Fort Hood AR 15-6 Investigation

Executive Summary

In September 2020, General Michael Garrett, Commanding General of U.S. Army

Forces Command, appointed General John Murray, Commanding General of U.S. Army
Futures Command, as an investigating officer pursuant to Army Regulation 15-6 (AR 15-
6). The investigation evaluated unit leaders at various levels and their responses to the
disappearance and murder of Specialist (SPC) Vanessa Guillén at Fort Hood, Texas on
22 April 2020. It also examined several collateral issues: the alleged sexual harassment
of SPC Guillén; the alleged sexual harassment committed by Specialist Aaron Robinson;
the 3rd Cavalry Regiment (Regiment)'s Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and
Prevention (SHARP) program; the Regiment's accountability of personnel; the Regiment's
procedures for personnel assignments; and the Regiment's arms room procedures.

The administrative investigation does not include alleged criminal misconduct

connected to the disappearance and death of SPC Guillén. Those criminal matters
remain under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Army Criminal
Investigation Command (CID), and other law enforcement agencies under the supervision
of the United States Attorney's Office.

The investigation was conducted separately from the Fort Hood Independent Review
Committee/Panel commissioned by the Secretary of the Army and the Army Chief of
Staff, which focused its efforts on the command climate of Fort Hood and the
corresponding impact to safety, welfare, and readiness of Soldiers across the installation.

GEN Murray led a team of 10 appointed assistant investigating officers and a

supporting staff of 50 subject matter experts, administrative, and legal support
professionals. The team interviewed 151 witnesses, reviewed over 6,000 emails, and
analyzed over 11,500 pages of documents. The investigation was submitted to U.S.
Army Forces Command on 24 November 2020. In accordance with AR 15-6 and its due
process procedures, GEN Garrett provided notice and an opportunity to respond to
several officers. On 5 March 2021, GEN Garrett reviewed the complete investigation
before taking action on the findings and recommendations. Below is a summary of the
approved investigation.
Summary of Key Events

The investigating officer highlighted several important events which informed the findings
of the investigation:

In late summer of 2019, SPC Guillén (then a Private First Class) was in her troop
orderly room when one of her supervisors made an inappropriate sexual comment in
Spanish which SPC Guillén translated as a solicitation for her to participate in a
“threesome.” Following this incident, another supervisor noticed a marked change in her
demeanor, which prompted the supervisor to ask if she was okay. It was then that SPC
Guillén reported the incident to her supervisor and another Soldier. She later confided in
select peers. Between 16 September 2019 and 9 October 2019, two Soldiers reported
this incident to her unit leadership, who failed to initiate an investigation.

The Investigating Officer determined that SPC Guillén's supervisor was

unprofessional and the supervisor’s counterproductive behaviors adversely effected
SPC Guillén and others. This supervisor specifically targeted her, called her out in front
of her peers, and consistently made an example out of her. During a field training
exercise, this same supervisor encountered SPC Guillén while she performed personal
hygiene in the wood line and SPC Guillen reported that this made her uncomfortable.
During this time, she was under cover in the wood line.

While the investigating officer did find evidence of sexual harassment and
mistreatment toward SPC Guillen, after examining all the evidence and witness
statements, he determined that those incidents were not related to her murder.

Starting in mid-March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the way
units on Fort Hood conducted day-to-day operations and executed accountability of
Soldiers. Shelter-in-place policies were introduced, which limited face-to-face
interactions except for duties deemed mission essential. SPC Guillén's work as a Small
Arms/Artillery Repairer was considered mission essential. She and others were allowed
to come to work in civilian clothes due to the COVID-19 environment.

On the morning of Wednesday, 22 April 2020, SPC Guillén was on duty and had two
assigned tasks: (1) to inspect and process broken equipment for turn-in in the
Headquarters and Headquarters Troop's (HHT) arms room (first arms room); and (2) to
visually validate the serial number of a machine gun in the arms room of A Troop,
Regimental Engineer Squadron or ARES (second arms room). She arrived at the first
arms room at 10:03 a.m. and began her work. The second arms room, located in a
nearby building, was opened and occupied by SPC Aaron Robinson, the ARES armorer.
At approximately 10:15 a.m., SPC Guillén went to the second arms room to validate the
serial number.

