December 2023 — MHCE Newsletter

WWW.MHCE.US Monthly Newsletter | 23
They traveled to dozens of
is "conducting additional
racism, sexism and assault
refuse "to hold past leaders
installations,
interviewed
inquiries as warranted."
within its organization,"
accountable."
hundreds of service members,
received more than 175
written comments and sifted
"through a mountain of data"
to assess the situation.
The commandant also
announced reforms to
training, education, victim
services and other programs
that are to take place within
Murphy wrote in a release
Nov. 30. "This culture of
avoidance and cover-up
needs to end."
The House Homeland
"Past systemic failed
leadership destroyed lives
and the cancer of failed
leadership is destroying
the health of today's Coast
"You made it very clear to
the next year to improve
Security
Permanent
Guard," Krepp wrote in a
our team that these failures
overall response.
Subcommittee
on
letter obtained by Military.
and lack of accountability are
entirely unacceptable, and
you let us know the Coast
Guard must do something
about it," the team wrote in a
message to service members
in the beginning of the report.
The report found that the
Coast Guard made efforts
to combat sexual assault
and harassment in the ranks
over the past two decades,
spending money and other
resources studying the
problem and developing
recommendations. But
those efforts led only to
"incremental improvements"
and not to "lasting sustainable
change."
"We must ensure that every
Coast Guard workplace
has a climate that deters
harmful behaviors and gives
everyone the positive Coast
Guard experience they
expect and deserve," Fagan
wrote.
This week, the Coast Guard
posted a copy of a 2015
"Culture of Respect" study
on the commandant's website
after CNN obtained a copy
and published a report on it.
The report, which, like the
Operation Fouled Anchor
investigation, was concealed
for nearly a decade, found
that the Coast Guard failed
to address racism, hazing
Investigations has a hearing
planned for Dec. 12 on sexual
assault and harassment in the
Coast Guard.
Ahead of the hearing, K.
Denise Rucker Krepp, a
former Coast Guard officer
and former chief counsel of
the Maritime Administration,
wrote subcommittee leaders
about the report, noting that
current Coast Guard leaders
com. "Please continue to hold
the hearings on the sexual
assault that are occurring
in the Coast Guard. Please
demand that past leaders,
including those I served
with in the Coast Guard
legal community, be held
accountable. Please stop the
rot."
The witness list for the sexual
assault hearing has not been
released.
The team made new
and discrimination as well
recommendations
on
as sexual assault in its ranks.
improving leadership,
accountability, transparency,
training, awareness and victim
support. Its accountability
recommendations, however,
did not extend to past cases
or officers involved in
Operation Fouled Anchor.
After the release of the
report, Sen. Chris Murphy,
D-Conn., whose state is
home to the Coast Guard
Academy, questioned how
many more "damning"
reports the Coast Guard has
not made public.
Fagan noted in a separate
response that the Coast
Guard is responding to
numerous congressional
requests related to the
incidents and that the Coast
Guard Investigative Service
"I am in disbelief that we
are once again having a
conversation about Coast
Guard leadership covering
up evidence of pervasive
harassment, discrimination,