From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov Transcript for: Military Hazing and DOD's Efforts to Stop It Description: The U.S. military has a rich history and traditions of initiation ceremonies and rites of passage that at times have included inappropriate, cruel or even abusive behavior. According to the DOD, these hazing activities can jeopardize combat and mission readiness by weakening trust within the ranks. We'll talk to Brenda Farrell, a director in our Defense Capabilities and Management Team, who has a new report out on the DOD's efforts to report about and respond to military hazing. Related GAO Work: GAO-22-104066, Military Hazing: DOD Should Address Data Reporting Deficiencies, Training Limitations, and Personnel Shortfalls Released: December 2021 [Music] [Brenda Farrell:] DOD does not know the extent of hazing for a number of reasons. [Holly Hobbs:] Hi and welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report. Your source for news and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. I'm Holly Hobbs. The U.S. military has a rich history and traditions of initiation ceremonies and rites of passage that at times have included inappropriate, cruel or even abusive behavior. And according to the DOD, these hazing activities can jeopardize combat and mission readiness by weakening trust within the ranks. Today, we'll talk to Brenda Farrell, a director in our Defense Capabilities and Management team, who has a new report out on the DOD's efforts to report about and respond to military hazing. Thanks for joining us. [Brenda Farrell:] Thanks for having me today. [Holly Hobbs:] So, Brenda, I want to be sensitive to this issue knowing how it has impacted people's lives. But could you give us an example of when an initiation ceremony or tradition goes from acceptable to hazing? Where's that line? [Brenda Farrell:] Hazing does not include properly directed command or organizational activities that serve a proper military purpose. These activities often celebrate an event in the servicemember's life, and they're sanctioned by the command or leadership. It crosses the line when it includes conduct to which servicemembers physically or psychologically injure or create a risk of injury to servicemembers for the purpose of admission or at initiation or change or status within any military group. For example, it can include forcing another person to consume food, alcohol, drugs, or other substances. It can include ridicule or mockery, intimidating acts, racial or other slurs. These types of unacceptable incidents are outlined in DOD policy. Tragically, servicemembers have lost their lives due to hazing incidents that have crossed the line. [Holly Hobbs:] And how big of a problem is this? [Brenda Farrell:] DOD focuses on reported formal complaints. There were between 183 and 299 in a given year, from fiscal year 2017 through 2020. DOD does not know the extent of hazing for a number of reasons. First, DOD has not been collecting information on informal hazing complaints. Servicemembers can file a formal complaint, which is tracked. Informal hazing complaints are resolved at the lowest level. They're not adjudicated. They're not investigated. And that is a big blank for DOD. They're not in the numbers. Second, DOD also has not been collecting required information from National Guard personnel because the chief of the National Guard Bureau has not established policies for doing so. [Holly Hobbs:] What about making estimates of hazing? [Brenda Farrell:] DOD has not estimated the prevalence of hazing as they do for sexual assault incidents. Prevalence can provide a more complete picture of what is happening versus reviewing only reported formal complaints. Decision makers can use it as a starting point to determine if efforts to prevent and respond to hazing are effective. We found data from a 2018 DOD survey suggests that the number of reported hazing complaints could be significantly understated by potentially tens of thousands. In a 2016 report on hazing, we recommended DOD determine the prevalence of hazing. DOD concurred with that recommendation, but they've not implemented it. [Holly Hobbs:] And DOD is required to report on this right? [Brenda Farrell:] Yes, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2017 required DOD to submit an annual report to the Hill that includes, among other things, the scope of hazing in the armed forces. To meet that requirement, DOD submitted reports annually for fiscal years 2017 to 2020. However, the congressional reporting requirement has lapsed. We have a matter for congressional consideration to require DOD to continue to report hazing complaint data, including more complete data to Congress. [Holly Hobbs:] And beyond, collecting information about incidents and reporting them, what steps is DOD or the service branches taking to prevent hazing? [Brenda Farrell:] Most recently, DOD issued its harassment prevention strategy. This strategy is intended to guide these efforts in preventing and responding to all types of harassment-- including hazing, bullying and sexual harassment, among others. Each military service also requires that servicemembers receive harassment prevention and response training, which includes hazing. But they vary on how frequently training should be reinforced. We estimated that 45% of DOD's military equal opportunity professionals believe training for servicemembers in the units that they supported was not administered frequently enough. Further, it's unclear whether that training complies with DOD policy is sufficient or is effective. {MUSIC} [Holly Hobbs:] So Brenda just told us that while DOD collects and reports data on hazing in the military, these incidents are likely severely under reported, which limits DOD's ability to respond. And that it's unclear whether the training DOD provides to prevent hazing is effective. So, Brenda, what could Congress or the DOD do to improve efforts to report and address hazing? [Brenda Farrell:] Congress needs to reinstate the reporting requirement to DOD since that requirement has lapsed. That will definitely help with congressional oversight of this area. DOD generally concurred with the 12 recommendations we made to them in our report. It's important that they implement these recommendations in a timely manner, and in addition implement our 2016 recommendation to determine the prevalence of hazing in the military. [Holly Hobbs:] And last question, what's the bottom line of this report? [Brenda Farrell:] The bottom line is that after all these years, DOD has limited visibility into the extent of hazing and the degree to which its prevention and response program is working. They have work to do. [Holly Hobbs:] That was Brenda Farrell talking about GAO's recent review of military hazing and efforts to prevent it. Thanks for your time, Brenda. [Brenda Farrell:] Thank you, Holly. [Holly Hobbs:] And thank you for listening to the watchdog report. To hear more podcasts, subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen and make sure to leave a rating and review to let others know about the work we're doing. For more from the congressional watchdog, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, visit us at GAO.gov.