| Rates of sexual assault in the military have been increasing despite intervention by Congress and the Department of Defense (DoD) (Wood and Toppelberg 2017; Acosta, Chinman, & Shearer 2021). A mixed-methods approach was used to examine how the DoD presents sexual assault in the military in mandated government reports and how the narratives might change in response to public cases of sexual assault and social movements. Quantitative data was collected using the organizational impression management taxonomy (Mohamed, Gardner, and Paolillo 1999). A thematic narrative analysis was conducted to identify themes and patterns within these reports. A timeline of increased public awareness of sexual assault through publicized cases of military sexual trauma and victims’ rights movements was created. Changes within the narrative within these reports were compared to this timeline. It was found that the DoD uses impression management tactics to present an image of morality, competency, and social worthiness. Rather than responding to victims’ rights movements with effective programs and policies, the DoD increased these tactics. It is likely the DoD is reluctant to assess military culture, a contributor to high rates of sexual assault in the military, because it would require restructuring of the military as a total institution |