. What specific actions are your services taking to build 
out military justice career tracks for judge advocates?
    Ms. Ortiz Jones. As referenced in IFR Question #19 above, the DAF 
has implemented the Career Litigation Development Program (CLDP) to 
ensure appropriately experienced and dedicated personnel are prepared 
for litigation, litigation support, and policy development positions in 
the administration of military justice. The CLDP establishes five 
levels of competency, with special designations and training 
requirements at each level. The following categories of assignments are 
designated for inclusion in the CLDP:
    --Trial counsel
    --Special Trial Counsel
    --Defense counsel
    --Victims' counsel
    --Judges and judiciary staff
    --Military Commissions counsel
    --Appellate counsel
    --Military justice relief and inquiries staff
    --Military justice policy staff
    --Military justice and investigations instructors
    --Review boards personnel
    --Special investigations and inspector general legal advisors and 
investigators
    Personnel in these positions are involved in every stage of the 
military justice process across the continuum of rank and 
responsibility over the course of a military career. This program will 
produce a specialized cadre of judge advocates with a higher degree of 
skill and expertise in the administration of military justice who will 
serve in successive assignments tailored to their specific skillset.
    Ms. Speier. How are you revising and updating initial and annual 
sexual assault and sexual harassment prevention training for soldiers, 
sailors, airmen, Marines, and guardians to make it more effective?
    Ms. Ortiz Jones. DAF is implementing proficiency-based sexual 
assault and harassment prevention training tailored to Airmen and 
Guardians based on individual characteristics of the trainee such as 
rank, career, and experiences. We are also developing a proficiency-
based sexual assault bystander intervention skills training scheduled 
to launch in 2024.
    Through modernization and targeted content, the DAF SAPR learning 
objectives align with IRC recommendations under Tier 2:
    2.4 Modernize prevention education and skill-building to reflect 
today's generation of Service members.
    3.2 Educate the force about sexual harassment and sexual assault 
within the context of the Services' core values.
    3.6 Building a climate for the reduction of sexual harassment and 
sexual assault as a fundamental leader development requirement.
    Current annual SAPR training is divided into two tiers, Tier 1 
(Emerging Leaders O-3/E-6 and below, civilians GS-11 (or equivalent) 
and below) and Tier 2 (Senior Leaders O-4/E-7 and civilians GS-12 (or 
equivalent) and above).
    Training contains core content augmented by a facilitator to 
engender participant interaction. Presenting the key content with 
various training tools will accommodate all learning styles. The 
facilitated activities are designed to create positive behavior change 
towards the prevention of sexual harassment, sexual assault, domestic 
violence, stalking, and other behaviors on the continuum of harm and 
encourage responsible drinking.
    Ms. Speier. Ms. Gina Ortiz Jones, the IRC recommended using 
qualitative data to select, develop, and evaluate the right leaders for 
command positions. The Army has implemented the command assessment 
program, which has been successful at weeding out toxic and ineffective 
leaders, and I understand that the Air Force is seeking to implement a 
similar approach. What is the status of the Air Force implementation of 
a similar command assessment program?
    Ms. Ortiz Jones. As recognized by the IRC, the DAF requires an 
assessment program that ensures Airmen and Guardians serving on Command 
Teams are best suited and prepared to lead in alignment with Air Force 
and Space Force Core Values and Airmen and Guardian Leadership 
Qualities. Accordingly, the Air Force conducted FY22 beta test 
assessments for select O-6 command candidates and O-4/O-5 special 
operations command and leadership candidates. The Air Force intends to 
complete the second round of beta test assessments in FY23. 
Additionally, the Air Force's Leadership Assessment Action Group is 
capturing lessons learned from our beta test assessments, conducting 
continued research, and identifying best practices from our sister 
services to develop and implement an enterprise-level program NLT 
September 30, 2024.
                                 ______
                                 
                   QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MS. JACOBS
    Ms. Jacobs. One of the IRC recommendations is to allow survivors 
flexibility to take non-chargeable time off for seeking services or 
time for recovery from sexual assault. Will the DOD allow service 
members this critical time off to help recover? How many days will the 
service members receive?
