Heget says the Pentagon is performed “walking on egg shells”. Uniform women say she feels like a “slap in the face.”

• Defense Minister Pete Heget has ordered a review of equal policies.

• Some members of the service fear that the review may undermine the progress on harassment and discrimination.

• But many agree that programs reforms are needed.

A rash of changes in the Pentagon causes anxiety among some women’s members. Now, a new note that will potentially bring more change causes an additional alarm.

As the Secretary of the Defense Pete Heget took over the Pentagon, the best officers from the women were fired, some women’s stories were deleted, the women’s leadership programs were encountered and the advice focused on women in the military was rejected.

Last Friday, Heget signed a note directing a review of equal opportunities and processes for reporting and investigating the harassment allegations. Heget said that the moves he was called “not walking on an egg shell” will provide faster and more unintended investigations.

“Too often, the Ministry of Defense has complaints for certain reasons that cannot be verified that they have ended people’s careers,” he said in a accompanying video, calling some complaints “nonsense.”

But current and former women’s service members have told Business Insider that they are worried that potential changes can reversed recent progress in dealing with problems such as haters, sexual harassment, racism and social media violation.

Retired Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Kate German, author of the book “Fight Like a Girl,” told the BI that “it seems that those who are at the bottom of the germination order will be most favorably affected by [latest] Change – especially women and people in color. “

A naval officer who runs investigations, told the BI, the new note seems to be “Part and a plot with their efforts to weaken the participation of poorly represented groups.”

“It doesn’t seem bad to prevent false complaints,” she said, saying anonymously to avoid revenge. Previously, she investigated doubtful allegations, but said she hated “the idea that you could be punished if your command did not agree with you.”

“Gutting the program”

The new note, entitled “Restoration of Good Order and Discipline through Balanced Accounts”, orders the rejection of complaints that are not justified by “actions, credible evidence”. Such a change could discredit anonymous complaints or harassment that happens alone, said Rachel Vanlandham, a law professor at the Southwest Law Faculty and the former Air Force Jag.

Changes in the policies of the Ministry of Defense can also have a huge impact on the lowest ranks, which make up a large share of historical reports on bias and complaints of gender-based discrimination.

EC military programs are responsible for guaranteeing staff “complete and fair opportunity for employment, career progress and access to programs without taking into account race, color, religion, national origin, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, genetic information or parental status.”

“The programs allow staff to announce discrimination and harassment and that’s a nice thing,” Heget said in a DOD message. “But what is not good is when these programs are armed. Some people use these programs badly to take revenge against superiors or peers.”

Heget did not provide data on the scope of false statements made through the EO process of the military, only saying in X’s video that he heard him “all the time.”

The secretary personally encountered what he said were false allegations of sexual assault. In 2020, Heget arranged a dispute with a woman who said the former television presenter had sexually attacked her. No charges have been charged. During his hearing for confirmation, he said that the situation was “fully investigated” and that he was “completely clean”.

EC programs have been discussed before. Some critics have said policies make the “character murder” easily for dissatisfied staff.

“There are things to work with,” Vanlandham said. But with this note, she said, it seems that “they just dug the program.”

An investigation from 2020 from Reuters found that troops were filed with much lower percentages than DOD civilians, which implies fear of revenge among active duty staff.

Vanlandingham said that making a false statement is a crime that is already covered by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which criminalizes false official statements.

Changes to the EO program can create a freezing effect on victims that may be afraid to report harassment, she added, emphasizing that some troops may avoid filing complaints for fear of revenge or ostracism.

“I would never tell anyone to complain to EC, especially now,” said a female woman, who had previously filed a complaint stating that sexuality was being sexually harassed and said later faced with revenge. She talks on condition of anonymity because she is looking for federal employment. BI examined the related documentation between her and her command.

“If they don’t like you, now it’s definitely a way to get rid of you and adversely affect your career,” she said.

Another woman who is active on duty told BI that she fears that the changes would discourage troops to file complaints.

“It feels like a slap in the face,” she said.

Unanswered questions

“I suppose the biggest question is who decides what is or is not reliable information or what is fair,” Germano said. She said the military’s process of internal investigations is already thorny – such investigations are often carried out by troops with little or no meaningful experience in the investigation, often returned to them as a secondary obligation.

The ignition of more doubt about the legitimacy of the claims can make things even more complicated, said Germano, explanations of decisions can be influenced by the prospects of the senior members of the command based on their own experience.

Such biases have probably contributed to models of sexual assault investigations, which have completed favorably for alleged perpetrators who have been viewed positively by their leaders, Germano said.

The BI has asked the Minister of Defense service whether the testimony of eyewitnesses will be considered credible evidence and what can happen if the harassment happens privately. The Office referred to a statement on Friday by the post -reservoir of the Defense and Readiness Sub -Subseck of the Jules W. Hurst III.

“The protection of Meo and EEO programs and processes is crucial to improving meritocracy and balance balancing,” the statement said. “The comprehensive review will make sure that these programs and processes are timely, efficient and effective and that the tools intended to support them are applied in a manner tailored to our mission and values.”

The advocacy group defends our defenders said the new note “sends a strict and freezing message: Report a breach of your risk”.

“By creating new barriers to justice and the threatening of revenge against those who speak, the Ministry of Defense is trying to cancel the congress of the Congress of Legal Protection – and to direct the scales against the survivors – with a note,” the group said.

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