ICYMI Video: Blumenthal Chairs Hearing to Hear from Enlisted Whistleblowers who Experienced Sexual Assault & Harassment in Coast Guard

[NEW LONDON, CT] – In case you missed it, yesterday, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), chaired a field hearing in New London, Connecticut to receive testimony from Coast Guard enlisted personnel who are survivors of sexual assault and harassment.

“This Subcommittee's investigation has revealed an even deeper decay. The scourge of sexual assault and harassment is not a past problem. It is not limited to the Academy. It is persistent and pervasive, affecting not only the Coast Guard Academy, but also the ranks of active-duty personnel around the globe,” said Blumenthal. “The culture of cover up that hid Operation Fouled Anchor continues to this day, and that’s the reason why we are here—so that the Coast Guard will, in fact, change course in the right direction and lead by example.”

Blumenthal thanked the witnesses for sharing their stories of sexual assault, harassment, and other forms of misconduct in the Coast Guard.

“We will hear from five of these brave individuals, all of whom enlisted in the Coast Guard. On behalf of myself and all of my colleagues, I want to thank each of you for being here today. I want to thank you for your courage and tenacity in coming forward,” continued Blumenthal. “The Coast Guard, like the Academy, fostered an environment that seemingly from the top down not only enabled sexual assault and harassment to persist, but also fueled the culture that has discouraged survivors from reporting and failed to treat those survivors with the seriousness and respect they deserve.”

On Wednesday, Blumenthal released a majority staff report, A Pervasive Problem: Voices of Coast Guard Sexual Assault and Harassment Survivors, highlighting firsthand accounts of Coast Guard enlisted personnel, officers, and Coast Guard Academy cadets who have experienced sexual assault, harassment, and other forms of misconduct.

In September 2023, PSI opened a bipartisan inquiry into the Coast Guard’s internal review of sexual assault and harassment cases that occurred between 1990 and 2006, which was called Operation Fouled Anchor. The Subcommittee’s inquiry has focused on the Coast Guard’s original mishandling of these cases and the Coast Guard’s failure to reveal Operation Fouled Anchor, and its associated report, to Congress and the public. The Subcommittee is also examining the ways in which the Coast Guard currently handles reports of sexual assault and harassment.  In December, the Subcommittee held a hearing in which four current and former Coast Guard Academy cadets testified about the Coast Guard’s mishandling of their cases. 

The transcript of Blumenthal’s opening remarks can be found below. Video of the opening remarks can be found here, and video of the witnesses’ opening statements can be found here. The full text of the Senators’ initial letter to the Coast Guard is available here. The letter from December 2023 is available here. Video of the Subcommittee’s hearing in December featuring testimony from survivors can be viewed here. The Subcommittee’s February 2024 letter is available here. The Subcommittee’s hearing invitation to Admiral Linda Fagan’s is available here, and the video of the Admiral Fagan’s testimony in June 2024 is available here. 

Thank you for being here. I am honored to welcome all of you to this hearing of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. As you know, we are a Subcommittee of the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Operations. This field hearing will be conducted according to the procedures that we normally use in Washington, D.C., but as you can see, it has all the infrastructure, and we will be following the procedures of a normal Committee hearing.

I'm going to make some opening statements, then I will introduce the witnesses, swear them in. We will give them an opportunity to have whatever time they would like to use for opening statements, and then proceed to questions.

Let me just say, by way of introduction, how grateful I am to Connecticut College for giving us this great venue and to all of the folks in the audience who have come to hear us. Most of you may be Coast Guard retirees or even active-duty, and I want to thank you for your service, as well as the witnesses who are with us today, retired or currently serving.

We are in New London, obviously, which has a special affinity and tie to the Coast Guard. All of us in Connecticut have a tremendous respect, admiration, even reverence and affection for the Coast Guard, because we are home to the Coast Guard Academy, and we will soon be home to the new Coast Guard museum. We are really looking forward to that museum being here in Connecticut to celebrate the tremendous contribution over centuries to our nation by the Coast Guard.

Every day, thousands of men and women put on Coast Guard uniforms—today being one of them—and serve and sacrifice for our nation. They protect our nation and provide a contribution to our national defense and our criminal justice system that is invaluable, that is beyond words an asset to this great nation. But at the same time, many of them are survivors or will become survivors of sexual assault and harassment. We are honored to have with us today five survivors of sexual assault and harassment. We issued a report yesterday with dramatic, moving accounts of the stories from more than 80 whistleblowers, about their experiences in the Coast Guard as survivors and the discouraging, the shaming messages that were sent to them about coming forward. The retribution that they encounter and the lasting ramifications to their lives.

Nearly a year ago, this Subcommittee opened a bipartisan inquiry into the Coast Guard's mishandling of sexual assault and harassment cases at the Coast Guard Academy and its subsequent failure to disclose its investigation of those cases to the Congress. Operation Fouled Anchor was the name of that investigation, and it began as an investigation in 2014 to cover a period of the 1990's to 2006. But that investigation was itself covered up. It was completed in 2020. It was disclosed in 2023, only because of a news report that found it and revealed it to the public. Operation Fouled Anchor and its cover-up revealed a deep moral rot within the Coast Guard's ranks, and an utter abandonment of the honor, respect, and devotion to duty that comprise the Coast Guard's core values.

