The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, says that diminishing confidence is a crisis for the military.
Dempsey spoke about the problem Wednesday during a flight from Europe to Washington. His remarks were reported by the Pentagon’s internal news service.
Dempsey suggests that a deepening of the sexual assault problem may be linked to the strains of war, though he says that’s not an excuse.
A Pentagon report estimates that as many as 26,000 military members may have been sexually assaulted last year, based on survey results, out of 1.4 million in the services.