Operation Fouled Anchor: Former US coast guard leader accused of covering up sexual assaults investigation

A CNN investigation has revealed that former leader of the United States Coast Guard, Commandant Karl L. Schultz, covered up an explosive investigation into rapes and sexual assaults at the agency's academy. This, as per the report, happened despite his predecessor Admiral Paul Zukunft's prior plans to disclose the inquiry.

Operation Fouled Anchor

The investigation, code-named Operation Fouled Anchor, which began under the leadership of Admiral Zukunft, unveiled a dark history of sexual misconduct at the Coast Guard Academy. It exposed dozens of rapes and assaults that happened between the late 1980s to 2006.

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However, despite that, the academy's leadership under Schultz was more concerned about the institution's reputation than the well-being of victims.

Evidence that consists of internal records and interviews with those involved in the investigation revealed that Shultz and his second-in-command, Admiral Charles W. Ray, concealed the operation and its findings.

CNN found that the investigation was concealed to such a point that officials with access to case materials had to sign non-disclosure agreements.

The suppression of the investigation findings has been labelled "probably the most shameful, disgraceful incident of the cover-up of sexual assault that I have seen in the United States military ever", saidSen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, where the academy is based.

Prior plans to come clean

Talking to CNN, Zuknuft revealed that he had not only planned to brief Congress and the Department of Homeland Security but also issue a public apology to victims identified by Operation Fouled Anchor.

"I'm a big believer that bad news, like dead fish, don't get better with time," he said. However, before he could do that, he retired and Schultz took over.

Zukunft, who launched Operation Fouled Anchor in 2014, emphasised that the investigation was a "big deal" and expressed his disbelief that authorities did not brief Congress and publicly disclose the findings once the final report was released in January 2020.

Talking to CNN, he said, "At a bare minimum, we owed it to these victims to provide some sense of emotional closure."

Lawmakers are now demanding answers. They want to know why the investigation was kept secret and why its findings were not shared as planned.

The current Coast Guard Commandant, Linda Fagan, Schultz's successor, has apologised to the victims and pledged greater transparency moving forward. At a congressional subcommittee hearing in July, she said, "Just like on a ship when you have rust, we've got pockets of rust that need to be eliminated from the organisation."

(With inputs from agencies)

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