Survey is a call to action. We can do better.

The 2018 sexual assault survey results are unacceptable. The increase is among women, ages 17 to 24, with perpetrators of similar age and grade. This is a call to action.

Accountability is critical to maintaining good order and discipline. The commander is at the cornerstone of this effort. As a civilian, I did not understand this dynamic when I began with the department and had my own questions about the commander’s role.

After speaking with service members and victims, it became clear they put their trust in their commanders to fix problems and hold people appropriately accountable. “Because my commander told me to …” is a driving force within a unit. A commander standing in front of their force with the power to criminally charge them for not abiding by orders is an extremely powerful tool within the military.

Today, commanders cannot make these decisions without legal counsel, nor can they overrule counsel without review by a higher commander. These safeguards and others make one thing fundamentally clear: Removing commanders from the military justice process is an empty gesture because the commander’s involvement is limited to what happens after the crime occurs.

This issue was reviewed by a congressionally mandated, independent panel that studied it for over a year and found no evidence that removing commanders would improve the quality of prosecutions or encourage reporting.

While any occurrence of sexual assault is intolerable, we must be intentional in our response. Until recently, sexual assault rates dropped by half since 2006. Service members now report at four times the rate they did a decade ago. That’s progress.

A massive shift in our military justice process will not turn this tide and may disrupt the progress we have made. However, the upturn in rates for our youngest women requires targeted prevention efforts to stop this crime. We are responsible, accountable, and we can — and must — do better.