Good Old Boy Network and Sexual Harassment in the Army

Introduction

Many people in the public sector — especially women and minority members who face obstacles to career success — blame the so-called "good old boy" network for preventing outsiders from gaining access to certain occupations, disciplines, or political positions. These public-sector networks pale in comparison, however, to the male-dominated culture that exists in organizations such as the U.S. Army. Although significant progress has been made in encouraging women to enlist and even serve in combat roles in recent years, the lingering effects of the good old boy network — together with the prevalence of sexual harassment and the high-profile reports of these occurrences — have discouraged many women from pursuing a military career. The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of the relevant literature to explain the Army's sexual harassment problem and to identify some possible solutions. Following this review, a summary of the research and important findings concerning sexual harassment in the U.S. Army are provided in the conclusion.

Demographic Composition of the U.S. Army Today

To their credit, the top leaders of the U.S. Army have made it a high priority to diversify the service's demographic composition in order to attract and retain the high-quality individuals needed in a modern military, including through aggressive efforts to enlist more women. While the Army has taken a number of steps to facilitate this diversity, one of the most significant reforms was the elimination of the restriction on women serving in combat roles — a barrier that many women regarded as an unfair obstacle to career advancement. Despite these efforts, women remain underrepresented in the U.S. Army today, most especially at the top leadership levels (Demographics of the U.S. military, 2020). Of the six U.S. armed forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Space Force), the U.S. Army is the largest service, with approximately 35% of the total personnel serving in the armed forces today (Demographics of the U.S. military, 2020). In addition, the percentage of Black women in the U.S. Army is substantially higher than the corresponding percentage in the civilian workforce (Demographics of the U.S. military, 2020).

It is especially noteworthy that the percentage of women serving in the U.S. Army has experienced ebbs and flows over the past half century, and these percentages may be directly linked to employment opportunities in the civilian workforce. For example, in 1973 women accounted for only about 2% of the enlisted forces and 8% of the officer corps, but those percentages have increased to 16% and 19%, respectively, at present (Demographics of the U.S. military, 2020). Regardless of their percentage representation, female soldiers enjoy the same legal protections from sexual harassment as their male counterparts. Beyond the protections afforded by the U.S. Constitution, female soldiers are also protected by — and held accountable to — the gender-neutral provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

As the trends indicate, the percentage of female enlisted recruits in the U.S. Army steadily increased during the period from 1973 (when the draft ended) through the mid-1990s, when enlistments tapered off but still remained steady through 2018 (Council on Foreign Relations, 2020). Against this backdrop, it is clear that there are now far more opportunities for male and female soldiers to interact than in the past. It is therefore not surprising that reported incidents of sexual harassment in the U.S. Army have also increased over this same period.

Sexual Harassment in the U.S. Army

One of the harsh realities of modern American life is that nearly half of all Americans have either been perpetrators or victims of some type of sexual harassment in their workplace at some point in their lives (Sexual assault/sexual harassment in the military, 2020). Consequently, most Americans likely recognize blatant sexual harassment today, but sexual harassment can assume a number of forms that are not so easily discerned. For instance, according to the legal definition provided by Black's Law Dictionary (1990), sexual harassment includes any type of "sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal and physical conduct of a sexual nature prohibited by Title VII [of the 1964 Civil Rights Act] and commonly by state statutes" (p. 1375).

Given the vital importance of the U.S. Army's mission to defend the country from foreign adversaries and the atmosphere of mutual trust that mission demands, it seems reasonable to suggest that female soldiers want, deserve, and expect the same legal protections against sexual harassment afforded their civilian counterparts. The unique aspects of military service, however, frequently make this especially problematic. For instance, citing a sustained increase in sexual harassment cases in the U.S. Army since 2010, Ferguson (2015) concludes that "the problem of sexual harassment and assault is not just a perception, it is a reality" (p. 27). Although the U.S. Department of Defense's Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military does not break down cases by service branch, its consolidated findings underscore the severity of the problem across all branches of the armed forces:

There were 7,623 reports of sexual assault involving service members as either victims or the subjects of criminal investigations in fiscal year 2018; 6,053 of these reports were made by service members. Of these, 6,676 reports involved service member victims, and approximately 9 percent of the reports concerned incidents that occurred before the service member entered military service. Additionally, 932 formal complaints of sexual harassment were received, processed, and investigated by the military services and the National Guard Bureau in fiscal year 2018 (Sexual assault/sexual harassment in the military, 2020).

A growing body of scholarship has confirmed that both victims and perpetrators of sexual harassment can suffer a wide range of health and psychological consequences. Taken together, it is clear that sexual harassment represents a real and present danger to the combat readiness of the U.S. Army today, one that demands viable solutions.

Conclusion

The research showed that sexual harassment in the U.S. Army remains a significant problem today despite broad-based efforts by the U.S. Department of Defense and Army leaders to address this issue for more than a half century. Old habits and good old boy networks die hard, and the fact that military service has traditionally connoted a sense of machismo and masculinity only further exacerbates the challenges involved in eliminating sexual harassment from the Army. Finally, the research showed that some possible solutions are available, including maintaining the current zero-tolerance policy and raising awareness of the problem among soldiers, as well as the severe consequences — including dishonorable discharge and imprisonment — that violators will face.

References

Black's law dictionary. (1990). St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Company.

Demographics of the U.S. military. (2020, July 12). Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved from

Ferguson, K. H. (2015, March/April). Can trust be restored? Military Review, 95(2), 26–30.

Sexual assault/sexual harassment in the military. (2020). Psychological Health Center of Excellence. Retrieved from https://www.pdhealth.mil/clinical-guidance/sexual-assaultsexual-harassment.

Stewart, J. N. (2019, April 26). Department of Defense fiscal year 2018 annual report on sexual assault in the military. Office of the Under Secretary of Defense. Retrieved from https://www.sapr.mil/sites/default/files/DoD_Annual_Report_on_Sexual_Assault_in_the_Military.pdf.