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AMC commander discusses sexual assault assessment team findings

  • Published
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --   Recently, the Secretary of the Air Force and the Air Force Chief of Staff directed all Air Force major commands to review their sexual assault response programs and policies command wide. As a result, Air Mobility Command sent assessment teams to each of our bases, not intending to review individual cases or allegations, but to review base policies and programs and compile an open assessment of the issues, resources, best practices and challenges.

Since then, Brig. Gen. Mark Zamzow, AMC's Inspector General and lead for the assessment teams, has briefed AMC leadership on his findings. This feedback, along with results from other major command assessments, will be incorporated in an executive-level review presented to Air Force senior leadership at CORONA in May. In the meantime, I've directed my staff to take these observations, as well as existing benchmark programs, and aggressively develop command-wide improvement actions, especially with regard to victim assistance and developing a climate conducive to reporting assaults.

I've said it before, and I'll repeat it again -- it's our obligation to insist and ensure all our people are treated with the utmost dignity and respect. Our ability to serve -- to accomplish the mission and fulfill the trust our nation places in us -- requires us to face this challenge head-on, with honesty, sensitivity and an enduring commitment to eliminating sexual assault and the factors contributing to it.

Our success in building this organization comes first and foremost from effective and dedicated leadership -- at every level. If you're a supervisor, it's your responsibility to ensure the rights of all are protected. If you occupy a position of authority, or serve as an example to younger members of our organization -- the obligation is yours. If you're an officer or NCO -- it's your duty. And if you're a commander - it's a critical measure of your success.

The mission is important, but as I've said many times -- the mission is a product, an outcome, a result produced by our most important asset...our people. Commanders, supervisors and all of us, whether in formal or informal leadership roles, must be deeply and personally involved in promoting an environment where our people are free to report assaults and know with confidence that perpetrators will be appropriately disciplined. This is a culture of which we can all be proud.