Scandals in Era of Cutbacks Create Anxiety in the Navy

SAN DIEGO â€”  A three-letter word and a three-letter acronym are colliding these days to strain the nerves of some military personnel in this Navy town.

The three-letter word is s-e-x in all its recently publicized forms: harassment, adultery and that unique military sin called fraternization.

The acronym is QDR, the Quadrennial Defense Review, a recently completed Pentagon study that has suggested further cutbacks in the size of the military, particularly the Navy.

The ominous specter of yet another “drawdown� of forces, coming amid a seemingly unending string of sex-in-the-service scandals, has led some officers and senior enlisted personnel in all military branches to worry that the slightest misstep or even a malicious rumor of a sexual nature could end their careers.

Nowhere is that concern sharper than here in a city that is both the West Coast home to the U.S. Navy and ground zero for the gender conflict that has dogged the military since the notorious 1991 convention hosted by the San Diego-based Tailhook Assn.

“Everybody is a bit goosey these days, watching what they say and being extra P.C.,� said a Marine major. “If the corps, or any organization, has to choose between someone who is a ‘problem’ and someone who isn’t, you can guess who gets booted.�

There is widespread agreement that the Navy’s post-Tailhook policy of “zero tolerance� toward sexual harassment has helped provide a better working environment for the growing number of women in the military. It also helped change a sometimes oppressively macho culture that has historically dominated the military profession.

After the Tailhook furor, the Navy established an “equal opportunity/sexual harassment advice hotline� to assist sailors seeking to report misdeeds.

But the hotline and other anti-harassment measures have added a layer of significant stress to the workplace. Interviews with active-duty personnel, both men and women, show that such stress and uncertainty is not limited to one gender.

“If someone makes an allegation, you’re guilty until proven innocent,� said a Navy lieutenant commander. “And you get a permanent black mark in your folder even if you’re innocent. I’ve seen careers ruined because of it.�

A More Low-Key Hotline

On Friday, the Army ended its sexual misconduct hotline, which had been designed to ferret out criminal wrongdoing in the wake of reports of male drill instructors abusing female trainees. The Army said the hotline was misused by anonymous callers to spread falsities. The line was known among troops as “1-800-REVENGE.�

The Army will instead institute a new hotline like the one used in the Navy, in which operators will tell callers how to file complaints or seek redress. But some Navy personnel think even the more low-key approach is open to abuse.

“I’ve been in the Navy for 19 years, and now I have to worry about what some 20-year-old seaman who doesn’t know what the hell he or she is talking about might say about me,� said a chief petty officer. “If you’re in a command that has a [sexual harassment] problem, you get tagged with it, even if you didn’t do anything.�

Said a Navy lieutenant:

“The military is just like the civilian world; there is a lot of fear in the workplace these days. Managers are afraid to discipline anybody for fear they’ll be accused of being unfair or harassing. That can kill a career.�

On the other hand, the lieutenant added, there is a difference between the civilian and military realms.

“At Microsoft, if you’re afraid to tell someone to do their job right, maybe you get screwed-up software. In the Navy, if you’re afraid to discipline someone, people can die because things aren’t done right.�

Still, even the most informal surveys of military personnel find considerable support for the Navy’s rules and its push to root out harassment and other misconduct.

“If you don’t do anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about,� Navy Lt. Suzanne Lyon said.

“I think you’ll find much less fear in the Navy than civilian workplaces,� said Lt. j.g. Scott Stetson. “The Navy is family.�

Not surprisingly, the annoyance over the Navy’s rules about off-hours, consensual behavior is sharpest among chief petty officers, that group of senior sailors who, by tradition, are said to run the Navy and represent its can-do tradition.

The Navy, like other U.S. military branches, bans off-duty socializing between officers and enlisted ranks, or even between junior and senior levels. Adultery can be considered a criminal offense if it is deemed to pose a threat to “good order and discipline.�

“The Navy should learn to butt out of people’s private lives,� said one male petty officer.

“And the politicians should leave us alone, too,� agreed another, a woman. “They should let us do our job of defending the country. We’re willing to die if need be. Isn’t that good enough?�

Adding to their worry is the fact that the drawdown will fall heavily on senior enlisted personnel. Unlike officers, enlisted personnel are generally not college-educated and may not have the same level of technical or managerial training that will readily led to jobs in the private sector.

In anticipation of Congress approving the QDR recommendations, the Navy unveiled an unprecedented plan to encourage early retirement among enlisted sailors in 43 different pay grades and skill levels. To anyone who has gone through downsizing in the private sector, the unspoken message is familiar: Jump before you’re pushed.

With a drawdown impending, the concern among some sailors is that “mud in your folder�--meaning an allegation, even unfounded, of harassment or misconduct--might be enough to stunt or end a career, possibly short of full retirement benefits.

“I’d say the concern is very high,� one chief petty officer said.

Charles Gawlica, a barber at one of San Diego’s military bases, has heard a load of grousing as he administers the buzz cuts that are military-approved.

“Some of the older guys just can’t handle the change with women and everything, and they’re getting out,� said Gawlica, finishing a cut on an enlisted sailor. “The younger guys are more modern though and they understand.�

Interviews with active-duty sailors and Marines--most of whom spoke only on condition of anonymity--showed considerable support for the military’s rules and for the idea that attitudes are being changed for the better.

“Most men in the military are finally getting the message,� said a woman Marine private.

“You civilians don’t get it,� said a chief petty officer. “The reason the military has rules against adultery is so that when a guy goes to sea for six months, he needs to know that his wife is not fair game for every [expletive] on shore duty.�

The nation has been riveted in recent weeks with the sagas of Air Force Lt. Kelly Flinn, forced to resign because of allegations of adultery and lying to superiors, and Air Force Gen. Joseph W. Ralston, who withdrew as a candidate as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after revelations surfaced that he had an adulterous relationship 13 years ago with a civilian.

Damaging Accusations

Although not as well-publicized, San Diego has also seen cases of military personnel forced out under disputed circumstances.

Navy Capt. Everett Greene, a SEAL team commander and one of the Navy’s highest-ranking African Americans, was denied promotion to admiral after being accused of sexual harassment. He was acquitted of all charges at a court-martial.

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Steve Williams, described in fitness reports as “a marine’s marine� and lauded for his bravery under fire in Somalia, was forced out after his secret marriage to a Marine captain was discovered. The Marine Corps, like other services, bans marriages between officers and enlisted personnel.

Cmdr. Robert Stumpf, an FA-18 fighter pilot, Blue Angels leader and recipient of a Distinguished Flying Cross for combat duty in Operation Desert Storm, was denied promotion to captain by the U.S. Senate and forced into retirement because his name had surfaced in the Tailhook inquiry. The inquiry had concluded that Stumpf had no role in the riotous behavior that included male officers assaulting female officers in a hotel hallway.

The recent military sex scandals have left even some of the nation’s closest allies at a loss to explain the furor.

The Canadian Royal Navy, for example, has the same kind of anti-harassment training and gender equality rules as the U.S. Navy (although it is more tolerant of fraternization). But even some of the Canadian officers who are in San Diego for a port call cannot help but feel something has gone amiss.

“Canadians don’t understand why the American public gets so bothered about sex in the military,� said Canadian Lt. Robert Watt. “They wonder why there doesn’t seem to be as much discussion in the press about things like making sure your Navy gets good equipment and good training and retains your best people.