Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      Defense Department moving ahead on recommendations to combat sexual assaultPublished Sept. 23, 2022
                    
                    
                    Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
            **ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) --**Last year, an independent review commission ordered by Secretary of Defense **Lloyd J. Austin III** put forth an array of recommendations designed to stop sexual assault and harassment in the military. Today, the Defense Department is well underway in implementing those recommendations, said the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.
On Capitol Hill Wednesday, **Gilbert R. Cisneros Jr.** told lawmakers at the House Armed Services Committee that the Defense Department now has a framework in place to track the implementation and effectiveness of its efforts and to provide regular progress reviews through senior leadership forums that includes membership from across the **Office of the Secretary of Defense** and the services.
"The level of oversight is a significant departure from previous reforms efforts in this area, and not only are we making progress, we're building the infrastructure needed to make real, lasting change and rebuild trust with our service members," Cisneros said.
One part of that infrastructure, Cisneros said, is the development of a professional sexual assault and sexual harassment workforce.
"At full operating capacity [it] will include over 2,000 personnel stationed around the world," he said. "The department has worked to create a targeted recruitment plan to support the services in their hiring efforts, and I established a dedicated direct hiring authority, which I signed out last week, to more quickly identify and onboard these prevention workforce professionals."
Co-chairing an ensuing panel, “the Under Secretary of the Air Force **Gina Ortiz Jones** testified on the Department of the Air Force's efforts to ensure Airmen and **Guardians** live and work in an environment safe from sexual harassment and sexual assault.”
“To successfully fulfill our mission to protect and defend our nation, addressing sexual harassment and sexual assault must be a top priority,” Jones said. “This is a warfighting issue, a readiness issue and a leadership issue.”
The DoD is also working with the military services to professionalize the victim response workforce, Cisneros said. Professionalization of that task means the Defense Department and services would no longer need to rely on military members who may be doing that same work now as a collateral duty in addition to their regular military job. Additionally, as part of an effort to regain the trust of victims of sexual assault and harassment, that workforce will be outside the chain of command.
Cisneros also told lawmakers the department would soon reach initial operating capability with its Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Training and Education Center of Excellence.
"Another significant undertaking at the [Defense] Department is military justice reform, through the implementation of the Offices of Special Trial Counsel," Cisneros said. "This effort will ensure independent expertise and prosecutorial decisions and is essential to the restoring of trust and to hold perpetrators of sexual assault accountable."
According to Cisneros, the Offices of Special Trial Counsel will ensure independent, specialized expertise in prosecutorial decisions for the covered offenses of sexual assault, domestic violence and related crimes.
"The department has clearly heard from our service members that action and change are desperately needed, and the department is answering that call," Cisneros said. "Getting this right requires we move as expeditiously as possible to implement change, while also ensuring we do not rush to failure."LR 



USAF 



AF 



Air Force 



space force 



Department of Defense 



DOD 



secretary of defense 



Lloyd J. Austin III 



Under Secretary of the Air Force 



Gina Ortiz Jones 



House Armed Services Committee 



Office of the Secretary of Defense 



sexual assault 



sexual harassment 



Offices of Special Trial Counsel

Related Links
        Air Force CyberWorx, Academy SAPR team partner to combat sexual assault Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fight
                    
                    SecAF Kendall AFA Warfare Symposium Q&A: Reoptimizing for Great Power CompetitionInnovation
                AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalists
                    
                    Chief Digital, Artificial Intelligence Office to host hackathon in HawaiiMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil