TEXAS — Women at Fort Hood, and several other bases, face sexual assault risks that are higher than the risk faced by the average woman in the Army, according to 2021 research from the RAND Corporation.
RAND recommends that “new or supplementary prevention programs that cannot be provided to the entire Army should be targeted to those bases, commands and career fields that have large numbers of soldiers and high total sexual assault risk.”
Active duty soldier Sgt. Kalie Dame recently shared her battle with military sexual trauma and her perspective on changes at Fort Hood.
“One thing I love about the Army is just being part of a team,” Sgt. Kalie Dame said.
However, shortly after joining the military in 2019, one of Dame’s teammates failed her. A military officer sexually assaulted her.
“I was diagnosed with PTSD from what happened,” Dame said.
Dame says at first she was afraid to report the assault, but she worked hard to overcome her fear.
“My court martial finally took place in February of 2022, after about two years and two months, and I received justice,” Dame said. “He was convicted.”
Dame says there is still work to be done.
“Older generation of soldiers that we have — predominantly in combat arms — aren’t used to working with females,” Dame said. “And so this newer generation is definitely opening up a lot more doors for us.”
The murder of Spc. Vanessa Guillen in 2020 sparked national outrage over the military’s handling of sexual misconduct. An Army investigation found Guillen was sexually harassed at Fort Hood.
Sexual Assault Response Coordinator Sfc. Ruben Guevara says they’ve made updates designed to better identify and handle sexual assault and harassment issues.
“When we give them this training, we give them that tactful approach,” Guevara said. “We give them opportunities to intervene and save somebody’s career, save somebody’s life, prevent a crime from taking place.”
Dame hopes sharing her experience helps another conquer theirs.
“If you don’t say something, you could lead it to happen to someone else,” Dame said.