In September, Congress opened up an inquiry into the United States Coast Guard Academy over alleged mishandling of an internal sexual assault investigation, and a failure to promptly reveal those findings.
On Tuesday in Washington, D.C., five women testified before the Permanent Subcommittee of Investigations, with some detailing their experiences at the the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
“Coast Guard senior leaders have failed to protect us against the worst of all enemies. Ourselves," Lt. Melissa McCafferty (Ret.), USCGA Class of 2011, said.
“The world’s greatest Coast Guard let down all the women and men who have survived sexual military installed trauma for the past 47 years,” Commander Jennifer Yount (Ret.), USCGA Class of 1981, said.
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The hearing, led by the bipartisan Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, comes just months after the Coast Guard’s internal investigation regarding sexual assault at the academy was disclosed.
“That investigation, known as Fouled Anchor, looked at 102 instances of rape or sexual assault at the Coast Guard Academy from the early 1990s through 2006, ultimately identifying 43 alleged perpetrators with a total of 63 victims,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D) Connecticut, said.
That study concluded in 2020, but those findings were not revealed until this summer, leading Congress to launch a formal inquiry into the academy’s alleged mishandling of past sexual assault incidents.
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“The report from this investigation concluded that the academy leadership who oversaw these cases did not ‘instill a culture intolerant of any form of sexual misconduct,’” Blumenthal said.
In a statement, the Coast Guard said in part: The Coast Guard failed in its handling of some past sexual assault cases, and it failed again when this information was not shared with Congress. We sincerely apologize for these failures and the harm they caused.”
In various testimonies, witnesses called for transparency, accountability and a shift in culture, particularly for those who reported an incident.
“We always talk about how trauma stems from the assault, but the reporting system continues to victimize and causes trauma of its own,” First Class Cadet Kyra Grace Holmstrup, USCGA Class of 2024, and president of Cadets Against Sexual Assault, said.
“I had no one to turn to. I was mocked in the hallway and it just became so heavy that I just decided to leave. I was like, 'there’s no way I’m going to be able to function in the service without the support of my shipmates,'” Maro said.
Within the last few months, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy has conducted a 90-day performance review, seeking recommendations to address the problems that remain at the academy.
As part of the Coast Guard's statement, they added: “We recognize and applaud the tremendous courage of the witnesses who came forward to share their personal stories at today’s hearing before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Their reflections and recommendations, and those of all survivors, are essential to our efforts to continuously improve our prevention and response policies."
