The Army and its commanders’ necessary focus on deployments and combat over the past 20 years have contributed to some of the personnel issues installations have experienced, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said Tuesday at a House Armed Services Committee hearing.
“What we have to do is make sure that our command climate at the lowest possible level is healthy,” she said. “What we’re going to be focusing on is really trying to build that kind of a culture so that people are taking care of themselves, leaders are taking care of soldiers, and soldiers are looking out for each other, but it’s going to take time, I think, to make significant progress in this area.”
Wormuth was responding to a question about sexual assault, other violent crimes and service member suicide.
She said one ongoing effort is to better screen future leaders.
“Part of that evaluation rests on how well they’re doing in terms of command climate.”
Wormuth and Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville once again defended the administration’s budget request that would prioritize modernization efforts over legacy weapons systems and increasing troops.
DOD photo by Lt. Kristine Volk