Several cases of rapes and sexual assaults occurred at the Coast Guard Academy, and a report claims that a former US Coast Guard chief hid the results of a covert investigation.
In order to protect the reputation of the military organization, Karl Leo Schultz, who is now a retired US Coast Guard admiral, hid a probe from the public four years ago while serving as the US Coast Guard Commandant from 2018 to 2022, CNN reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, Schultz assumed leadership of the organization in June 2018 as Operation Fouled Anchor, the academy’s rape and assault investigation, reached its conclusion.
Between the 1980s and 2006, the academy had a sordid history of sexual abuse.
According to the CNN investigation, Schultz and his deputy, Admiral Charles W., failed to properly handle allegations of sexual assault at the US Coast Guard Academy. Ray had ignored the report’s recommendations and had not even disclosed them.
The investigation’s draft report from 2019 found that the leadership of the academy had prioritized its reputation over the welfare of victims.
The US military’s top brass is well known for ignoring allegations of sexual assault and punishing the perpetrators.
Even though there was wrongdoing, the investigation was quietly ended. Members of the US Congress were only briefed by the Coast Guard about the ongoing investigation in June as a result of inquiries from CNN.
Assault and sexual abuse against women and children within the Coast Guard is “heartbreaking, infuriating, frustrating, and intolerable,” Sen. At a subcommittee hearing last month, US Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell made a statement.
“We will not stand for the Coast Guard not informing us of this. The media cannot act as the neighborhood watchman.”
Sexual Assault in the US forces
US senators criticized the Coast Guard’s response to Operation Fouled Anchor, alleging that it further traumatized the victims.
2014 saw the start of the Coast Guard’s investigation after an academy graduate complained that her claim of rape had not been looked into.
One woman who was interviewed on Fouled Anchor about her alleged rape said, “I cannot even begin to describe how unbearable some months and years of my life have been.”
“In my life, there have been serious harms and notable sacrifices to my career and quality of life, from which I may never fully recover, and which need constant maintenance and care.”
After Schultz left in 2022, the Coast Guard’s current commander, Linda Fagan, told senators she didn’t know why the agency hadn’t previously disclosed the investigation’s findings.
The “totality” of the Fouled Anchor investigation, according to Fagan, was only made aware to her when CNN enquired about it this past spring.
Fagan noted a “pattern of failure” to address allegations of sexual misconduct and claimed that there was a “lack of clarity of leadership with regard to how those reports needed to be handled.” He added, “We failed the committee when we did not disclose it in 2020.”
“It began as past sexual assaults that were handled improperly at the Coast Guard Academy, but it is obvious to me that we have a culture in some areas that is permissive and allows sexual assaults, harassment, bullying, and retaliation, which is inconsistent with our core values.”
A rise in sexual assaults was predicted for 2022 in the Pentagon’s annual report on sexual misconduct in the US military.
The most recent annual report, which was published in April, revealed that the number of sexual assaults rose by 1% in 2017.
All of the US military services reported an increase in sexual assaults, but the US Army was not included in the report.
The US Marine Corps showed a 3 point six percent increase, and the US Navy reported a 9 percent increase. The biggest increase in sexual assaults was in the Air Force, at 13%.
