U.S. Army Voices

On Sexism, Re-Training As “Punishment” Doesn’t Work

Military Sexism Offenders Need Accountability, Not More PowerPoint Slides

Johnny Silvercloud
Served
Published in
6 min readSep 7, 2024

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U.S. Army Soldiers standing in formation, with Private Rivera on the corner of the formation in focus. 2016. | Photo Credit: Johnny Silvercloud

Re-training Offenders

“I find SHARP “re-training” as a consequence to be especially repulsive. Here’s why: anyone who has been the army longer than a year has at a minimum been through ONE SHARP training (this is a fact) so to say “they didn’t know” is false and dismissive especially when it’s habitual. I think we (the Army) give offenders way too much credit.

They’re not stupid; they’re predators.

They know that their comments or behavior is wrong but they choose to do it anyway. I understand there are legalities but when the legalities get in the way of giving offenders proper punishment maybe it’s time we re-look them. They do not need “re-training”, they need consequences. They know.” ~ Briana Ruiz, U.S. Army Veteran

For context: “SHARP” is the U.S. Army’s program to prevent sexual harassment and sexual assault. SHARP stands for Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention. Soldiers say SHARP for short. The SHARP program is essentially a training program that attempts to educate the Army population on the full spectrum of sexist issues ranging from…

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Johnny Silvercloud
Served

20 yr U.S. Army vet turned analytical street photographer who talks about power, protest, and politics. Do not defend racism or sexism when I’m in the room.