Monday, January 31, 2011

Is the Navy Making Owen Honors Its Fall Guy?

I and many outlets have previously addressed the story of former U.S.S. Enterprise executive officer Owen Honors and his production of sleazy videos that were played aboard the Enterprise during various deployments. For those new to the story, the videos included sexual jokes, subordinates parading in drag, anti-gay slurs, and sailors pretending to masturbate, shower together and perform rectal exams. When the story first broke, it seemed hard to believe that Honors' superiors were not aware of his video productions. Now, Honors - who was relieved of command of his ship - has submitted a statement that his superiors- including two admirals - knew of the videos and had even encouraged their production. True to form, the members of the higher brass are claiming to have had no knowledge of the videos and it looks like Honors is being slated to take the fall as the Navy true to form plays damage control. One thing one learns quickly living in this region is that the Navy never takes responsibility for misdeeds and/or mistakes and will look for an individual to fall on their sword instead. Honors doesn't seem to want to fall on his sword alone. Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot:
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In a statement to investigators, Capt. Owen Honors said he had "affirmative and tacit approval of senior Navy leadership" when he made and broadcast a series of videos to the crew of the carrier Enterprise in 2006 and 2007.
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The former Enterprise commander said in his 15-page statement to Fleet Forces Command that the ship's two commanding officers, two strike group admirals and "myriad other senior military and civilian distinguished visitors" were aware of the videos, the Navy Times reported on its website Sunday.
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David Brown, managing editor of the Navy Times, said Honors' statement includes two points - that senior leadership encouraged the videos by discussing them weekly and that Honors was never told to stop making them - that contradict what the Navy has reported.
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"After personally reviewing the videos Capt. Honors created while serving as executive officer, I have lost confidence in his ability to lead effectively," Adm. John C. Harvey Jr., the four-star head of the Navy's Fleet Forces Command, said during a news conference Jan. 4. "He is being held accountable for the poor judgment and inappropriate actions repeatedly demonstrated in those videos
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Honors may be a boorish idiot, but somehow I suspect that he's telling the truth about his superiors knowing about what was going on and that they likely just laughed it off.

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