The Pentagon has attempted to assure more than two dozen lawmakers that harassment and physical abuse are still prohibited in the military. This comes after members of Congress expressed concern over Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s comments last year about redefining the definition of hazing and “empowering drill sergeants to instill healthy fear in new recruits.”
“Recognizing that physical or psychological harm diminishes service member and team effectiveness, the Department unequivocally rejects hazing,” Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata wrote in a Dec. 8 letter to the lawmakers.
Military Times first reported on Tata’s Dec. 8 letter to the 28 members of Congress, who wrote Hegseth after a speech he gave in the fall announcing that the Defense Department would review how it defines “so-called toxic leadership, bullying and hazing,” so that leaders would be able to “enforce standards without fear of retribution or second guessing.”
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During his Sept. 30 speech at Quantico, Virginia, Hegseth went on to say “Of course, you can’t do, like, nasty bullying and hazing,” adding, in his address to hundreds of generals and admirals, that “We’re talking about words like bullying and hazing and toxic. They’ve been weaponized and bastardized inside our formations, undercutting commanders and NCOs [noncommissioned officers]. No more.”
Hegseth also said the Defense Department would make changes to make basic training “scary, tough and disciplined” by allowing drill sergeants to bay toss, do shark attacks, and “put their hands on recruits.”
“This does not mean they can be reckless or violate the law, but they can use tried and true methods to motivate new recruits, to make them the warriors they need to be,” Hegseth said during the speech.
Afterward, Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) organized an Oct, 10 letter to Hegseth signed by 27 of her colleagues voicing their concerns that his comments at Quantico and his Sept. 30 memo that described the Defense Department’s current definitions of hazing, bullying, and harassment as “overly broad” weaken service members’ protections against abuse.
The issue of hazing is personal for Chu, whose nephew, Lance Cpl. Harry Lew died by suicide after he was beaten by his fellow Marines while deployed to Afghanistan.
The lawmakers posed a series of questions to Hegseth about why the Defense Department was seeking to redefine hazing and bullying, along with related issues.
One point in Tata’s letter labeled “Enclosure” includes written responses to the lawmakers’ questions, including one that affirms that both the Defense Department and military branches have policies against “harassment, harm, and physical assault,” and that troops who break them are subject to disciplinary actions, such as courts-martial.
As part of the written responses, the Defense Department also appears to argue, without providing any supporting evidence, that “most allegations of hazing do not constitute hazing, and only a small number of hazing complaints are substantiated.”
A 2021 Government Accountability Office report noted the possibility that the number of hazing complaints reported to the Defense Department could understate the actual number of such cases by “potentially tens of thousands of incidents.”
In Tata’s response to the lawmakers, the Defense Department said it is making improvements to how it collects data on hazing incidents. It also said that narrowing the definitions of bullying and hazing would allow leaders to focus on legitimate complaints of abuse.
“A concise and more easily understood definition may reduce the overall complaint count but is likely to increase the percentage of complaints that are substantiated,” one response says. It does not include an explanation of how this might be achieved.
Chu told Task & Purpose that she was pleased that the Defense Department responded to the lawmakers, but she remains concerned about how the Pentagon is changing its definition of hazing.
“No one should have to endure abuse and hazing while honorably serving our country,” she said.
