Shoes of cadets at a commencement ceremony where President Barack Obama gave an address, at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., May 24, 2013. Obama welcomed the next generation of officers Friday even as the military confronted a growing number of sexual assault cases, which White House officials said he was likely to address.
Newly minted U.S. military officers don't like hearing they're joining an outfit that's just failed to complete a vital mission. But that was the clear message at service-academy graduations over Memorial Day weekend. "Those who commit sexual assault are not only committing a crime," President Obama told the 1,047 graduates (including 206 women) in Annapolis. "They threaten the trust and discipline that makes our military strong." Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the Army's 1,007 newest second lieutenants (137 of them women) at their West Point graduation to combat the "scourge" of sexual assault.
Obama and Hagel can assume Congress has their...
