The failures of the U.S. Coast Guard -- long-term, failing to thoroughly investigate and prosecute claims of sexual assault and harassment; and in recent years, failing to disclose its belated self-investigation -- will long haunt the service.

In a community that has always valued the presence of the Coast Guard, its prestigious academy, and the members who have made this region their home, it saddens us to agree with members of Congress that the service needs to be independently investigated. The Coast Guard has had years to police itself, even getting so far as to conduct a multi-year investigation of past claims and the responses to them.

Yet in the end, the shadow culture of the wink-winkers and the boys-will-be-boys element bested the influence of the honor code, the disciplinary tradition and the standards of fitness for duty. Crimes were committed. The force with the motto “Protect and Serve” valued its manly reputation more than protection of its own members.

But the days when an institution can keep its reputation while ignoring claims of sexual misbehavior have ended. Higher authorities, including members of Congress and many voters and taxpayers, have run out of patience for the Coast Guard to make things right.

The Coast Guard is in trouble with Congress, as have been the Army, Navy and Air Force, for tolerating misogynist behavior toward women by not investigating complaints or punishing those found guilty. Failure to act also breeds future problems by creating a climate in which would-be perpetrators can expect to get away with such actions.

The service is in even greater trouble, however, for outright concealment of the multi-year “Operation Fouled Anchor” investigation from Congress in 2020 and thereafter. That deliberate decision sends the message that the Coast Guard lacked the leadership to publicly face a tough problem.

Senators Maria Cantwell of Washington and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin said as much to the newest Coast Guard Commandant, Linda Fagan in July. Fagan, who has not been implicated in the concealment, acknowledged that the investigation had not been revealed to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which oversees the Coast Guard. CNN first broke the story in June.

The Office of the Inspector General does not currently list an ongoing Coast Guard investigation on its website, as Cantwell said she would be requesting. However, Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut announced Sept. 14 that the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs’ Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations had opened an inquiry into the academy in New London. Many of the alleged crimes involved cadets.

Sen. Chris Murphy and Rep. Joe Courtney each said they and the public have grown weary of being misled despite years of urging the Coast Guard to reform its culture. “What I have picked up on over the years is an explaining-away of racial discrimination and sexual assault at the Coast Guard,” Murphy said.

The next phases of investigation are likely to eventually include naming names that in civilian policing and judicial processes would have been public from the start. That has happened with the recent news that retired Capt. Glenn Sulmasy, one of the most visible faculty members at the academy during his tenure in the Humanities Department, could have faced charges of conduct unbecoming an officer and willful dereliction of duty in 2016, even though he had retired eight months earlier. CNN reported that Coast Guard attorneys had recommended prosecuting Sulmasy, but the decision was made not to do so. He went on to become a college provost and president, and is now on voluntary leave from Nichols College in Massachusetts.

Neither the Coast Guard nor the other services should have been keeping the names of those charged with serious offenses from the public when alleged crimes were being investigated. Those accused are deemed innocent until proven guilty; that right does not include anonymity. On the contrary, knowing that one’s name might be linked to allegations of a crime could be a powerful deterrent to an ambitious officer or cadet.

The Coast Guard should get ready for the humbling experience of seeing its failures aired before a Senate committee, but with the knowledge that a better, fairer, more respected service that attracts, protects and retains the best and the brightest, female or male, can be the result.

The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.