Pentagon study calls for reforms at US military academies to combat wave of sexual assaults

A new Pentagon study says the U.S. military academies must step up efforts to address a spike in reported cases of sexual assault and harassment among cadets and midshipmen, including strengthening mental health services and peer leadership structures.

An independent commission team released its report after investigating and reviewing procedures at three military academies that reported a surge in sexual assaults and misconduct cases this year: the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Commission officials said in the study that practices and procedures at the academies have "not kept pace with the changing characteristics of incoming students at the academies" and could actually be "exacerbating [an] unhealthy climate."

The commission team, established by the office of the Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness (USD P&R), concluded that "harmful behaviors will continue to increase until the climates and environment contributing to that increased risk are modified."

They said academy students are expected to fix problems themselves, often feel disconnected from the wider academy community and struggle in a toxic climate of hazing and harassment.

Following the report, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a memo urging a greater effort to address the crisis, saying academies have "far more work to do to halt sexual assault and harassment."

"Data continue to suggest that the occurrence of these crimes is trending upward," Austin wrote. "That is disturbing and unacceptable. It endangers our teammates and degrades our readiness."

Thursday's report recommended allowing cadets and midshipmen to seek mental health services and expanding the range of such services available.

It also called for more transparency and accountability for individuals who harm, bully, sexually assault or harass others, and to provide more supervision of peer structures with experienced officers and non-commissioned officers, among a number of other recommendations.

In the memo released Thursday, Austin said each secretary of the military branches overseeing the academies must send him a plan of action report by Oct. 31 explaining how they will address the recommendations provided.

The Defense Department will also establish a Service Academy Climate Transformation Task
Force that will meet regularly to discuss the climates at the military academies, Austin said.

"This is a difficult moment, and it must serve as a turning point for the service academies," he wrote in the memo. "We defend America as one team, and the brave service members who volunteer to keep our country safe should themselves be safe from sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other harmful behaviors."

In the past school year, sexual assaults at the Air Force, Navy and Military academies reached the highest level on record since the Defense Department began tracking the issue in 2006, the Pentagon said in March.

The number of reported cases surged to 206 cases in the 2021-22 school year, up 45 cases from the previous year, which had been the highest on record.

After the March findings, Austin asked the USD P&R to commission a team to review the practices and procedures at military academies and evaluate how they address challenges in the educational climate.

For the study, teams of Defense Department civilian leaders, military members and contracted research assistants evaluated conditions at the academies through on-site visits, focus groups and interviews.