When military members and civilians fail to uphold the high ethical, moral, and professional standards of the Coast Guard, they are held accountable through administrative and criminal means.
The Judge Advocate General publishes a periodic Good Order and Discipline (GOAD) Report of statistics and narrative descriptions of discipline to inform the Coast Guard community and reinforce Coast Guard standards.
Data and descriptions of substantiated harassing behavior are being added to the GOAD Second and Third Quarter, Fiscal Year 2023 to highlight new policy about harassing behavior, including sanctions to hold offenders accountable based upon policy included in the February 2023 publication of COMDTINST 5350.6. In the three months after publication, commanders substantiated 24 complaints of harassment, sexual harassment, and hate, amounting to a 21% substantiation rate.
“The Coast Guard does not tolerate harassing behavior of any sort or activities that put readiness or mission performance at risk, whether you are a uniformed servicemember or civilian,” said Capt. Jon Burby, Chief, Anti-Harassment Program Management Office (AHPO).
Here are some examples of bad behavior and punishments in the report:
An E-9 on a cutter received a negative CG-3307, was reassigned, and had permanent change of station (PCS) orders revoked after repeated harassing behavior amounting to a hostile work environment, including disparaging comments and disrespectful, physically aggressive, insubordinate, and intimating behavior towards senior. For example, the member punched a wall when asked to revise a document and threw galley laundry in the trash, among other incidents.
An O-5 was removed from primary duties for creating a hostile work environment by repeatedly commenting and questioning a subordinate about their sexual orientation and comments on another subordinate’s status as a mother, such as discussing the member’s medical concerns about motherhood with others and offering to take work away so the member could go home to her children.
An O-5 was removed from primary duties and recommended for separation after repeated comments of a sexual nature to a subordinate, including comments about his relationships and sexual history, the subordinates, and the subordinate’s relationship, and alluding to desiring a woman like the subordinate.
An E-4 of a cutter was removed from the E-5 advancement list and placed on probationary status after creating a hostile work environment by threatening another member of the crew with violence and by frequent outbursts and disrespect towards subordinates, peers, and supervisors.
The GOAD report’s traditional content, which includes results of courts-martial, including non-judicial punishment, and adverse administrative actions also saw a face lift.
Examples of accountability for UCMJ violations that were prosecuted at courts-martial included:
Court-martial conviction of an E-5 for possession and distribution of child pornography, resulting in reduction E-1, a year of confinement, and a dishonorable discharge.
Court-martial conviction of an E-4 for abusive sexual contact of another member by touching genitalia through clothing after a night of drinking with fellow crew members, resulting in reduction to E-1, 4 months confinement, and a bad conduct discharge.
The GOAD Report for CY23 Quarters 2 and 3, and GOAD information for the last ten years is available at Coast Guard Good Order and Discipline Reports: United States Coast Guard > Resources > Legal > GOAD_Report (uscg.mil)
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