The Army has updated its sexual harassment training to include small-group discussions with both sexes, which officials see as more beneficial than pamphlets or lectures, said Lt. Col. Kevin M. Clement, who helped devise the plan.
Others praised the Army for quickly handling the pep rally incident at West Point. Now Navy and Air Force women are waiting for the same effort from their services.
While Navy women praise Admiral Boorda for raising the issues of sexual harassment, they say that the Navy still has to come up with more timely resolution of complaints as well as better training.
Classifications
A Navy pamphlet on sexual harassment classifies behavior through "green," "yellow" and "red" lights, a range from "acceptable" to "inappropriate by most people" to "unacceptable."
One Pentagon official said that the classification scheme overly simplifies a complex situation. And Roxanne Baxter, a retired Navy lieutenant commander who said that her breast was grabbed at the Tailhook convention, notes that the "green" guideline says that it's acceptable to touch in a nonthreatening or nonsexual way.
It fails to address repeated contact, she said. "Unwanted touching is a problem."
But a Navy official defended the service's training to prevent sexual harassment, arguing that it was successful in the San Diego incident. It was a male senior chief petty officer who reported the alleged sexual harassment to officials after a casual conversation with one of the women involved. "That means our leaders are enforcing the policy," he said. "The policy is becoming internalized."
At the same time, Air Force women say that their service's sexual harassment training has been spotty or nonexistent.
"We don't do that anymore," said Colonel Casarotto, who has a complaint of sexual discrimination at Dover Air Force Base. "We have policy letters. They don't really aggressively pursue it."
Mr. Collins, the Air Force's deputy assistant secretary, said the service will strengthen its sexual harassment training early next year. The current one-time training of two hours will increase to six hours and will be repeated after each new assignment. Officers and noncommissioned officers also will receive additional training, he said.
The Defense Department task force, however, could call for even more training, he said.
