![FORT KNOX, Kentucky – U.S. Army Reserve drill sergeants observe apprehensive and disoriented Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadets experiencing their initial immersion into military order and discipline – also known as “Shark Week” – after a 4 a.m. wake-up call on their first day of Basic Camp at Fort Knox, Kentucky, June 4, 2017. Task Force Wolf utilizes Army Reserve drill sergeants and training experts to develop future commissioned officers, with many of them choosing to serve in the Army Reserve. [U.S. Army photo by Army Capt. Loyal Auterson, U.S. Army Reserve Command-Public Affairs Office // RELEASED //]](https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/3531153-e1765471511838.jpg?quality=85&w=2048)
Two Army drill sergeants at a Missouri base have been charged with sexually assaulting trainees and conspiring to cover it up, officials told Task & Purpose.
Staff Sgt. Michael Serrano, 34, and Sgt. 1st Class Brian Sullivan, 38, were drill sergeants assigned to Company A for the 3rd Chemical Brigade at Fort Leonard Wood, when the alleged crimes took place, according to Michelle McCaskill, a spokesperson for the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel, which is prosecuting the case.
Each soldier is charged with sexual assaulting a trainee, abuse of a training leadership position, and three specifications, or counts, of conspiring to commit prohibited activities with a trainee in a position of trust, Army officials said.
“They are accused of conspiring with one another to cover up their offenses after the fact,” McCaskill said.
Serrano was also charged with sexual harassment, obstruction of justice, and failure to obey a lawful order, officials said.
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The abuse of power charges highlight the unique position of authority that the service entrusts to drill sergeants who are expected to lead and train junior soldiers with little power or agency of their own.
In 2019, Congress created the new Uniform Code of Military Justice penalty for drill sergeants, recruiters and others in a position “of special trust” who engage in prohibited sexual activities with trainees. The crime was previously chargeable as failure to obey an order with a maximum sentence of two years’ confinement, but that has since been raised to five years.
The newer UCMJ framework comes after major training scandals made headlines. One of the most egregious examples at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, involved over 60 trainees who were assaulted and abused by more than 30 instructors between 2009 and 2021.
The Fort Leonard Wood charges also come as the Army, in particular, has tightened its rules for how drill sergeants conduct themselves with soon-to-be soldiers during basic training. Over the summer, the service updated its bootcamp regulation to ban drill sergeants from posting content online with trainees during bootcamp, friending them on social media, and developing personal relationships online or over the phone.
The two drill sergeants had separate preliminary hearings at Fort Leonard Wood in November, according to the Army’s Uniform Code of Military Justice online docket. Charge sheets for the two soldiers are not publicly available until after the arraignment, but details of the charges were released by Army officials to Task & Purpose.
Officials did not give specifics on the bootcamp class that the soldiers oversaw “because charges are not yet referred for a court-martial and witnesses for the case will come from this unit,” McCaskill said.
At each of the preliminary hearings, officers found probable cause for the charges and recommended a general court-martial. The final decision of whether the cases go to trial will come from the Office of Special Trial Council prosecutors. If that takes place, officials will schedule an arraignment and pre-trial motions hearings.
