Thread by @daniellamyoung

For those who care about or work in the world of organizational development and organizational change, this will be a case study to watch. (A thread)

The endemic issues of harassment & assault in the US Military have long been talked about in the media and is a known issue. In April of this year, a young private, Vanessa Guillen, who'd been being harassed by her supervisor was horrifically murdered.

This happened at Fort Hood, a post which has specifically has numerous very public and very violent incidents in its past. An independent review has published a 152 page investigation into the culture at Fort Hood.

Of note, some of the issues found are Hood specific, but some are problems with the Army overall.

The hope here is that this will finally start to be taken seriously. Taken seriously doesn't mean 'care' about the problem--many leaders do.

Taken seriously means appointing change agents with experience in the organizational development field to work closely with the highest level leaders to develop a theory of change that will work for one of the country's oldest and largest organizations.

It will require the leadership to take some punches & be far more intentional going forward. It will not be fun, pleasant, or immediately obvious that the 'mission benefits' will outweigh the work that it will require.

It will require taking a very real and in depth look at the history of rape and war, how many millions of women across the world were raped by the 'greatest generation' during WWII, and how they went on to build today's modern military and everything that entails.

It will require completely rehauling values to root out sexism and rape-culture where it begins and at all levels.

It will require us to stop deifying the US military and its veterans (of which I am, of course, one, so please don't start), and a realization that an organization that we love and an organization that we heavily critique and work toward changing can be one and the same.

Most of all, it will require a deep-level belief that women deserve the right to serve their nation without also having their lives destroyed by sexual violence.

I truly believe it's possible, and that it will be worth it. And I think we're at a time in history with the will to do it! Let's do it!