U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) announced in a press release Tuesday that his Servicemember Safety and Security Act, drafted after the deaths at Fort Hood, has been signed into law.
The act requires that the Department of Defense and each military base review and improve their policies and procedures for when a servicemember is missing or suspected to be absent without leave (AWOL).
Further, the act also calls for the creation of policies to enhance information sharing between military bases and federal and local law enforcement agencies in their area.
“We must defend the brave men and women who put their lives on the line for our safety at home and abroad,” stated Cornyn in the press release.
“This legislation will help us prevent tragedies on bases like the heartbreaking deaths of soldiers at Fort Hood by requiring updates to military installation security procedures and by focusing on stronger partnerships between installations and law enforcement,” Cornyn continued.
Cornyn was the author of the bill and first introduced it in June of this year in response to the deaths of SGT Elder Fernandes, SPC Vanessa Guillén, and other U.S. soldiers stationed at Fort Hood in Kileen, TX.
Fernandes was a 23-year old soldier who was last seen on August 17, 2020. Killeen Police asked the public for help finding Fernandes on August 20. Fort Hood officials confirmed that Fernandes had filed an “abusive sexual contact” report before his disappearance.
On August 25, his body was found near railroad tracks in Temple, TX. An initial autopsy determined his cause of death as suicide.
Guillen was a 20-year old Houston native whose disappearance and death made national headlines. Guillen disappeared on April 22, 2020, and her remains would not be found until ten weeks later near Leon River in Bell County, TX.
A fellow soldier, Aaron Robinson, was determined to have murdered Guillen inside a Fort Hood arms room. Robinson died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound as police searched for him to be arrested.
While searching for Guillen on June 19, 2020, in Killeen, detectives found the remains of another missing soldier, Pvt. Gregory Wedel-Morales, who had been missing since August 2019. Wedel-Morales had been listed as AWOL then later as a “deserter” before his remains were found. In July 2020, the Army removed Wedel-Morales’ name from the deserter list.
According to Fort Hood officials, by September 2020, 26 Fort Hood soldiers had died that year. It was the highest number of casualties for the base since 2016.
Following Guillen’s murder, the Army conducted an independent review of Fort Hood’s culture and leadership climate. The independent review found high rates of drug use, sexual assault or harassment, and other problems at the base.
According to the review’s findings, soldiers in leadership positions committed many of the alleged crimes, and the culture of shaming victims into not reporting crimes was prevalent.
Further, the review found that Fort Hood’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID) was understaffed and filled with investigators that lacked experience. Because of this, the report states that many cases, including sexual assault cases, were not being thoroughly investigated.
In response to the independent review’s findings, former Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy suspended or fired 14 Fort Hood commanders and moved others out of leadership positions.
The act was co-sponsored by five other Republican Senators and one Democrat Senator, Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona).
“As a parent and the son of a veteran, I’m grateful to my colleagues and the Administration for partnering with me in protecting our nation’s service members,” Cornyn added.