Enable emerging leaders to find a way forward in dealing with sexual assault

By LT Ben Kohlmann, USN; Capt Lindsay Rodman, USMC; Maj Mark Jacobsen, USAF; and LCDR Charlotte Pittman, USCG

Best Defense guest column gang

Like most problems, the military and its civilian leadership are tackling the recent incidents of sexual assault with a top-down, hierarchical way forward. Such measures, on their own, may not move the needle over the long term. What is needed are grassroots solutions, developed at the lowest possible levels, empowering the people with the most at stake to direct cultural change from the bottom up. Culture change is about the masses; so we — a group of junior officers who care deeply about this issue — want to take this question directly to them.

Two years ago, one of us was a member of a Marine Corps Fighter Squadron with a problem. Alcohol-related incidents were rampant — a car wreck leading to severely injured maintainers, claims of domestic violence, officers arrested for drunk driving, the gamut. After each incident, that command took proactive steps to hold servicemembers accountable and prevent such incidents from occurring again. Safety stand downs and squadron-wide discussions were the preferred method. Despite their concerted efforts, the problems continued.

One spring afternoon, another member of the squadron was arrested on another alcohol-related charge. The commanding officer, at his wits end and not knowing what further steps he should take, called all 600 of his subordinates into the base theater at 0700 the next Saturday. This, for a Marine Corps aviation squadron, was highly unusual. None dared be absent.

Instead of getting lectured once again about the dangers of drunk driving, or hearing from another highway patrolman, this commander looked into the audience and told them he had done all he could. He said it was their responsibility now — and directed them to split into 10-15 person groups, randomly composed of officers, NCOs, and junior enlisted. They had two hours to come up with solutions. He would entertain any idea, however crazy.

And boy did he get them. Create a squadron money pool to pay duty drivers. Contract with off-base taxi services. Create a point system to award time off to those volunteering to be sober drivers on late nights. There were some other ideas not really of practical value over the long term, but that meeting was a remarkable turning point. Soon after, that squadron had only intermittent infractions during the remainder of the year and beyond.

It’s amazing what happens when subordinates are empowered to take control of their own destinies. When they have the ability to offer recommendations, and have a personal stake in the integration of policy, they often have pride in seeing an issue resolved. And indeed, when they can implement those solutions that they themselves conceived of, broader cultural change is a very probable outcome.

We face a similar crisis throughout the military now when it comes to sexual assault. Those of us putting together the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum want to be part of the solution, by hosting a portal where we think grassroots solutions to this issue can be discussed among those who it affects most.

The typical military responses to such crises are top down, draconian mandates from above that inadvertently implicate all, when very few are the problem. Even worse is when Congress passes sweeping legislation, often based on a lack of understanding of the military system, failing to properly match an identified problem with an appropriate solution. We believe that longer lasting solutions are most likely to emerge from those of us who sail, fly, fight, and live with brothers and sisters in arms.

We’re not here to haggle over numbers, or to dispute what different studies are saying. If 190 soldiers are killed or injured by IEDs, we find ways to fix the problem. We would fix it even if the number were only 50. We lose one aviator and immense resources are mobilized to ensure that problem never occurs again. This shouldn’t be much different.

We want to know from the men and women on the ground how they think we can change a military culture that the public perceives as accepting of sexual assault. We want to know what they have seen in their units, and how devolving responsibility and solutions to the lowest possible level could yield outsized results. No grandstanding, no political axe to grind. Just a way forward, driven from the grassroots .

We firmly believe that the high profile cases recently highlighted are far from the accepted norm, yet we also know that the horrors of sexual assault occur for too many men and women in our services. We want to see that end.

We are not officially empowered to do anything about this, and are doing this solely in our individual capacities — without the sanction of any of our military leadership. We are simply concerned junior officers wanting to come up with solutions that have a real chance of making a difference, beyond the training, resources, and processes being disseminated from above. We believe in the honor of our services, and the nobility of our mission. We want to ensure that we are doing our part to maintain the integrity of the military, so that every servicemember can devote him or herself to the mission — defending our country and focusing our energies on taking the fight to those who would do us harm — without concern about sexual assault.

We encourage you to join us at www.def2013.com/ideasforum and let us know what you think.

LT Ben Kohlmann is a naval aviator. Capt Lindsay Rodman is a Marine Corps JAG. Maj Mark Jacobsen is a USAF C-17 pilot. LCDR Charlotte Pittman is a USCG helicopter pilot. Consider this to be the standard disclaimer.