    Mr. Raven. The Navy and Marine Corps do not charge its members for 
time to attend medical appointments required as a result of an assault. 
Under current regulations, convalescent leave may be prescribed by the 
attending physician for up to 30-days or until the member is fit for 
return to duty in cases of sexual assault that result in 
hospitalization. In cases that do not qualify for convalescent leave, 
Commanding Officers may grant non-chargeable time off in the form of 
special liberty for up to 96 hours, which can be combined with ordinary 
leave if the Service member requires or desires additional time off. 
The Department of the Navy (DON) issued guidance, via ALNAV 084/22, 
which reminds leaders at all levels to allow Service members sufficient 
time to access the care they need with the intent to allow healing and 
recovery from the trauma of sexual assault. This intent is clarified by 
DOD Instruction 1327.06, which provides that commanders and military 
treatment facility directors may grant convalescent leave (non-
chargeable) to Service Members for their treatment and recuperation 
from sexual assault based on a recommendation of a medical or mental 
healthcare provider or sexual assault medical forensic examiner.
    Ms. Jacobs. What is the Navy and Marine Corrs doing to select, 
develop, and evaluate the right leaders for command positions? Why 
hasn't the Navy and Marine Corps pursued implementing a command 
assessment program like the Army has?
    Mr. Raven. The Department of the Navy (DON) will always strive to 
select, develop, and evaluate the right leaders for command and other 
leadership positions. To meet that goal, both the Navy and Marine Corps 
are piloting additional programs to produce comprehensive, timely data 
for command selection. Like the Army's Command Assessment Program, 
these programs provide actionable information to decision makers to 
best ensure Sailors and Marines are commanded by the right leaders.
    The Navy is improving upon their Administrative Selection Boards 
through its Navy Leadership Assessment Program (NLAP). NLAP integrates 
relevant and timely data into the existing community-driven command 
qualification process, including cognitive and non-cognitive 
assessments, 360 evaluations, structured job-related psychological 
interviews, and formal board interviews with Navy leadership. NLAP will 
better equip decision makers in developing, selecting and slating the 
most qualified and effective leaders for command and senior leadership 
positions. NLAP is currently in the testing and development phase, with 
a pilot program at seven major Navy commands and officer communities: 
Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Command's Leadership Assessment Program, 
Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) (Explosive Ordnance Disposal--
EOD), Naval Submarine Forces (SUBFOR), Naval Surface Forces (SURFOR), 
Naval Air Forces (AIRFOR), the Engineering Duty Officer (EDO), and 
Human Resources (HR) Officer. Additional pilots are planned for the 
Public Affairs Officer (PAO) and Foreign Area Officer (FAO) 
communities. The findings from the initial piloted efforts will be 
available in January 2023.
    The Marine Corps is using an industry-developed, research-informed 
tool to improve its existing leadership development program for 
commanders. This tool uses 360+ reviews to identify personal blind-
spots, target areas for focused development, and assess personal 
growth. The Marine Corps began a multi-phased approach to implement the 
360+ review pilot tool in April 2022 using sitting O-5/O-6 commanders 
to test the tool's processes and its execution. Newly selected O-5/O-6 
commanders will participate in the next phase of the pilot during 
Calendar Year 2023 and the tool will be featured at the Incoming 
Commander Preparatory Course in April 2023. The remainder of the pilot 
will expand the scope of participants and refine processes as necessary 
to ensure the greatest impact to the development of Marine leaders at 
all levels.
    Ms. Jacobs. One of the IRC recommendations is to allow survivors 
flexibility to take non-chargeable time off for seeking services or 
time for recovery from sexual assault. Will the DOD allow service 
members this critical time off to help recover? How many days will the 
service members receive?
    Ms. Ortiz Jones. Yes, on September 20, 2022, DAF updated Department 
of Air Force Instruction 36-3003, Military Leave Program, to allow 
survivors of a sexual assault who file either a Restricted or 
Unrestricted Report to request convalescent leave, with a medical 
authority recommendation, for up to 30 days.
