Naval Academy to target midshipmen underage, binge drinking to address sexual assault issue

The Naval Academy superintendent says the academy will heighten focus on underage and binge drinking among midshipmen given a prevalent connection between alcohol and sexual assaults found in a recent Department of Defense report.

Last month the department released its annual report analyzing sexual assault policies, training and procedures at the Naval, Military and Air Force academies. The Naval Academy saw a slight increase in sexual assault reports, increasing from 25 in 2014-2015 to 28 in 2015-2016.

Drinking was a factor in most of the unwanted sexual contacts at the three military academies, according to the report. Alcohol was involved in 74 percent of the unwanted sexual contacts reported by women and 56 percent of those reported by men at the Naval Academy.

"There's this idea that they still want to be college students here and we're not apologetic about the idea that that's not what this place is," Vice Adm. Ted Carter told The Capital. "You have to be on 24/7, whether you're in uniform or not. And that's true, by the way, out in the fleet. So we're having to inculcate them with that, and that's hard for some of them. They want to feel like they can have their freedom."

Read more: http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/annapolis/ph-ac-cn-usna-dod-sexual-assault-folo-0331-20170329-story.html