At 10:23 a.m., SPC Guillén's supervisor received a text of the machine gun's serial
number from SPC Guillén's phone. This was the last known contact anyone had with
SPC Guillén.

The Soldier who opened the first arms room (HHT) texted SPC Guillén at 11:05 a.m.
to ask when she was returning to the arms room. When she did not respond to text
messages by 12:16 p.m., the Soldier safeguarded her debit card, military ID card, and
keys left in the first arms room. The Soldier and supervisor went to the second arms
room at 12:31 p.m. to look for her but the arms room was locked. The Soldier also
contacted SPC Guillén's roommate but the roommate had not seen her since SPC
Guillén left their barracks room that morning.

Starting around 8:00 p.m. on 22 April, due to SPC Guillén's unresponsiveness to text
messages and calls, several of her close peers became increasingly alarmed. Based on
knowledge gained from the Guillén Family and several of SPC Guillén's peers, the Staff

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Duty Officer was notified around 10:00 p.m. of the loss of accountability of SPC Guillén.
An initial search party, consisting of six Soldiers searched for her throughout the
Squadron area from 10:15 p.m. until about 2:25 a.m.

On 23 April, the search for SPC Guillén resumed at 6:30 a.m. By 7:30 a.m., the
senior leadership was directly involved in the search efforts. The Squadron and
Regimental leadership immediately sensed the suspicious nature of SPC Guillén’s
disappearance because of her reputation as a good Soldier and the odd circumstances
surrounding SPC Guillén leaving her debit card, military ID card, and keys in the arms
room.

By 8:00 a.m., SPC Guillén's sister was escorted to the Squadron area to meet with
one of SPC Guillén's supervisors. The search continued throughout the morning, and
by 1:05 p.m. the Regiment completed a search of its area, including all barracks, arms
rooms, motor pools, and unit areas. Regimental leaders coordinated with Fort Hood's
Directorate of Emergency Services and Military Police Investigators (MPI) for a missing
person’s report. At 11:51 a.m. on 24 April, CID took over the case from MPI.

Beginning on 23 April, through coordination with other units on Fort Hood as well as
local and regional law enforcement, the Regiment mounted a significant search effort.
This included ground searches with thousands of Soldiers, working dog teams, and air
searches by helicopter and unmanned aerial systems. The Squadron and Regiment
conducted the intense search within the first 24 hours of SPC Guillén’s disappearance.
These intensive search efforts continued for weeks and included increased involvement
from civilian law enforcement agencies and private groups.
Summary of Key Findings
SPC Guillén was Sexually Harassed by a Supervisor; Her Leaders Failed to Take
Appropriate Action

SPC Guillén was sexually harassed by a supervisor. This supervisor created an

intimidating, hostile environment. The unit leadership was informed of the harassment
as well as the supervisor’s counterproductive leadership, and failed to take appropriate
action.
SPC Robinson Sexually Harassed Another Soldier (not SPC Guillén)

From April to September 2019, SPC Robinson sexually harassed a female SPC at
Fort Hood. During the course of the investigation, the investigating officer found no
credible evidence to conclude SPC Robinson sexually harassed SPC Guillén or that
they had any relationship outside of their work setting.
The Regiment did not Sufficiently Emphasize the Response and Prevention of
Sexual Harassment

Overall, the Regiment's command climate did not sufficiently emphasize the
response and prevention of sexual assault or sexual harassment. SPC Guillén's
leadership was not sufficiently involved in the SHARP program. Recovering from

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longstanding deficiencies, the ineffectiveness of Fort Hood's SHARP Program
compounded the problems in the Regiment.

SPC Guillen’s unit did not properly follow accountability standards for Soldiers
during the “shelter in place” order.

The unit leadership did not take reasonable and appropriate actions to implement
accountability procedures in line with higher headquarter standards, issue clear verbal
or written direction, or enforce the standard. Due to a lack of sufficient guidance,
misunderstanding existed surrounding the purpose of the barracks room checks,
resulting in a duty non-commissioned officer reporting accountability of SPC Guillen on
the afternoon of 22 April, without personally confirming her whereabouts.

