TEXAS, USA — Senator John Cornyn, along with U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey, wrote a letter to the Senate Armed Services Committee on September 3 to request that they hold a public hearing with the independent review panel of civilian experts currently investigating Fort Hood, along with Army leadership.
By September 8, the Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel and the Committee on Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on National Security informed the Army they will jointly investigate, "Whether an alarming pattern of recent tragedies at Fort Hood, Texas, may be symptomatic of underlying leadership, discipline, and morale deficiencies throughout the chain-of-command."
Cornyn spoke with 6 News Wednesday about the leadership issues at Fort Hood that Cornyn said contributed to the disappearance and death of soldiers at Fort Hood.
6 News: What was the specific point when you saw what was happening on Fort Hood and decided it was unacceptable and something had to be done?
Cornyn: "Obviously the number of soldiers affected is pretty shocking and it's disproportionate to what we've seen at other military posts. Reaching out to secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, he told me on his trip to Fort Hood to ask questions and get answers...what he found was very disturbing to him. It was not worthy of what we owe our men and women that serve in the military.
"The specific conversation occurred in the context of what happened to Ms. Guillen. Apparently sexual harassment and then ultimately she was killed. Obviously there is a criminal investigation associated with that. There are other instances were it appears soldiers are committing suicide and others have been missing for periods of time. His point to me was that this is not normal and not what you should expect."
6 News: Do you think it is fair to say Fort Hood has failed these soldiers in a way that led to their death?
Cornyn: "Each one of these cases are different but I think the short answer is yes. We owe these soldiers a better environment, a safe and secure environment, protected from harassment and criminal activity. Their main purpose is to fight in our nation's wars and keep the peace. This is a diversion from that purpose. It really affects military readiness. If this sort of activity is going on and undermining their readiness then something is terribly wrong."
6 News: You've said one of the things you want to ask Army leadership is, "Why wait for it to get this bad before taking a look at it?" Can you expand upon that?
Cornyn: "Yes. You would think the commander there at Fort Hood, seeing this, would realize they had a problem and so something before some of these incidents developed and try to find out what the problem is and how to fix it. The failure represents a failure of leadership...to me, with the number of incidents that have stacked up at Fort Hood, that should have been a flashing red light."
6 News: What can Congress do to hold the Army accountable?
Cornyn: "We are the only ones that can make policy. We can insist that the military adopt procedures that are designed to protect the troops. We have the ultimate hammer of money and policy to make sure that the troops are protected and hold the chain of command responsible. If officers figure out that their track record of protecting their troops is important to their advancement and promotion they are going to pay closer attention to it. Congress can send a very clear message that it absolutely is and commanders who do not pay attention to it will not be rewarded."
6 News: What still needs to happen before the congressional hearings can start?
Cornyn: "The report from the independent commission that the (Army) secretary has appointed will be the next event which will trigger the production of more information and then it will seem appropriate to schedule that hearing from the Armed Services Committee. My hope is that's in the next few weeks when we will see that develop."