Why are Army leaders failing so abysmally to implement a successful SHARP?

As a male soldier who has spent the majority of my time in a combat engineer company, take my thoughts with a grain of salt if you must, but here they are...

SHARP training as it stands is a joke. If the Army wants to change the culture, I believe that we must focus, on right/wrong, the Army values, etc., not an hour or two hour long lecture on what constitutes sexual harassment, and what is sexual assault. Forget the niceties about "Quid pro quo," and focus on the fact that such behavior is incompatible with who we are as soldiers! There are forms of sexual harassment that a soldier could commit innocently, through carelessness, or ignorance, but most violations DO NOT occur because a soldier doesn't know. It's because they don't care, or believe that they are above the rules. Or because they're drunk.

We've had a lot of talk on RP about Army leaders who are looking out for number one, toxic leaders, etc. I believe that the majority of the 62% falls into that category. Leaders don't want bad news on their watch, and some will do what they need to to cover it up, or try to make it go away.

The one company I was in that had females, had such a bad environment that I wouldn't have blamed anyone who didn't trust leadership enough to report a SHARP incident. In fact I said so on the command climate survey. The fact is, every bit of news traveled in that company. Good leaders squash gossip.

My takeaway: Revamp SHARP training, with a much sharper focus on the ethics, and promote leaders who lead, promote an environment of trust (kill gossip) and many of the problems will solve themselves with time. Focusing on SHARP, EO and other IMPORTANT issues, instead of focusing on the environment that CAUSES those issues kills morale, and causes the cycle of low quality leaders and poor environments to continue.

Sometime I should put my thoughts together, and try to find some research to back this up, but for now that's my thoughts.

Problem #1: Too often the accused and the victim are in the same chain of command. Then, what to do with the accused after the case hits the CoCO's desk? Include the 1stSgt, platoon commanders, the platoon sgts... etc. Everyone circles the wagons to protect their respective service member. Now let's introduce the "EEO Officer" (or, whatever the tittle may be). That person probably had a BBQ last weekend with one of the accused/victim chain of command as well. Oh yes, this EEO billet is probably collaterally assigned to someone who works in the -1 or -3 shop. In the civilian world, such cases would simply be turned over to law enforcement --an effective (and very detached) third party. Due to structure & mission, the military simply is not well equipped to deal with sexual harassment.

Problem #2: "Sensitivity Training" Everybody calls it something different. But, we used to call it a waste of our day. Twice a year, we filled a classroom, dimmed the lights, and took a nap as "Death by Powerpoint" took center stage. The presentation always reflected obtuse scenarios. Those that listened didn't need to hear it. Those that needed it said to stared at their watches. The command dutifully checked the requisite box... and we were released.

Why don't victims trust their chain of command? Unfortunately, they've been trained NOT to.

Sorry, CPT (Join to see), I'm only addressing the symptoms. Real solutions happen when we address the cause.

I don't think the Amy is failing. I moved from a line unit 1SG and with little experience leading or interacting with female soldiers I was given a BDE HHC. After fourteen months at the helm my commander and I had zero SHARP, IG, or EO complaints with 231 officers, warrants, and enlisted assigned. I attribute our success to having and building leaders that care and invest time and effort into their people. Making time for an effective NCO/Soldier development program that is dynamic and addresses weaknesses in the skill set of the unit is key to foster teamwork and responsibility to the unit. Blanket assessments of perceived issues are not a solution. It takes individual effort to make group success or improvement. As with everything in life to achieve success it takes effort and mandatory power point isn't cutting it.