Sexual Misconduct

The documents posted below provide background information and historic context on problems associated with sexual misconduct, both voluntary and involuntary, ranging from harassment to assault.

On many occasions, advocates of women in combat (WIC) expressed the belief that assigning women to direct ground combat units would increase respect for military women and reduce rates of sexual harassment and assault.  The opposite, unfortunately, has proven true.  The Department of Defense has tried in various ways to help accusers achieve justice – one of them going into effect in 2024.  Official reports from the Sexual Assault Prevention & Response Office (SAPRO) nevertheless have continue to steadily rise, and rates of unfounded accusations have risen as well.

• CMR: Are Military Social Experiments Increasing Sexual Assaults on Men and Women?
• CMR: Unfounded Sex Assault Charges Trending Up in DoD Reports

Removing prosecutions from the accuser’s chain of command likely will not reduce the problem:

• 2021: Letter for Sen. Inhofe re “Military Justice Improvement Act”

• DoD: SAPRO Report for 2020

• SAPRO Report for FY 2018 (Disregard government site warnings beyond “Details”)

• CMR: Exploiting Sexual Assault in the Military (Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand legislation and 2015 Sexual Assault Prevention & Response Office report)

• CMR Summary: DoD SAPRO Annual Reports Show Significant Increases in Military Sexual Assault Accusations Deemed “Unfounded” (old version)

• CMR: Congress Shares Blame for Photo-Sharing Scandal
• Marine ALMAR 008/17 (photo posting)

2014: Defense Department Deliberately Moving to Implement Policies Known to Harm Military Women

2013: CMR: Sexual Assaults and Cultural Confusion in the Military's New Gender Order

2006:   SEX, LIES, AND RAPE - CMR (cmrlink.org)

            CMR: NAVAL ACADEMY PROSECUTION TAKEN TO PC EXTREME –

2002:   CMR: CMR Salutes Belated Promotion of Capt. Robert E. Stumpf, Former Blue Angels Commander

            CMR: NEW YORK TIMES INSULTS MEMORY OF RETIRED NAVAL OFFICER KILLED IN SEPT. 11 TERRORIST ATTACK

The 1991 Tailhook Scandal involving naval aviators partying in Las Vegas and celebrating the end of the Persian Gulf War became a huge scandal that rocked the Navy with consequences still being felt today:

• 1994: Elaine Donnelly, National Review: The Tailhook Scandals
• Colonel W. Hays Parks, USMCR (Ret.) Naval Institute Proceedings: Tailhook: What Happened, Why & What’s to be Learned

• 1995: CMR: Pregnancy at the Naval Academy
• Navy Times: Female Combat Vets Report More Assaults

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 More information on this and related topics is available in the Issues Research and Analysis section of this website, www.cmrlink.org.