{mosads}Following a Pentagon report in May that found 26,000 military personnel had been sexually assaulted in 2012 alone, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the Department of Defense (DOD) to review the records of military recruiters, drill instructors, and sexual assault counselors.
USA Today reports that after a few months of investigation, fifty-five Army personnel and five Navy personnel have been suspended after it was found they had been convicted of certain crimes. Each branch of service followed its own procedure — in the case of the Army, the crimes checked for were sexual assault, child abuse, and offenses relating to alcohol. So far, no airmen or Marines have been suspended.
George Wright, an Army spokesman, told USA Today it is not yet clear whether the suspended soldiers will be discharged or merely assigned to new roles.
The review is not finished, the newspaper said, adding that some 35,000 troops will have been screened by the end of it.