The Defense Department's annual report on sexual assault in the military for fiscal year 2024 shows a clear connection between sexual violence and impacts on readiness in the uniformed services, DOD's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office's senior leader said yesterday.
"[DOD] remains committed to sexual assault prevention and response, and the data that we've shown you in this year's report provides clear evidence of the [connection between] sexual assault to readiness," Nathan W. Galbreath, SAPRO director, told the media during a roundtable briefing.
The Defense Department is required to submit an annual report on sexual assault in the military to Congress under the fiscal year 2011 National Defense Authorization Act.
The report includes the number of sexual assaults reported to DOD for the fiscal year, military justice outcomes of cases resolved that year, and the number of reports of sexual harassment, domestic sexual abuse and child sexual abuse.
Galbreath explained that sexual assaults are less common in healthy, well-functioning military units and that service members who experience sexual assault tend to leave the service at higher rates than those who don't experience it.
"Every victimized service member represents not only a life that is forever changed but also the erosion of our readiness to execute the nation's national security objectives," Galbreath said.
One way DOD sought to reduce incidents of sexual assault in FY 2024 was by fostering strong command climates through annual climate surveys and sharing the data with command leadership so they could take action, said Andra Tharp, director of the Office of Command Climate and Well-Being Integration.
"We had over one million responses to the annual command climate assessment survey, which provides a range of leading indicators for assault, harassment, suicide, readiness and retention," she said.
Once the data is collected, it goes directly to unit commanders so that they can take action. The department's integrated primary prevention workforce facilitates this process. In early 2025, approximately 1,400 of these local experts were in place to help military leaders interpret the results and take preventative action to stop sexual assault events before they occur, Tharp said.
"These experts are critical to maintaining mission readiness," she added.
Readiness is one of five priorities Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth outlined in his Jan. 25, 2025, message to the force. The others are lethality, meritocracy, accountability and standards.
"Countering sexual assault is vital to maintaining the high standards of our military services and strengthening our fighting force," Galbreath said, adding that DOD will continue supporting prevention and response efforts aimed at fortifying unit cohesion and emphasizing accountability and readiness.