Military Hazing
Hazing has no place in our military. It undermines our military readiness and deeply scars volunteers forced to endure it. We must have a zero-tolerance policy for hazing in our military.
Harry Lew, my nephew, was a Marine stationed in Afghanistan. One midnight, his peers took it upon themselves to administer what they called "corrective training." They berated him, ordered him to dig a foxhole, and forced him to do useless exercises carrying his heavy full body armor and a 25-lb sandbag. They stomped on his back, kicked and punched him, and poured the entire contents of a sandbag onto his face and in his mouth. It lasted a full three and a half hours.
22 minutes after they stopped, Harry died by suicide with his own gun. He was 21 years old.
I was shocked. But I found out that Harry was only the tip of the iceberg. There was Danny Chen, Brushaun Anderson, Hamson Daniels McPherson Jr., Jarrett Wright and countless other victims of hazing, picked on because of race, sex, religion, sexual orientation or just because they were different.
Congressional Hearing on Hazing
I called for a Congressional hearing, which became the first hearing on military abuse since 1979. In fact, it might have been the first official hearing on hazing in every branch of the services in Congressional history.
In the hearing, each military branch said that they have hazing under control. That their policies are working. But the stories of Harry and others show that we clearly have work to do to eliminate hazing in the military.
I authored and secured an amendment in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that required thorough reports on the hazing policies, the tracking and reporting protocol, and training procedures for each military branch. I have since passed amendments to renew and expand this reporting requirement, most recently in the FY2022 NDAA. Congress has received reports from each branch of the military starting in 2014, which persistently show that substandard tracking systems are resulting in unreliable data, as there is no uniform procedure to track hazing throughout the military branches.
Hazing in the National Defense Authorization Act
In 2014, I introduced an amendment to the FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that required the first ever independent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the anti-hazing efforts of each branch of the military and the Coast Guard. On February 9, 2016, Congress received an independent assessment of hazing in the military. The report concluded that Department of Defense (DOD) has not fully implemented anti-hazing policies, does not know the extent of current implementation, training for servicemembers is unclear, and hazing tracking systems are incomplete and underdeveloped.
Given these objective findings, I testified in front of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) in March 2016. I called for stronger anti-hazing policies in the FY2017 NDAA. Congress should receive annual reports on DOD's anti-hazing efforts. Further, DOD must implement department-wide tracking systems that are uniform, comprehensive, and include information on protected classes such as race and religion. Training should be improved for all command levels so all servicemembers can identify it and stop it when they encounter it. Lastly, DOD needs to evaluate the prevalence of hazing in a meaningful way. It is only with these changes that we can eradicate hazing in the military. I am pleased to say that all four of these policy recommendations were included in the House-passed version of the FY2017 NDAA.
Unfortunately, many of these problems persist. On December 15, 2021, Congress received another independent assessment showing that there are still steps DOD must take to address these issues, including providing more comprehensive data on complaints to Congress, improving training for servicemembers, expanding resources for servicemembers, and more.
While I’m pleased that DOD and the Coast Guard have already implemented some of these recommendations, I will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that all branches of the military and the Coast Guard are effectively employing anti-hazing policies and reporting incidents as they occur.
Trump Administration's Rollback on Hazing Protections
On September 30, 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced in remarks at Marine Corps Base Quantico and subsequent policy memorandums, sweeping changes to how the military handles allegations of hazing and other forms of abuse. Drill instructors would be authorized to “instill healthy fear” in recruits, “put their hands on recruits,” ransack rooms, and reinstate the outdated and ineffective practice of “shark attacks.” His comments and memos directly contradict the Department’s own reports, which state that these behaviors weaken unit cohesion and jeopardize mission success.
That is why on October 10, 2025, I led 27 Members of Congress in sending a letter to Department of Defense (DOD) Secretary Pete Hegseth condemning these policy directives that are rolling back the military’s safeguards against hazing and abuse. The letter urges Secretary Hegseth to immediately withdraw these dangerous policy changes, uphold its statutory reporting requirements, and strengthen protections for service members.
Weakening these protections will only worsen the existing problem of military hazing and endanger more lives. I will continue to conduct oversight over the Department of Defense to ensure that they implement statutory reporting requirements and uphold the dignity and respect of all service members and recruits.
Share Your Story
At the time of Harry's death, I didn't know how common his tragedy was, or how many other service members had suffered as he did. But the letters started pouring in – day after day, week after week. Mothers, friends and service members themselves wrote in excruciating detail what they and their loved ones endured.
I am committed to being a voice for other victims of military hazing, who often feel like they have nowhere to turn. I encourage families and servicemembers to share their stories. Congress needs to hear from you. You can share your story by calling our DC office at 202-225-5464 or visiting our Share Your Story portal.