Women Veterans Committee Update January/February 2022
BY KATE O’HARE-PALMER, CHAIR
Welcome, 2022! Hope that all you had great holidays and were able to be with family. Our committee had a great session at the Greensboro Convention in November. After much discussion, our resolutions all passed.
Only a few weeks after the Convention, the House Armed Services Committee’s Military Personnel Subcommittee released the House-Senate negotiated agreement on the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2022. It contains language that will finally move cases of sexual assault survivors out of the chain of command.
The annual Defense policy bill includes military justice reforms that are the most significant since the creation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in 1950. Survivors of sexual assault will be guaranteed an independent military attorney outside of the victim’s and the assailant’s chain of command.
These reforms also mandate that domestic violence, stalking, murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, child pornography, and any other special-victim offenses are taken out of the chain of command. Prosecutors known as Special Trial Counsels will be under civilian control, reporting to the secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. This is a great change.
This bill creates a stand-alone military offense for sexual harassment, but there is a flaw: It fails to provide independent prosecution of these cases. The lack of accountability in this regard must be addressed. The research shows that sexual harassment often leads to sexual assault and other serious crimes.
The NDAA also provides parental leave for both mothers and fathers, expands health and mental health care benefits (including TRICARE), and provides a 2.7 percent base pay increase for all service members. We have lobbied for these changes for the last ten years. It is great to see them finally happening.
Our committee met in Silver Spring to formulate new goals for the next two years. There are many exciting changes with the Military Women’s Memorial (formerly WIMSA) at Arlington National Cemetery, and we hope to help celebrate its rededication in 2023. Committee members Sandy Miller, Linda Schwartz, and Marsha Four attended Veterans Day ceremonies at MWM, and presented Gen. Wilma Vaught with the VVA Commendation Medal. Her dedication in creating the memorial and museum for all women veterans has all of us forever grateful.
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