Operation Honour: “We must continue to lead this change”
News Article / August 30, 2016
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By Lieutenant-General Michael Hood, Commander Royal Canadian Air Force
Today, the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Jonathan Vance, released online the Canadian Armed Forces’ second progress report on addressing inappropriate sexual behaviour. Lieutenant-General Hood was one of the participants in the news conference; here are his remarks.
I and my Command Chief Warrant Officer, Gerry Poitras, are striving to root out harmful sexual behavior and create an RCAF with a professional, respectful work environment for all.
Leadership is our main driver for cultural change, reinforced by our ethics programs – with its values of integrity, loyalty, courage, and excellence.
We are embedding Operation Honour concepts in our leadership, training, policies and directives so deeply that they will become woven into the very fabric of RCAF personnel from the get-go.
We make it clear that such behaviour has no place in the RCAF.
Incidents must be reported, victims must be supported, bystanders must act and perpetrators held to account.
Training starts with the Command teams, who must be attuned to their unit culture. Thus, the annual orientation for my unit commanders and chief warrant officers includes eliminating inappropriate behaviour as a priority.
From the moment a member reports to an RCAF unit or training course, or prepares for deployment we seize the opportunity to confirm they know their responsibilities.
My Training Division is incorporating Operation HONOUR throughout the RCAF curriculum. For example, scenario-based training regarding appropriate and inappropriate instructor/student relationships, developed for our Flying Instructor's course, is being adapted for all RCAF schoolhouses.
While we strive to rid our Air Force of this abhorrent behaviour, my commanders know they must respond decisively if an event occurs.
I am tracking each reported occurrence affecting RCAF personnel – victims or perpetrators – ranging from inappropriate sexualized social behaviour, to harassment, to sexual misconduct.
My priority is assuring victim support while any investigation is underway. And, concurrently, we take disciplinary and administrative measures as appropriate.
For example . . .
In some cases I have directed appointments to leadership positions be cancelled as a result of allegations of harassment or inappropriate behaviour. Another member has been charged with sexual assault and will face court martial.
Where appropriate, disciplinary actions are visible and accessible, to build victim confidence and reporting.
We – as leaders – must earn and retain our subordinates’ trust. And I expect to see the number of reports rise before they fall, as this trust builds.
There are early indications that culture change is underway throughout the RCAF.
From Aviator upward, folks are talking about Operation Honour as a matter of course . . . not just during guided discussions or when they know they’re being overheard.
This is important.
Nevertheless, some still need to accept that we have a problem to fix.
That’s leadership’s responsibility: to get everyone to recognize that even one victim is one too many. And to have them understand they have a personal, ethical responsibility to prevent – or respond appropriately – to incidents.
At this early stage, our indicators are anecdotal, so we are working with Lieutenant-General Whitecross’ research and analysis experts to begin to measure this change . . . to ensure it persists.
So is a change happening?
Yes. And it will continue. But victims need our leadership now.
We must not let them down.
We must continue to lead this change.