FORT DRUM, N.Y. (April 23, 2015) -- Soldiers gathered to witness the testimonies of survivors of sexual assault during the Sexual Harassment / Assault Response and Prevention conference April 15 and 16, at the Main Post Chapel on Fort Drum.
The conference was one of many events scheduled during April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Soldiers all around the world use this month as an opportunity to emphasize their commitment to eliminate sexual harassment and assault in the Army by educating themselves through the SHARP program.
Army regulation mandates that every Soldier receives SHARP training during initial military training, before and after a deployment, twice a year, and within 30 days of arriving at a new unit.
Typically, SHARP representatives remind Soldiers like Pfc. Kelsie Weynand, an allied trade specialist in the Service and Repair Shop of B Company, 10th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI), how to protect one another from sexual harassment and assault as well as avenues of reporting such incidents, where a victim could receive help, and to whom they could speak.
"Thinking of sexual assault and harassment freaks me out," Weynand said. "I have friends who were sexually harassed."
During her initial-entry training, Weynand said two Soldiers told her that their instructor was sexually harassing them. She encouraged them to report their instructor, and she helped authorities during the investigation. She said that seeing and knowing people who are affected by sexual assault motivates her to become more involved in SHARP.
"When you put a face on the victims, you give Soldiers someone to fight for -- someone to defend," Weynand said. "It took a lot of courage for (the speakers) to come forward and speak about what happened to them. That perspective, defending your brothers and sisters, is a lot better than the classes we usually get."
Among the speakers was former Army spouse and marital sexual assault survivor Chimey Pelden, who reminded the audience that SHARP is necessary everywhere, including a Soldier's home.
She said her ex-husband misled his chain of command to believe that she was "psycho," which deterred his chain of command from taking her complaints of abuse seriously. During the 10 years she was with her husband, he was not punished for the constant domestic abuse, which culminated in sexual assault.
A previous command operated on the assumption that what Pelden's husband said was true. After that, she had lost all faith in commanders, until her husband's new first sergeant came to her home after an incident of domestic abuse; he told her about Army services like the Family Advocacy Program.
"(Until then), I didn't even know there was such a thing as marital rape," she said.
Staff Sgt. Mary Valdez, an instructor with the 10th Mountain Division (LI) NCO Academy, shared how she uses her experience with sexual assault to empower others in the fight against sexual assault and harassment. After her rapist was acquitted in a court martial, she lost all the faith she had in the Army and had to rebuild her trust.
"I just felt so betrayed," Valdez said. "How can I be a part of this Army? It blew my mind."
Second Lt. Sarah Allbright, an assistant training officer at 91st Military Police Battalion, 16th Military Police Brigade, said that Valdez's situation and others like it not only lessen unit cohesion, but they damage the trust between Soldiers and their chain of command.
"The Army is not every Soldier for themselves. We protect each other," Allbright said. "When leaders find out that they have an enemy in their ranks, they need to remove that enemy."
Valdez has been regaining her trust in the Army even though her assaulter was acquitted of any crime and currently serves in the Army, but she said she refused to allow the incident to force her from the Army.
"The Army has been a part of my life for an extensive amount of time," Valdez said. "I'm not just going to give up on something I had so much faith in. What I want to do is change it to get back to that place."
When Valdez addresses the issue of sexual harassment and assault, she has to address the enemy within the Army's ranks, wearing the Army uniform in the Army formation. She refuses to tolerate that. "Not in my Army," she said.
Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel A. Dailey announced the "Not in my squad" initiative March 31, which gives responsibility for combating sexual harassment and assault to the first-line squad leaders.
"'Not in my squad' is not a bumper sticker; it's an anthem -- a call to duty," Daily said during the launch of Sexual Assault and Awareness Month at the Pentagon. "'Not in my squad' is a promise that each leader must take in order to care for those in his or her charge. … 'Not in my squad' is about junior leaders taking ownership of solutions."
According to the 2014 Department of Defense Report to the President of the United States on Sexual Assault Prevention and Response, during fiscal 2014, the department initiated and completed 3,818 investigations of sexual assault that involved 4,189 victims -- 2,611 or 62 percent of whom were junior-enlisted servicemen and women.
Since 2012, reports of sexual assault made to the department have increased by 66 percent, and Spc. Jarrett Wright, a survivor of sexual assault who spoke at the conference, said that increased reporting is a good sign.
"When I spoke at the SHARP summit, this was praised," Wright said. "For one, (last year's) was the biggest reporting ever, which is a good thing. It means people are starting to be less afraid. They feel more trusting. They can come forward. They can talk to people about it."
Wright, who currently serves in the National Guard, told audience members that if they didn't think sexual harassment and assault was a problem, then "you need to fix yourself."
"(Sexual harassment) is a cancer in the Army, and what does cancer do if you don't treat it?" he asked the audience. "It spreads, and it kills you. We need to be spearheading and attacking it."
Singling out unit commanders in the audience, Wright said that even Soldiers with the greatest reputation, work ethic and competency could commit sexual harassment and assault, and that it was a commander's responsibility to know their Soldiers' character.
"There are three Cs: competence, character and commitment," he said. "We always forget about character. We overlook character. You don't see people as people. You see a Soldier."
Wright and 13 other junior-enlisted Soldiers in his platoon were victims of the same sexual assault. Only three victims came forward, because they believed that coming forward would violate their loyalty to the unit, he said. After asking several Soldiers to define loyalty, he gave the audience the definition of the Army value.
"Army definition -- Army values, Loyalty: to bare true faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit and your Soldiers," he said. "Other Soldiers were the last in that (series). The Army was at the top of the list. We like to defend other Soldiers (or) have their backs, but we lose foresight of what's most important. We are professionals. We are part of the Army as a whole. … If you defend guys like that, then you are part of the problem."
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