This Subcommittee's investigation has revealed an even deeper decay. The scourge of sexual assault and harassment is not a past problem. It is not limited to the Academy. It is persistent and pervasive, affecting not only the Coast Guard Academy, but also the ranks of active-duty personnel around the globe. The culture of cover up that hid Operation Fouled Anchor continues to this day, and that’s the reason why we are here—so that the Coast Guard will, in fact, change course in the right direction and lead by example. Not only itself, but potentially other military services where sexual assault and harassment continues as a problem as well.

This Subcommittee launched its investigation seeking evidence about Operation Fouled Anchor, but right after we began, we heard from a legion of whistleblowers, past and present, men and women, from across the Coast Guard, cadets, officers, and enlisted with service spanning more than five decades. Yesterday the report that we issued—and I'm going to make it a part of this record and formally open the Hearing—because we wanted to elevate statements from those individuals who bravely came forward to share their experiences with this Subcommittee. In the words of just one of those individuals, "I never came forward to report my assaults. I knew I would not be taken seriously, and I saw how women who did come forward were treated. They would be blamed for causing their assault, punished for consuming alcohol or other infractions that paled in comparison to the crimes committed against them, or victims wouldn’t be believed that they were assaulted in the first place.” And as another individual who reported sexual assault put it, “During the investigation, they found that this was a pattern of behavior for him even in previous units. He had never been held accountable ever. It was sickening and humiliating. It was a slap in the face of all victims.”

The experiences relayed in this report underscore what this investigation has already made abundantly clear. The problems of sexual assault and harassment in the Coast Guard is still far too pervasive. It is persistent and ongoing, and it affects officers and enlisted in present service. In fact, well over half the whistleblowers who shared their experiences with this Subcommittee describe instances of sexual assault or harassment that occurred while serving on recent active-duty.

As I told Admiral Fagan, Commandant of the Coast Guard, when she appeared before the Subcommittee earlier this summer, these survivors have shown that the Coast Guard's failings did not just exist in the past. They are happening right now, and the Coast Guard must be addressing them.

Today, we will hear from five of these brave individuals, all of whom enlisted in the Coast Guard. On behalf of myself and all of my colleagues, I want to thank each of you for being here today. I want to thank you for your courage and tenacity in coming forward. And I also want to share the words of another member who cannot be with us today, Lieutenant Commander Samantha Block. She reported sexual harassment during her second tour years ago. She thought the individual she reported had retired then, but earlier this year, he learned that that was not the case, and she told the Subcommittee, "I found out that he went on to another unit and continued his behavior. That has been the worst part of this whole ordeal for me to cope with, because I did what I was supposed to do. I made the report, I raised the alarm. And it was not enough."

The Coast Guard, like the Academy, fostered an environment that seemingly from the top down not only enabled sexual assault and harassment to persist, but also fueled the culture that has discouraged survivors from reporting and failed to treat those survivors with the seriousness and respect they deserve.

I want to say I was encouraged that the Coast Guard has announced a safe-to-report policy earlier this year, responding to the problems that have been disclosed by this investigation and others. I also understand that Admiral Fagan has directed that the Coast Guard take 33 actions after the completion of the accountability and transparency review initiated earlier this year and last year.

I don't need to tell anybody here that talk about reform is not enough. Service from the top down must ensure that everyone who serves follows these express commitments. I am also concerned that the Coast Guard has been late and lagging in making disclosures to this Committee. We have received additional document production, but it has been long after we made requests, and then only because we made the possibility of compulsory process very real and direct for the Coast Guard.

Again, I want to be clear. I have enormous respect and admiration for the Coast Guard and all who serve in its ranks. I recognize all of the service that they have done for this country. I'm going to continue to be a strong supporter of the Coast Guard. As a member of the Armed Services Committee, as well as the Veteran Affairs Committee, I'm going to support the brave individuals who come forward and serve in the Coast Guard. But the strongest supporters of the Coast Guard also have to be the biggest advocates for change to rid the scourge of sexual misconduct and the culture of concealment that imperil it now and in the future.

With that, I would like to introduce the witnesses that we are honored to have today. Chief Warrant Officer Shawna Christine Ward of the United States Coast Guard, retired. Chief Warrant Officer Ward served in the Coast Guard for 24 years before retiring in 2018. Today, Chief Warrant Officer Ward will share her experiences of sexual harassment and assault during her service. Yeoman Petty Officer First-Class Crystal Van Den Heuvel. She has been a recruiter for the Coast Guard since 2022, and she will share with the Subcommittee her experiences of retaliation after reporting sexual harassment by a fellow recruiter. Lieutenant Commander Tina Owen. Lieutenant Commander Owen served in the Coast Guard from 1994 until 2017. She will describe her experiences of sexual assault and harassment as well as the lack of support that she received while in the Coast Guard. Miss Meghan Lori Klement, Former Coast Guard Seaman. She served in the Coast Guard from 2012 to 2015. She will relay her experiences of sexual assault and harassment by a supervisor, as well as how the Coast Guard mishandled her report of these incidents. Chief Warrant Officer 4 Julian Bell, United States Coast Guard. Chief Warrant Officer Bell has served in the Coast Guard since enlisting in 2003. He will share his experience also of sexual assault.

So, again, my thanks to each of you for attending, and now, as is our practice in the Committee, I'm going to ask you to stand and take the oath. Do you solemnly swear that you will provide this Committee with the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

Witnesses: I do.

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