Congressional delegation finds improvements at Fort Hood, but says work remains to be done

The six members of a congressional delegation who arrived Wednesday at Fort Hood for an update on the post’s progress in instituting reforms in the aftermath of the murder of Spc. Vanessa Guillén found improvements, but say work remains to be done.

“Vanessa Guillén did not die in vain,” U.S. Rep., Jackie Speier, D-Calif., said during a news conference Thursday afternoon following the visit.

“Fort Hood has taken this seriously. There is a seismic change at Fort Hood in how they treat their soldiers.”

“This committee will continue to evaluate all military installations one by one,” she said.

“Fort. Hood could become the role model for institutions around the country on how to fix these problems. This is a much better place than it was eight months ago,” Speier said.

Speier and U.S. Reps. Jim Banks, R-Ind., Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth and Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston were briefed by senior III Corps leadership about the post’s Operation People First initiative and progress in addressing findings of the Fort Hood Independent Review Committee whose 136-page report found the post’s Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention or SHARP program was ineffective and identified inefficiencies and deficiencies in Fort Hood’s Criminal Investigation Division, public relations and incident management.

The persistent demand for answers from Guillén’s family was a major catalyst for the review, which led to the relief or suspension of 14 officers and enlisted personnel, the creation of a new Army policy on missing personnel and the formation of a task force to address recommendations of the review committee.

The chairs of the Headquarters Department of the Army People First Task Force accompanied the delegation on the two-day visit, during which the lawmakers met not only with the post’s leaders, but also conducted focus groups with command teams, female officers, junior enlisted soldiers and law enforcement personnel and toured barracks, post housing and motor pools.

“People should not have to live with mold and termites. Some of these people could be dealing with chronic issues for the rest of their lives because of this,” he said.

Speirs said if it were within her power, she would cancel the contract with Lendlease, the company in charge of a $420 million project to build 600 news homes and renovate and repair 3,600 others over the next 10 years.

“This contract was poorly executed,” she said.

Notification in cases of missing soldiers and communication with families have improved, she said, but there are still concerns over the post’s CID unit and its capability to handle cases locally.

Jacobs said it’s clear Fort Hood’s leadership is taking the issues seriously, but added, “We still have a lot of work to do to make sure every service member is not failed like Vanessa Guillén was.”

U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, who wasn’t part of the delegation, but whose district includes the sprawling post, said the issues detailed in the independent review “are not unique to Fort Hood, they span the Army.

Guillén was last seen sometime between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on April 22, 2020 in the parking lot of her 3rd Cavalry Regiment Engineer Squadron Headquarters.

Keys to her car and her barracks room and her ID card and wallet were later found in the armory.

On June 30, contractors working on a fence along the river discovered human remains later confirmed as hers.

The investigation found that Guillén was sexually harassed by a supervisor, but her leaders failed to take appropriate action; that Guillén’s regiment failed to emphasize the response to and prevention of sexual harassment; that Guillén’s unit didn’t follow accountability standards for soldiers during COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders, and that the post’s acting commander didn’t effective engage the media and the public after Guillén disappeared.

•   Print
•   Email
•   Share
•   Tweet