Attachment 1 

Defense Organizational Climate Survey (DEOCS) 

Implementation Guidance 

1. As cited in the Secretary of Defense memorandum, “Actions to Address and Prevent 

Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment in the Military,” dated 1 September 2022, 

the Department of Defense has been charged to support the 2023 Force-wide 

Climate Assessment to maximize the opportunity to hear every voice. Commanders 

will employ the DEOCS survey and take action to address risk to Service members 

within their units, as directed by and on the schedule set by the Department. 

Commanders will also support Department assessment efforts by providing on-duty 

time in private settings for their military personnel to voluntarily complete the 2023 

Workplace and Gender Relations Survey. 

2. 2023 force-Wide Climate Assessment: 

a. DEOCS Annual Fielding Window: 1 Aug – 30 Nov 2023 

i. Per DoDI 6400.11, all DoD units and organizations must field a 

DEOCS once per year between August 1 and November 30; beginning 

no later than October 31 

b. The 2023 Workplace and Gender Relations Survey of Military Members (2023 

WGR) will be fielded during the DEOCS annual fielding window 

3. All Services and the National Guard must support the Force-Wide Climate 

Assessment by ensuring units field the DEOCS during this annual fielding window. 

Commanders should ensure advertisement and socialization of the upcoming 

surveys and encourage maximum participation to the extent possible. Each State 

will be required to post monthly progress updates to the NGB CCA TEAMS link so 

NGB may track progress and report updates monthly to the Office of People 

Analytics (OPA). 

4. Key Dates: 

a. 12 July 23 – CCA / WGR Field Kick-off 

b. NGB Guidance and Communications located: https://armyeitaas.sharepointmil.us/sites/NGB-J1/SitePages/Force-Wide-Climate-Assessment-(Army-andAir-National-Guard).aspx

c. 25 July 23 – 1230 – 1430 Eastern Time / Action Officer Training; 

https://www.defenseculture.mil?Assessment-to-Solutions/A2S-Home/

d. 1 Aug 23 – Start of fielding window for surveys 
e. 10 Aug 23 – First monthly progress update on activities to support the 

surveys due to NGB 

f. 10 Sep 23 - Second monthly progress update on activities to support the 

surveys due to NGB 

g. 10 Oct 23 - Third monthly progress update on activities to support the surveys 

due to NGB 

h. 31 Oct 23 – Last day to field DEOCS / WGRS to meet USECDEF deadline 

i. 10 Nov 23 – Final monthly progress update on activities to support surveys 

due to NGB 

5. Prior to Fielding: 

a. DEOCS outreach / marketing materials are available at: 

https://www.defenseculture.mil/Assessment-to-Solutions/A2S-Home/

i. Includes new promotional video featuring SEAC Colon-Lopez that can 

be shown to unit members 

b. TAG/Commanders will establish their FWCCA / DEOCS plan and leverage 

existing personnel resources to create and deploy the DEOCS survey to meet 

their needs. 

c. WGR Public Affairs Guide (PAG) will be provided to the Services / NGB and 

will include sample fliers with QR codes and sample social media posts. In 

addition, NGB-PA will provide CCA /WGR talking points to Public Affairs 

personnel in the field for marketing purposes 

6. During Fielding (August to November): 

a. The 2023 FWCCA / DEOCS fielding must be collaborative in approach and 

commanders may leverage the following resources to build and deploy their 

surveys: 

i. EO/EEO Professionals 

ii. Integrated Primary Prevention Workforce (IPPW) personnel 

iii. SARC and SAPR Victim Advocates 

b. Units must assign a survey administrator who registers for the DEOCS, takes 

the DEOCS training, uploads the unit roster, selects optional survey questions 

if desired, and sets the unit’s fielding window (1 Aug – 30 Nov 23) 

c. FWCA /DEOCS training materials can be accesses at: 

https://www.defenseculture.mil?Assessment-to-Solutions/A2S-Home/
d. The DEOCS v5.1 will launch in August 

i. Survey is approximately 20% shorter than the DEOCS 5.0 to minimize 

burden, while retaining the same 19 risk and protective factors 

ii. New in 2023, at the end of the DEOCS questionnaire, participants will 

be invited to continue into the Workplace and Gender Relations (WGR) 

survey 

1. The results of these WGR questions are not included in the 

commander’s DEOCS report and are completely optional. Does 

not measure prevalence, contains less than 10 questions 

2. Military members may also take the WGR without taking the 

DEOCS by visiting: dodsurveys.mil (and entering DoDID and 

Date of Birth) 

iii. Both the DEOCS and 2023 WGR are mobile optimized and can be 

taken on personal devices. 

e. OPA will directly email and send letters to all WGR sample members 

regarding the WGR from August – November (using the contact information 

maintained by the Defense Manpower Data Center). The results from the 

direct mail survey participants will be considered official and counted toward 

the overall DoD results 

i. Measures prevalence of unwanted sexual contact, sexual harassment, 

gender discrimination, and related information 

ii. Shorter than 2021 WGR 

f. OPA will directly email all DEOCS unit members regarding the DEOCS during 

their unit’s DEOCS fielding window (using the email address provided on the 

unit roster) 

i. Web only: No paper option will be provided for the 2023 surveys 

g. OSD and NGB PA will support messaging via DoD-wide channels and NGBPA updates 

h. Weekly WGR response rate updates will be provided to the Services 

i. Monthly reports of units that have completed the DEOCS will be provided to 

the Services / NGB 

7. Post Fielding: 

a. Results of the DEOCS will be supplied back to the Units to: 
i. Interpret risk and protective factors 

ii. Develop a Comprehensive Integrated Prevention Plan 

iii. Execute factor improvement 

b. The post fielding activities will be a collaborative event between EO/EEO 

Professionals and the IPPW within the Brigades/Wings