The Acting Senior Commander of Fort Hood Failed to Effectively Engage the
Media and the Public Following SPC Guillén's Disappearance

The Acting Senior Commander of Fort Hood and his staff were overly reluctant to
engage the media and correct inaccurate information. This reluctance was driven by a
firm belief that the command should prioritize the protection of the integrity of the
investigation over command engagement with the media. By taking this cautious
stance, the Acting Senior Commander failed to react appropriately to the high-profile
incident over time. This contributed to an inability to inform and educate the public in a
timely manner, and maintain transparency with the Guillén family. By the time Fort
Hood developed a media communications strategy on 29 June, Fort Hood had lost the
trust of the Guillén Family, the surrounding community, and the Nation.

The Army was Ineffective at Engaging in Social Media

Media, and more specifically social media, played a central role in establishing the
negative information environment surrounding Fort Hood's response to the
disappearance of SPC Guillén. Fort Hood Public Affairs Office and CID Public Affairs
Office were ill-staffed, ill-trained, and ill-prepared to effectively address the social media
information environment. The Army ceded the social media space, lost the opportunity
to inform and educate the public in a timely fashion.

Leaders Failed to Take Corrective Actions Regarding a Toxic Leader

SPC Guillén's leadership failed to hold SPC Guillén's supervisor accountable. They
knew of the aggressive and counterproductive leadership but took no action. Senior
non-commissioned officers were aware of the concerns with this supervisor and failed to
advise their leadership before this individual was moved from one squadron to another.

The Search for SPC Guillén was Immediate and Well-Coordinated

The Squadron and Regimental leadership immediately recognized the unique

circumstances of SPC Guillén's disappearance on 22 April and determined that her
absence was not voluntary. Starting on 23 April, these leaders directed a massive
search for SPC Guillén. Also confirming SPC Guillén's unusual disappearance and

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assisting in the search efforts, CID took over the case from MPI at 11:51 a.m. on 24
April (around 28 hours after she was reported as missing). Later that day at 3:12 p.m.,
CID submitted a Serious Incident Report Executive Summary to the U.S. Army
Operations Center stating that SPC Guillén was a "missing Soldier'' whose
disappearance occurred under "unusual" circumstances. Unfortunately, these search
efforts were all in vain; SPC Robinson is believed to have killed SPC Guillén in the arms
room on 22 April and subsequently hid her body outside of Fort Hood.

The Army Did Not Have an Appropriate Classification of Duty Status

SPC Guillén's disappearance highlighted gaps and ambiguities in U.S. Army policies
regarding the characterization of Soldiers who are missing. It is U.S. Army policy that
when a Soldier does not "report" during an accountability formation, that Soldier is
considered "Absent Without Leave" (AWOL) after 24 hours, unless there is clear
evidence that the absence is involuntary. Although the Chain of Command believed that
SPC Guillén was involuntarily absent, guidance they received from Human Resources
Command (HRC) and the Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Operations Division (CMAOD)
was that they lacked sufficient evidence to support a missing status determination.
Therefore, SPC Guillén's duty status was listed as "AWOL" from 24 April until 30 June.
The Squadron and Regimental leadership decided to deviate from additional actions for
AWOL Soldiers required by regulations - such as dropping SPC Guillén from rolls and
labeling her a deserter - to keep faith with her family, and because they accurately
assessed that she was not a voluntary absentee.
SPC Guillén's AWOL status was an administrative matter and did not impact the
Regiment's prioritization of time, effort, and resources dedicated to searching for her.
However, the Army's policy requiring an AWOL duty status sent the wrong message,
creating an inaccurate perception that she had voluntarily abandoned her unit and
limiting the command's access to certain resources, such as casualty assistance officer
to liaise with the family. The Army has since published a new policy on duty status of
missing Soldiers to correct these gaps and ambiguities.

Accountability Actions

The senior leadership of III Corps, FORSCOM, and the Army have taken many
actions to hold leaders at all levels accountable for the failures identified in the both the
Fort Hood Independent Review Committee (FHIRC) Report and the AR 15-6
investigation discussed above.
In December 2020, then-Secretary McCarthy relieved or suspended fourteen Fort
Hood and CID leaders based on the FHIRC report. Based on the findings of the AR 15-
6 investigation, III Corps and FORSCOM leaders have now directed the relief of six
officers and non-commissioned officers who held leadership positions in 3CR, and are
taking adverse administrative action (including General Officer Memoranda of
Reprimand) regarding eleven officers and non-commissioned officers.