A survey filled out anonymously by soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division show that most answered favorably about the unit’s efforts to prevent sexual assaults.
Fort Campbell averages 10 reports of sexual assault a month.
The average age of a victim is 18-24 years old.
Fort Campbell has a Sexual Harassment/Assault Response Program (SHARP). Sergeant First Class Ed Hannah is the program manager. He says many of those reports are incidents that occurred off-base or happened years ago.
“Many times, those incidents occurred not on Fort Campbell or they occurred a while back,” he said. “We offer services for anything that’s happened to them, so they can come forward and get help with whatever it is that they need.”
A SHARP office is a one-stop shop for victims to report, receive counseling, medical services, and legal help. There are 12 SHARP offices across Fort Campbell. The buildings look nondescript and that’s on purpose. Fort Campbell wants victims to feel comfortable coming forward to report.
In a survey anonymously filled out by soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division, 90% answered favorably about sexual assault prevention in the unit. That is 14% better than the Army average.
Fort Campbell leaders credit SHARP for the results. They also have a zero tolerance for sexual assault because one sexual assault could affect an entire unit.
“It doesn’t have to be an assault it could be an inappropriate comment. You watch that soldier’s performance go from 100% to just barely getting by. Now your unit is affected by that too,” said Sergeant First Class Ed Hannah. Hannah is the SHARP manager for Fort Campbell.
There are around 21,000 soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell; 10% are female. According to a 2011 report, women in the military are more likely to be raped than their male counterparts.
Overall, the survey the soldiers filled out shows Fort Campbell is doing better than the Army average when it comes to job satisfaction, discrimination and sexual harassment
“We want to make sure that every soldier has the opportunity to succeed,” said acting senior commander Brigadier General Kenneth Todd Royar. “They deserve a safe environment to work in and train in and as a command, we’re absolutely dedicated to making sure they have that.”
The survey, called a Command Climate Survey, is given out to soldiers as part of a federal requirement. They fill it out anonymously throughout various times of the year.