    Additionally, on 20 October 2022, the Department of Defense's 
Manpower & Reserve Affairs released a memorandum, ``Clarification of 
Convalescent Leave Policy for Service Members Recovering from Sexual 
Assault.'' This memorandum clarifies existing policy for convalescent 
leave and encourages commanders and military treatment facility 
directors to use the authority that exists in DODI 1327.06, ``Leave and 
Liberty Policy and Procedures'' to support Service members in their 
recovery from sexual assault.
                                 ______
                                 
                 QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MS. STRICKLAND
    Ms. Strickland. Do you believe that sexual harassment and assault 
makes your recruiting crisis worse and if so, what are you doing to 
reduce and eliminate sexual harassment and assault?
    Mr. Raven. The Department of the Navy (DON) is facing heightened 
challenges in recruiting. A recent poll conducted by Department of 
Defense's (DOD) Joint Advertising, Market Research and Studies (JAMRS) 
revealed that concerns about sexual assault and sexual harassment are 
one of the many reasons young people may choose not to join the 
military. This poll also showed that the compounding effects of COVID, 
limited access by recruiters to the American people, low propensity, 
decreased confidence in the military, labor shortages, high inflation, 
and a target population of youth who do not see the value of military 
service have all contributed to recruitment challenges.
    In an effort to ultimately reduce and eliminate sexual harassment 
and assault, DON is revising and updating its strategy to educate, 
train, and promote leaders by focusing on all areas of the individual. 
This holistic approach will, therefore, improve the culture of both the 
Navy and the Marine Corps. A strong culture furthers the unmatched 
advantage of Sailors and Marines to prepare teams to dominate in 
combat, out-performing any potential adversary because of how we act, 
think, solve problems, and innovate.
    To accelerate fostering an inclusive culture, the Secretary of the 
Navy directed the DON and the Services to prioritize development and 
accelerated implementation of five recommendations from the 2021 
Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military, which 
focus specifically on developing, educating, and promoting leaders. The 
implementation of these recommendations will equip leaders with the 
training and education necessary to deter violence and set conditions 
for healthy personal and professional relationships, thereby promoting 
protective command climates.
    The Navy specifically is continuing to leverage the Get Real, Get 
Better initiative to advance its culture by building a strong 
foundation to establish revised standards and measures that simplify, 
streamline, and align how we build great people, leaders, and teams. 
Navy will better define desired cultural characteristics and set 
standards and measures for how we build great people, leaders and 
teams. Navy will then train, reinforce, incentivize, reward, and 
measure to our revised cultural standard. As a byproduct, command 
climates will get measurably better and destructive behaviors, such as 
sexual assault and sexual harassment, will decrease. This focus on 
people, leaders, and teams will drive healthy unit climates resulting 
in increased unit connectedness, cohesion and inclusivity, and reduced 
risk factors that account for toxic work environments, sexual 
harassment and sexual assault, and self-harm.
    The Marine Corps is currently revising the initial and annual 
sexual assault prevention and response (SAPR) Professional Military 
Education (PME) requirements to reduce and ultimately eliminate sexual 
assault and harassment. These changes to SAPR PME requirements are 
geared toward preparing leaders to engage proactively in prevention and 
provide trauma-informed leadership and response. These trainings are 
commensurate with rank, grade, experience, role and responsibilities 
and include practical exercises in our small group discussions to 
ensure our leaders understand their roles and responsibilities in 
prevention and response.
    Ms. Strickland. Do you believe that sexual harassment and assault 
makes your recruiting crisis worse and if so, what are you doing to 
reduce and eliminate sexual harassment and assault?
    Ms. Ortiz Jones. Sexual harassment and assault negatively affect 
all organizations and their ability to recruit top talent; and DAF is 
no different. According to the Department of Defense's Joint 
Advertising Market Research and Studies), 48% of 16-21-year-old females 
cite the possibility of sexual harassment/assault as a reason not to 
join the Military.
    To reduce and eliminate sexual harassment and assault, DAF is 
instituting every one of the IRC recommendations. We are 21% complete 
across the 47 recommendations in Tiers 1-4. Every recommendation for 
which the DAF is responsible for is currently on track. Four 
recommendations are complete, and two more will be completed in the 
next few months.

                                  [all]