This week, the Navy honorably discharged 32-year-old Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Jessica Sims, a sailor for 12-years, for “refusing to cut her locs.”

The Navy has promoted Michelle Howard from vice admiral to admiral, making her the first female four-star admiral in its 236-year history and the service's new vice chief of naval operations.

by Evan Seymour

According to a Pentagon study released Tuesday, a staggering 26,000 members of the military were sexually assaulted last year – a 35% increase since 2010. That amounts to 70 sex crimes in the military per day.

The worsening statistics are a slap in the face to the Pentagon’s recent efforts to curb military sexual abuse.

“Sexual assault is a despicable crime and one of the most serious challenges facing this department,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said to reporters during a briefing in response to the study.