It's important that Sec. McCarthy cites leadership failures in Ft Hood climate leading to the death of Vanessa Guillen. But thus far we're seeing no explicit acknowledgement that Army has failed to end sexual assault & harassment in the ranks. #iamvanessaguillen #endingMST https://twitter.com/CBSEveningNews/status/1336357826806083597

Also a note that of the 14 leaders being "punished"--many of these are suspensions pending further investigation. Pending accountability is not the same as accountability. #iamvanessaguillen #endingMST

The question to the panel about whether this is an Army-wide issue was given murky answers: Ft Hood was an outlier - but report will be applied (vaguely) Army-wide? Surely this was an anticipated question. Secretary & Chief left very quickly. #iamvanessaguillen #endingMST

It's important that this investigation substantiated a notable percentage of cases of sexual assault & harassment going unreported bc victims think they won't be believed. Beyond this, though, there is no clear statement that this needs to be corrected Army wide.

Still waiting to be able to see the report itself. This is still the link as of just now: https://www.army.mil/forthoodreview 

Glad to see the report finally posted this afternoon. The details reflect so many truths we've known but haven't seen in writing. This is very important. Please look at the report & take it in. We need to hear leadership taking responsibility for this content.

Like this - re: soldiers selected by commanders as SHARP reps: "most often NCOs within the unit who have consistently provided subpar performances.... these poorly-equipped NCOs are responsible for administering to a Special Emphasis Program (SEP) for their unit...

"...that they are not trained or competent to handle, and the SHARP program as a whole suffers a loss in confidence re confidentiality, retaliation, timeliness and appropriate adjudication as a result.” (p. 50)

On groups the panel met with at Ft Hood: "8 of the 10 groups made up of 40 to 45 Soldiers each in the ranks of E-1 to E-4 (444 Soldiers in total) reported a sense of hopelessness with the SHARP reporting process....

"...Most reported they had been exposed to senior NCOs acting inappropriately toward someone they know & they were aware of multiple incidents of retaliation against the victim by both the unit and by senior NCOs....

"... Soldiers were ostracized & treated as the problem when they reported. Many.. expressed concern that there were no real consequences for offenders; 'the victim gets all of the hardship'; & there was a complete lack of confidentiality for the reporting process." (p. 52)

"Many... also recounted times when the accused was moved & the victim was punished by being given extra duties or 'chaptered out.' These E-1 to E-4 Soldiers recounted multiple instances of an accused being moved where he was allowed to 'victimize a whole other unit.'" (p. 52)

"Soldiers in all 10 sessions expressed doubt that anything would happen to an offender.... An overwhelming number of soldiers (E1-E4) believe if someone reported a SHARP complaint, their career would be over." (p. 53)

Investigators surveyed 31,000+ Ft Hood soldiers. Of these, 1,339 said YES to the Q: "In the past 12 months I observed a situation I believe was sexual assault.” Yet just over 300 assaults were reported during FY19 & FY20 combined. (p. 57)

Of the 31,000+ Ft Hood soldiers surveyed, 2,625 said YES to the Q: “In the past 12 months I observed a situation that I believe was sexual harassment.” Yet only 71 formal + informal sexual harassment reports were filed during FY19 & FY20 combined. (p. 57)

Soldiers told investigators they felt safer on combat deployments than at Ft Hood. Women soldiers said they felt unsafe on staff duty bc of other soldiers. (p. 119)

Report states: "the existing command climate at Ft Hood is neither conducive to nor adequately supportive of the prevention of incidences of sexual harassment & sexual assault." Yet no rec's for holding specific leader(s) accountable, bc accountability is "difficult." (p. 127-8)

So many tragic, unforced errors & outright crimes described in this report. But what kind of conclusion is this? "Although the Findings in this Report outline failures in leadership, they should not be interpreted as an indictment of military commanders or the U.S. Army." (p.146)

The report didn't explicitly ask Ft Hood soldiers about racism, but many survey respondents & interviews expressed urgently that their units are racist. We don't see full survey responses but what's included should set off major alarms. (p. 134-5)

Also this thread: https://twitter.com/halbritz/status/1336428180857614338?s=20