Adm. Charles Ray, then-Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard speaks to the crew of Coast Guard Sector Juneau, Feb. 3, 2021. Ray has resigned from the Coast Guard Academy’s Loy Institute for Leadership over his connection to the cover-up of an internal investigation into sexual misconduct at the academy. (U.S. Coast Guard)
NEW LONDON (Tribune News Service) — Retired Adm. Charles Ray, former vice commandant of the Coast Guard, has resigned from the Coast Guard Academy’s Loy Institute for Leadership over his connection to the cover-up of an internal investigation into sexual misconduct at the academy.
“I am resigning for the good of the Service and the good of the Academy,” Ray wrote in a letter to the academy’s alumni association. “During the past week there has been a great deal of public discourse on decisions I was a part of during my last two years of service.”
“I fully accept the criticism for my actions and have learned from reflecting on them,” he continued. “By resigning, I hope to reduce the distraction that my presence may bring so the Academy can go forward ...”
Retired Capt. Andrea Marcille, president of the alumni association, accepted Ray’s resignation Thursday morning, according to the association’s electronic newsletter, which published Ray’s letter.
In the letter, Ray does not specify the actions he took that prompted criticism.
Ray, who retired as vice commandant, the Coast Guard’s second-ranking officer, in 2021, was named later that year to the Tyler Chair in Leadership at the Loy Institute, which seeks to “impact every cadet through innovative and high-impact co-curricular leader development programs over the 200-week cadet experience.”
The institute, which provides training for faculty, staff, and coaches, was founded in 2005.
“Since this position is funded by your Alumni Association through the generosity of Jim Tyler ‘58, we remain committed to working with the Loy Institute for Leadership and the Academy as they navigate this recent development,” Marcille said in the newsletter.
Coast Guard leadership has been in turmoil since CNN’s June 30 report of the Coast Guard’s internal investigation of sexual misconduct at the academy. The results of the probe, dubbed “Operation Fouled Anchor,” were kept confidential for years by Coast Guard officials.
The revelation prompted a public apology from Adm. Linda Fagan, the Coast Guard commandant, who acknowledged that Coast Guard investigators looked into all sexual assaults that were alleged to have occurred at the academy between 1988 and 2006.
“By not taking appropriate action at the time, we may have further traumatized the victims, delayed access to care and recovery, and prevented some cases from being referred to the military justice system for appropriate accountability,” Fagan said. “We own this failure ...”
Earlier this month, it was reported that Adm. Karl Schultz, then the Coast Guard commandant, made the decision in 2018 to keep the report confidential.
Ray served as vice commandant of the Coast Guard from May 24, 2021, to June 18, 2021. Previously, he was deputy commandant for operations. He graduated from the academy in 1981.
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