{"id":52346,"date":"2021-04-23T21:44:20","date_gmt":"2021-04-23T21:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/04\/23\/service-chiefs-will-weigh-in-on-controversial-plan-to-remove-commanders-control-over-sexual-assault-cases\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T08:10:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T08:10:10","slug":"service-chiefs-will-weigh-in-on-controversial-plan-to-remove-commanders-control-over-sexual-assault-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/04\/23\/service-chiefs-will-weigh-in-on-controversial-plan-to-remove-commanders-control-over-sexual-assault-cases\/","title":{"rendered":"Service chiefs will weigh in on controversial plan to remove commanders\u2019 control over sexual assault cases"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Now that a Pentagon review commission has made the controversial recommendation to strip commanders of their authority to oversee sexual assault and harassments cases, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wants to get feedback from top military leaders before making any final decisions about formal changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austin has given the services until the end of May to evaluate the proposals from the Pentagon\u2019s sexual assault <\/a>and harassment independent review commission<\/a>, which included removing sexual assault prosecutions<\/a> from the chain of command and allowing an independent prosecutors office to handle them instead, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirby declined to comment on the specifics of the recommendations or Austin\u2019s initial impressions of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think by dint of the fact that he has asked the secretaries of the services \u2015 and the chiefs, and the chairman, and he\u2019ll ask his policy experts \u2015 to take some time to go look at these recommendations and give him feedback, that you can assume that one outcome of the meeting [between Austin and the review commission] was that he wants to keep an open mind about these,\u201d Kirby said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austin, a retired four-star general, created the review commission in February shortly after taking over the Pentagon\u2019s top job. The commission came back from its initial survey of Pentagon policies with a key recommendation that has been pushed by sexual assault prevention advocates for at least the last decade: take decisions to charge and try these cases out of commanders\u2019 hands. There may be more recommendations to come, Kirby added, and some of those could require legislation from Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed change comes after years of criticism that military commanders have failed to aggressively prosecute allegations of sexual assault under the traditional military justice system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under a new framework proposed by the commission, a central sexual assault prosecution office would assign professional special victims attorneys to these investigations, letting them decide whether to prosecute alleged offenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the current model, criminal investigators make recommendations about substantiated claims, and a commander may or may not opt to move forward with charges. Senior military leaders have argued that authority is necessary in order for commanders to be truly in command of the good order and discipline of their units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, if a case goes to Article 32 \u2015 the military\u2019s equivalent of a grand jury \u2015 an independent hearing officer presides and makes recommendations about whether to proceed to trial, but the final decision is again up to the commander.<\/p>\n\n\n\t