Fagan told a Senate investigative subcommittee that the Coast Guard was on an “unprecedented journey” to fix their culture.
“Sexual assault and sexual harassment are crimes that harm our members and it is not who we are,” she said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), whose state houses the Coast Guard Academy, said officials must make a commitment to address the “broken culture” and “deep moral rot” plaguing the military branch.
“The question is, what will the Coast Guard do about it now in the future?” he said. “We are beyond good intentions and statements of doing the right thing, we are now expecting action.”
The concerns with the academy center on Operation Fouled Anchor, a 2020 report on the mishandling of sexual assault and harassment cases at the school between 1990 and 2006.
CNN first reported on Operation Fouled Anchor last year, and both the House and Senate are conducting probes into the allegations.
The House Oversight and Accountability Committee sent a letter to Fagan on Tuesday, accusing the Coast Guard of providing just over 8,000 documents out of 1.8 million.
The Coast Guard Academy also faced intense scrutiny after Shannon Norenberg, the sexual assault response coordinator at the academy, said this week she was resigning from her post.
Norenberg accused the Coast Guard Academy of directing her to lie to victims of Operation Fouled Anchor in order to hide it from Congress.
“I can no longer in good conscience be part of an organization that would betray me, betray victims of sexual assault, and betray the system I helped set up,” she wrote in a blog post.
The Coast Guard said in a statement to The Hill on Tuesday that congressional notifications were being contemplated at the time of Norenberg’s meetings with victims.
“The Coast Guard is not aware of anyone telling members of that team to lie regarding any aspect of Operation Fouled Anchor,” they said.
Fagan said in her testimony that it was a “mistake” not to alert Congress but also could not answer if she had ever taken action against any official for wrongdoing.
She also refused to directly comment on Norenberg’s allegations, saying a Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General investigation is looking at the claims.
