Recent attention on sexual assaults in the military brought a legislative delegation to Quantico on July 19, when two members of Sen. Claire McCaskill’s staff stopped by to watch a legal proceeding at Lejeune Hall.

Col. Kurt Brubaker, officer in charge of Legal Services Support Section for the National Capital Region, said such visits are rare, demonstrating the amount of attention the issue is getting on the national stage. “The [Uniform Code of Military Justice] has been in place for 50-plus years, and they’re talking about pretty big changes to it,” he said.

The procedure was what’s known as an Article 32 hearing, a pre-trial investigation required at the outset of a court-martial, which Brubaker likened to a grand jury hearing. The court-martial stemmed from a sexual assault charge.

McCaskill, a Missouri senator, sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“This was just Sen. McCaskill doing some legwork to help her decide what changes she’s going to recommend,” Brubaker said, adding that Quantico was chosen largely for its proximity to Washington, D.C.

A number of changes are on the table, such as proposals to put the decision of whether to go to court-martial in the hands of judge advocates rather than commanders, whether to impose mandatory minimum sentences and whether to make changes to pretrial hearing procedures.

Cherrone Hester, Quantico’s sexual assault response coordinator, said the heightened attention is already paying off. “Congressional focus on the military’s execution of the [Sexual Assault Prevention and Response] program has benefitted the Marine Corps by providing a venue to re-emphasize the importance of our core values, standards and expectations as Marines,” she wrote in an email.

However, Hester said the prevention program needs to establish metrics to measure its effectiveness, and she also hopes the Department of Defense will expand the Air Force’s pilot program that grants victims access to special victims’ counsel rather than basic legal assistance. She said command climate also has to be addressed.

“Without faith that a command will unconditionally support victims of sexual violence … the SAPR program will cease to be effective in its mission,” Hester wrote.

Brubaker noted that the Quantico courtroom has now served as a model that might affect some of these decisions in the future. “What they see here, they’re looking at as indicative of Article 32 hearings and courts-martial across the globe,” he said, adding that he was pleased that the case was handled professionally by both the prosecution and the defense.

He said the visit went off well logistically and seemed to be a success. “They were asking intelligent questions, they were engaged, and I think we answered all their questions,” he said.

Hester said she was hopeful for the future of the debate.

“By facilitating an open discussion about character, honor and the consequences of lacking moral attributes, Marines are more apt to make sound decisions in all aspects of life and not compromise their personal ethics or those of the organization,” she said.

— Writer: mdicicco@quanticosentryonline.com