Facing fierce criticism about an epidemic of sexual assault in the military, the military's service chiefs made a rare joint appearance on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. Their mission: to press for commanders to retain control of prosecuting these cases?something select members of Congress are fighting against.
?The risks inherent to military service must never include the risk of sexual assault," Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in his opening statement before the Senate Armed Services Committee. He noted that there are "reasonable recommendations" being made by Congress to reform the military justice system, but he called for commanders to "remain central to the legal process.?
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno expressed a similar sentiment in his opening remarks, saying, "We cannot simply legislate our way out of this problem."
He added, "We can and will do better," and specified needed changes to the military's environment as well as to its accountability process.
A Pentagon report released May 7 estimated that 26,000 members of the military experienced unwanted sexual contact in unreported incidents in 2012, a 35 percent increase over 2010 incidents. After both the report and the recent arrest of the Air Force's head of sexual assault prevention, select members of Congress proposed legislation to reform aspects of the military justice system.
Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York has proposed transferring authority from commanders to independent military prosecutors to prosecute serious crimes including sexual assault. This would require rewriting the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Supporters of Gillibrand's bill note that victims fear retaliation when they see their superiors will be handling these cases and do not believe all commanders can be objective in these cases.
The proposal has drawn sharp condemnation from military leaders, including Tuesday's witnesses.
The generals argued on Tuesday that the change would undermine the authority of commanders and the chain of command?a view shared by the committee's ranking Republican senator, Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma.
And Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, who has introduced a bipartisan bill designed to better hold perpetrators accountable, blasted the generals during Tuesday's hearing for not doing enough to fix the issue of sexual assault.
For a start, McCaskill said, she called on the generals to stop reporting all sexual crimes including rape as "unwanted sexual contact," which can include a broad range of offenses.
"We need to know how many men and women are being raped ? and we have no idea right now," McCaskill, a former prosecutor, said, referring to the latest Pentagon report.
She called on the generals to work toward "creating a culture where victims are coming forward." She asked generals to stop considering how well someone has served in their capacity as a member of the military when deciding whether to prosecute a felony case.
Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a decorated war veteran, told the panel of 12 military officials that he could not currently give a mother "unqualified support" for her daughter's decision to join the military.
President Barack Obama, during a news conference with visiting South Korean President Park Geun-hye on the day of the Pentagon report's release, had issued a fierce denouncement of sexual assault in the military. "I have no tolerance for this. ... If we find out somebody is engaging in this stuff, they're going to be held accountable?prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court-martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged. Period. It's not acceptable," he said.
Obama also said he had spoken with Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel that morning regarding the need to "exponentially step up our game."
He had added, "We have to do everything we can to root this out," and noted that those affected should understand the president has "got their backs."
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