U.S. military academies must improve senior leadership and stop toxic practices such as hazing and shift behavior training into the classroom, Pentagon officials announced in a study to address the spike in sexual assaults and misconduct. (Robert H. Reid/Stars and Stripes)
U.S. military academies must improve senior leadership and stop toxic practices such as hazing and shift behavior training into the classroom, Pentagon officials announced Thursday in a study to address the spike in sexual assaults and misconduct.
“What we’re seeing is that what may have been very effective in the past is now having unintended consequences because of the changing demographics … coming into the academy due to broader national trends,” said Elizabeth Foster, executive director of the Pentagon's Force Resiliency Office.
The study comes after student-reported survey results from the 2021-22 academic year showed an increase in sexual misconduct at the academies, which has been trending up since 2014 despite Defense Department efforts and attention from Congress. The rise in reports of sexual misconduct incidents is mirrored across the military, where research, programs and initiatives have increased to combat the problem, though they have not created a statistical change.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in March ordered eight actions laid out in a memorandum, shortly after the release of survey results that showed an 18% increase in student-reported sexual assaults at the academies.
Austin’s order included on-site evaluations by the Pentagon’s undersecretary for personnel and readiness at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., to examine the situation and find solutions.
The report released Thursday included immediate and long-term recommendations to be implemented at each institution. Some include improving access and communication options for victims of sexual misconduct seeking help while making certain that the lessons students are learning are reinforced in other environments.
“When cadets and midshipmen learn one thing about leadership or prevention in the classroom but don’t see that reinforcement in other settings it sends mixed messages about healthy norms and expectations for how they are to treat each other,” said Andra Tharp, the senior prevention adviser for the Force Resiliency Office.
The major recommendations focus on the leadership structure at the academies, Foster said.
At the Air Force Academy, the study recommends the school target cadet hazing in the freshman class. At the Air Force and Naval academies, the report recommends they add seasoned officers and noncommissioned officers to work with other officers already on campus to provide mentorship and supervision. At West Point, the study recommends the school review how cadets are trained to become leaders.
The study also acknowledges other factors that college students across the country face. Foster said students are entering the academies with bad experiences ranging from assaults and harassment to attempted suicides and domestic violence. Student leaders aren’t trained to deal with those issues or provide proper support to the students, according to the report.
Defense officials said another problem is the use of social media, where bullying and harassment go unchecked.
“Our teams, when we went to the academies, we joined these networks to observe the discussion,” Tharp said. “There was just a lot of misinformation. When somebody says, ‘I think I need to get help, I think I need to talk to somebody,’ you might have voices that are deterring that.”
Austin also ordered each service branch secretary to submit by Oct. 31 an action plan to counter the sexual misconduct trends at the academies.
