The 2009-2010 "Annual Report on Sexual Harassment and Violence at the Military Service Academies" found that reported assaults increased to 41, up from 25 in the 2008-2009 academic year.
The 41 cases reported are probably just a fraction of the actual assaults, according to the report.
"These survey results suggest that the 41 reports of sexual assault at the MSAs accounted for fewer than 10% of the incidents of unwanted sexual contact that may have actually occurred," it says.
"Sexual harassment and assault are incompatible with our core values, degrade mission readiness and reflect poorly on military culture," Clifford L. Stanley, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said in a statement released with the report's findings.
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The report is part of a congressionally mandated requirement included in the 2007 defense authorization bill. Congress over the past several years has required the Pentagon to take a series of steps to address sexual assault and harassment at the military academies, including the establishment of a task force on the issue.There were 20 reported assaults on students at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., in 2009-2010, up from eight the previous academic year,
At the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., there were 11 reported assaults, an increase of three.
The U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., had 10 reported assaults, up one from the previous period.