Defense watchdog: Misconduct reports at Pentagon increased 13 percent since 2015

The number of sexual and other misconduct violations targeting senior staff at the Pentagon has climbed more than 10 percent since 2015, according to an inspector general report.

CNN reported Friday that the Pentagon inspector general’s report found that misconduct allegations against senior Pentagon officials has risen by 13 percent over the last two years, from 710 in fiscal 2015 to 803 allegations last year.

“There was a 13 percent increase in complaints alleging misconduct by senior officials from FY 2015 to FY 2017 (710 to 803),” the report reads. “The most common allegations involved personal misconduct including improper relationships, improper personnel actions, misuse of government resources, and travel violations.”

{mosads}

The violations in the report range from an Army major general misusing a government travel card at strip clubs in South Korea and Italy to an Air Force lieutenant general who “engaged in an unprofessional relationship with a married colonel.”

“In the category of personal misconduct, there has been a steady trend in substantiated allegations of improper relationships and sexual misconduct,” the report said.

The inspector general’s report concluded that “ensuring ethical conduct” will be one of the top 10 “management and performance” challenges for the Defense Department next year.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have called for the armed services to modernize treatment of sexual harassment and assault allegations following of a wave of sexual harassment scandals that have centered around famous media and government officials such as film mogul Harvey Weinstein.

In September, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) blasted the Pentagon for not doing more to combat rising rates of sexual assault in the military.

“After reviewing yet another year’s worth of sexual assault case files at four of the biggest military bases in the country, I was appalled to see that sexual assault in our military is still as pervasive as ever: levels of civilian survivors remain high, overall prosecution rates of military sexual assault cases remain flat, and my office received no retaliation cases from the DoD despite six out of 10 survivors reporting that they had been retaliated against last year,” Gillibrand said in a statement.