Coast Guard admiral vows reform after service 'buried' Fouled Anchor report on sexual assaults of cadets - but Senators blast lack of accountability for the coverup as 'unacceptable'

The US Coast Guard's top admiral has vowed reforms after the service was accused of covering up sexual assaults of cadets - but critics claim the measures fail to hold leaders accountable.

Adm. Linda Fagan, commandant of the Coast Guard, ordered a wide-ranging report released on Wednesday, which calls for an end to a 'permissive environment' that fosters sexual harassment and assault.

The report found that 'too many' Coast Guard members don't feel safe, and called for a crackdown on 'inappropriate or unhealthy behavior' at the earliest stages, including lewd jokes and comments.

But Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut who is leading a probe into sexual assaults at the Coast Guard Academy, slammed the report as 'unacceptable' for failing to address a high-level coverup of a report on the issue.  

'The Coast Guard's "Accountability" task force did not, in fact, recommend any steps to hold accountable past perpetrators or generations of Coast Guard leaders who oversaw and enabled a culture of misconduct and cover-up,' he said in a statement. 

Murphy said that while the new Coast Guard report lays out a 'modest plan' to improve oversight, training and support for survivors, the report 'is nothing more than paper until concrete steps are taken.' 

Murphy chairs the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, which will hold a hearing on Tuesday to hear stories of sexual misconduct from Coast Guard whistleblowers. 

Senator Chris Murphy, also a Democrat from Connecticut, likewise criticized the new review in a statement, saying it 'still does not hold anyone accountable for past failures - particularly those at the Coast Guard Academy.' 

A Coast Guard spokesperson told DailyMail.com in a statement that the new report 'aimed to ensure that the Coast Guard is accountable for creating a safe and inclusive environment where every member feels valued.'

'Congress has notified the Coast Guard that it has opened its own investigation and has requested the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) to open an independent investigation into the Coast Guard’s handling of past sexual assault cases,' the spokesperson said.

'The Coast Guard is fully committed to cooperating with these efforts and will consider all recommendations for additional remedial action or improvement that might be identified,' the statement added. 

The controversy first exploded in August, when it emerged that the Coast Guard had for years withheld the findings from its internal investigation into sexual assaults at the Coast Guard Academy from Congress and the public.

The investigation, dubbed 'Operation Fouled Anchor,' found that from the late 1980s through 2006, dozens of allegations of sexual assault at the Academy in Connecticut were swept under the rug without being reported to police or Coast Guard investigators.

The Fouled Anchor report was completed in January 2020, but was not disclosed to Congress or otherwise made public until June 2023, infuriating congressional members charged with oversight.

'It is unclear whether those responsible have continued their careers in the Coast Guard, received higher positions of authority, or left service and escaped accountability all together,' wrote Senators Blumenthal and Ron Johnson in a September letter to Fagan.

'The public deserves to know why so many reported cases of sexual assault and harassment were allowed to go uninvestigated for so many years,' the letter added.

Fagan acknowledged in a memorandum released on Wednesday that the actions she has ordered to address improper conduct will not impact the historical cases uncovered in Operation Fouled Anchor. 

But the admiral said the service is responding to congressional requests concerning those cases, while the Coast Guard Investigative Service conducts additional inquiries.

Coast Guard veteran calls on Senate to investigate Admiral Fagan's knowledge and actions 

Peter Gleason, a Coast Guard veteran and practicing attorney who has represented dozens of current and former members of the service, slammed the new report as inadequate in an interview with DailyMail.com.

'The Coast Guard's actions, in a very self-protectionist way, make perfect sense because if they were to look back, Fagan would have to hold herself accountable,' he said.

'She's part and parcel of the problem. She's covering up the misdeeds of her contemporaries,' he alleged.

Fagan served as the No. 2 officer in the Coast Guard from June 2021 to June 2022, when she was promoted Commandant, replacing Karl L. Schultz, who subsequently came under scrutiny for the coverup of the Fouled Anchor report. 

In a November 18 letter to the Investigations Subcommittee obtained by DailyMail.com, Gleason wrote: 'Any suggestion that Admiral Fagan had no knowledge of brushing Fouled Anchor under the carpet should be dismissed on its face.' 

'I urge the Committee to investigate the current actions of the Commandant and her staff in what appears to be a diversionary tactic to further distance Coast Guard leadership from the Fouled Anchor scandal by scapegoating junior members of the Service,' his letter to the subcommittee stated. 

A Coast Guard spokesperson told DailyMail.com that Fagan testified before Congress in July that she had general knowledge of Operation Fouled Anchor, but was not aware of the totality of the operation until May of this year, shortly before the findings were shared with Congress. 

'Admiral Fagan was not included in the group of senior leaders who oversaw closing the operation, nor was she consulted when it was closed regarding disclosure in or outside the Coast Guard,' the spokesperson said. 

'We are committed to ensuring every member of our workforce has an experience aligned to our core values and free from sexual assault, sexual harassment, assault, harassment, hazing, bullying, hate, or retaliation,' the Coast Guard added.

Gleason, who served in the Coast Guard reserve from 1981 to 2001, told DailyMail.com that he himself was the victim of sexual harassment from a female supervisor while in uniform, alleging that his complaints were ignored by the chain of command.

At the same time, he characterized the service's zero-tolerance crackdown as an overreaction in the opposite direction. 

Gleason alleged that several of his clients had been dismissed from the service over what he described as minor infractions, including sharing racy internet images in a group chat with other male members. 

The attorney argued that the current climate would only exacerbate recruiting challenges at the Coast Guard, which like other service branches has struggled to meet quotas.

'If you're a woman, the last place you want to be is in a in a place where they overlook rapes and sexual assaults and sexual harassment. If you're a male, you don't want to be victimized through overzealous prosecution of nonsense,' said Gleason.

He is calling for a compensation fund to be established for victims of sexual assault within the Coast Guard. 

Admiral Fagan vows to improve 'workplace climate'

'Acknowledging broken trust within the Service is an important first step in reestablishing it,' Fagan wrote in an email to all service members this week. 

'I have directed 33 initial actions with specific timelines to ensure every member of our workforce has an experience aligned to our core values and free from harassment, assault, hazing, bullying, hate, or retaliation,' she added. 

Those actions include 'tailored training' to help personnel, 'from the newest recruits to senior executives,' cultivate a positive workplace climate. 

They also includes developing more effective leadership courses and increasing oversight of the cadet corps at the Academy.

In one change, the Coast Guard Academy Superintendent will report directly to the Vice Commandant instead of to the Deputy Commandant for Mission Support, increasing senior oversight of the Academy. 

Fagan also ordered plans to be developed by 2025 that expand in-person bystander intervention training and provide sexual assault prevention, response and recovery training for all Coast Guard personnel. 

She also ordered improved physical security throughout the cadet dormitory at the academy.

'We each must ensure EVERY Coast Guard workplace has a climate that deters harmful behaviors,' Fagan's memo said.