WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on the scandal involving the misuse of a private Facebook group, where approximately five hundred individuals misused the ‘Marines United’ social media network to share photos of female Marines, some of which were taken without their consent, and make lewd or threatening comments.  The Center for Investigative Reporting has reported that since January 30, more than two dozen women, including active duty and enlisted service members, have been identified by their rank, full name, and military duty station in photographs posted to the private site.

U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), the Ranking Member of the committee, who, along with Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) led the hearing, called the reports about these users “abhorrent behavior” and noted that it was “an attack on the Marine Corps’ core values.”

Reed stated: “The nonconsensual posting of explicit photos of female Marines on a public website is repugnant and just plain wrong.  All of us who have had the privilege of serving in uniform know the value of a cohesive unit where all members of the unit looked out for each other and took care of each other.  I can only image the harm that this type of behavior can have on morale and unit cohesion.  Our servicemembers must have confidence that their fellow servicemembers always have their back.  There simply is no room for behavior that humiliates and degrades a fellow servicemember.”

General Robert Neller, the Marine Corps commandant, told the committee that he will hold Marines accountable, but admitted that investigators are having difficulty identifying anonymous individual users.  And the top enlisted Marine, Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, Ronald L. Green testified before the committee: “No one is more outraged than the leadership you see sitting before you today.  This tears at the very fibers that bond us together as we fight for the nation’s freedom and liberty.  We’re protecting our victims.  We’re allowing the legal system to go forward so that we can bring those who have committed these crimes before the commandant, the leadership and hold them accountable.  We’re researching our policies and reinforcing the gaps. I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to protect not just the enlisted Marines, but all Marines and their dependents.”

Senator Reed called for the Marine Corps to take swift and forceful action and make necessary changes in terms of both culture and social media policy.

“In my view, the Marine Corps must and will attack this problem with the vigor that the Marine Corps has demonstrated in battle.  It should begin with a good, thorough investigation to establish provable facts that can be used to hold offenders accountable for criminal conduct.  Aside from the immediate issue of Marine misconduct on the Marines United website, the Marine Corps must also address the culture that allowed or facilitated this misconduct,” stated Reed, who is urging the service to take needed steps, including updating its social media policy to make clear that actions like this will not be tolerated and can be punished under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.   

During the hearing, acting Navy Secretary Sean Stackley testified that: “Discovery in investigation these past several weeks into the toxic predatory behavior harbored by the website, Marines United, has uncovered a grievous breakdown of good order and discipline, a violation of our core values and what amounts to an insider threat. Some unknown number of Marines or former Marines, who in denigrating their fellow Marines undermine the very honor and integrity and unit cohesion that has long underpinned the strength of the Corps.”

The acting Navy Secretary called the scandal “a bell ringer.”  Stackley continued: “Beyond the emotions that surround this issue -- anger, revulsion, frustration -- we are committed, dedicated to fixing this issue.  And our immediate actions are three-fold.  First, we must take care of those Marines who have been victimized by this behavior.  Counseling, legal services and beyond, in strict confidence inside and outside the chain of command, every resource will be made available to those seeking support.  We will prosecute the matter of Marines United to the full extent of our abilities and we will hold accountable those who have violated the standards borne by law, by policy, by code. Of the 30,000 members reported to be on Marines United, we do not know how many are in fact active duty Marines, much less how many, in fact, participated in this denigrating affair.  Getting to the facts will take time, but the Navy Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is working every lead, every path available to overcome the challenges we are running into posed by nameless, faceless predators and cyber bullying on social media.  Perhaps most importantly, we will get at the root underlying issues in order to eradicate this cancer.  The taskforce formed by the commandant is central to this effort, which today involves senior officers and enlisted, will expand to include the expertise called upon by this problem and in the long run, will involve commitment by every tier of leadership within the Marine Corps.”

NCIS investigators have set up a tip line that has already received 53 calls.  General Neller also told the committee that he will visit Camp Lejeune this week to speak directly to Marines about the issue.

Before the hearing went into closed session, so that the committee could discuss sensitive information regarding an ongoing criminal investigation, Reed noted that this issue “goes to the very heart of the Corps – and not just the Marine Corps, but every service.  You can’t have individual Marines, soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Coast Guardsmen who are marginalized because of gender or any other characteristic.  So we have a lot of work to do, both in the Armed Forces and the United States Congress.”