As a new school year approaches, a group of Senate Democrats is pressing the Defense Department to implement legally mandated reforms meant to prevent sexual assault in the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program.
While the Pentagon previously told lawmakers it has an "unwavering commitment" to the safety of high school students participating in the program, the lawmakers said the department needs to show that commitment by carrying out the changes Congress required in its annual defense policy bill.
"These reforms are necessary to ensure schools protect students from sexual misconduct by JROTC instructors and do not force students into the program against their will," the senators wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent Monday and obtained exclusively by Military.com. "We urge you to implement these reforms prior to the start of the 2024-2025 school year, and we request information on how you will do so."
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The letter was organized by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee's personnel subcommittee. It was co-signed by fellow Armed Services Committee members Sens. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment on the letter or the status of implementing the reforms, telling Military.com in an email that "as with all congressional correspondence, the department will respond directly to the members."
Warren previously spearheaded a bill to reform the JROTC after revelations that instructors engaged in widespread sexual misconduct against high school cadets in a program meant to instill leadership skills and citizenship values in teenagers. Elements of that bill were included in the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, that was signed into law last year.
Allegations of sexual assault in the JROTC program first came to light in a 2022 New York Times investigation that found at least 33 JROTC instructors had been criminally charged with sexual crimes in the preceding five years. The Times also uncovered that some schools were forcing students to participate in the program.
Spurred by the Times report, the House Oversight Committee launched its own investigation that uncovered that 60 instructors had been accused of sexual misconduct in the same five-year time frame. Of those, allegations against 58 instructors were substantiated by local law enforcement or school officials.
In a letter last year sent to Warren and other senators, the Pentagon revealed that, over the previous 10 years, military officials received 114 allegations of instructors committing violence, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment against JROTC cadets.
The JROTC program is a partnership between the Defense Department, the military branches and high schools around the country, with more than 3,500 units nationally and nearly 500,000 students participating. Instructors are often retired or reserve military officers employed by the school district, but can be active-duty service members.
Unlike the college-level ROTC program, there is no requirement to serve in the military after the JROTC. But defense officials see it as a key pipeline to military service at a time when the armed forces are struggling to recruit young people.
Even after the JROTC issues became publicly known, reports of sexual misconduct by instructors have persisted. Earlier this year, an instructor in Florida was fired after students alleged he made sexually suggestive comments, asked students out for drinks, and touched a student's shoulder and thighs.
In an effort to prevent situations like that, last year's NDAA required the Pentagon and military services to sign standardized agreements with every school with a JROTC program. The agreements must include a requirement that schools notify the department about allegations of misconduct against an instructor within 48 hours; a process for certifying instructors that includes a background check; a process for the military services to inspect schools' programs at least once every four years; and a requirement that schools provide students a way to report sexual assault and harassment and training on how to make reports.
Under the law, the Pentagon can put JROTC programs on probation for up to three years if they don't follow these agreements.
The NDAA also required the Pentagon to submit annual reports to Congress on misconduct allegations in the JROTC and any steps the department took to mitigate sexual misconduct that year.
In their letter Monday, the senators asked the Pentagon when it plans to finalize the agreements with schools; how the department will ensure schools are training students on reporting sexual misconduct; and how students and families will be able to report to the Pentagon when schools aren't following the agreements, among more than a dozen other questions. They requested the answers by Aug. 5.
"We are glad that the president's budget request included an additional $2 million to support the increased oversight reforms established in the FY 2024 NDAA," the senators wrote, referring to the fiscal 2025 budget request. "DoD must make its commitment clear by fully implementing these reforms before the 2024-2025 school year begins."
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