An investigation into the photo found that the conduct was "largely based on ignorance," Corrections and Rehabilitation Commissioner Betsy Jividen said in a letter to Military Affairs and Public Safety Secretary Jeff Sandy. In a summary of the investigation's findings, Jividen wrote the probe didn't find "any overt motivation or intent that this was a discriminatory act."
Some cadets started using the gesture as a "sign of respect" for an instructor at the academy with the last name Byrd, according to Jividen's letter. The words "Hail Byrd!" were added to the top of the class photo that shows the graduating cadets raising their arms high.
"They do that because I'm a hard-ass like Hitler," a secretary said Byrd told her, according to the summary of the findings. The investigation found that Byrd took the photo and had to retake it a few times because everyone didn't initially participate in the gesture.
Ten cadets said they made the gesture because Byrd told them to, and they feared they wouldn't be able to graduate if they disobeyed an instructor's direction. An unnamed instructor brought concerns about the photo to a captain at the academy, according to the summary.
"Well that is going to bite us in the ass," the captain said, according to the instructor.