Navy To Revisit Inquiry into Hazing in Canine Unit

We heard recently about the outrageous abuse and hazing that occurred at a canine unit in Bahrain and the fact that - in all too typical Navy fashion - the man alleged to have orchestrated the abuse on sexual perversion received a raise while one of the victims, Petty Officer 3rd Class Joseph Rocha (pictured at left), broke down, confessed to being gay, and lost a commission to the U. S. Naval Academy (no doubt to the immense pleasure of wingnut, Elaine Donnelly). I for one was afraid that the mess would be swept under the rug by the Navy, but now such appears to not be the case. The Virginian Pilot reports that the investigation will be reopened and one can only hope that the individual(s) behind the deplorable conduct are disciplined, or better yet discharged from the military. Here are some highlights:

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Top Navy officials are re-examining an inquiry into hazing in a dog handling unit in Bahrain in which an investigator verified more than 90 instances of abuse, including sailors being force-fed dog treats, locked into a kennel and ordered to simulate oral sex. Despite those findings more than two years ago, Navy officials have not been able to say whether anyone was held accountable in the case, which came to light earlier this month.

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All the official attention was triggered by reports earlier this month that Chief Petty Officer Michael Toussaint, who headed the kennel at the time of the alleged abuses, has since been promoted to senior chief. Toussaint is now assigned to Oceana Naval Air Station's Dam Neck annex. A spokesman for Naval Special Warfare told The Associated Press that Toussaint is deployed and unavailable to comment.

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The documented hazing and abuse, much of it directed at Petty Officer 3rd Class Joseph Rocha, eventually drove Rocha out of the Navy. Rocha said he became the target after he refused the services of a prostitute, causing some sailors at the kennel to question his sexuality. Rocha, now 23, gave up an appointment to the Naval Academy after telling a commanding officer in 2007 that he was gay and suffering from post-traumatic stress brought on by the abuse.

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U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania, a retired three-star admiral, sent Navy Secretary Ray Mabus a letter on Sept. 11 asking about Rocha's treatment and Toussaint's promotion. Although the case doesn't involve any of his constituents, Sestak said he felt compelled to act after reading descriptions of hazing and apparent abuses in the kennel, which included having men and women simulate oral sex as part of dog-training exercises. He fully expected to find that someone had been held accountable, but the investigator's recommendations for action were redacted by the Navy. "There didn't seem to be any accountability in what occurred," said Sestak, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. He said he hopes the case is an aberration that somehow got lost in the chain of command.

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In particular, Rocha said, he hopes the renewed inquiry will provide some answers for the family of Jennifer Valdivia, Toussaint's second in command and a mentor to Rocha. In another videotaped "training scenario" in which Toussaint was implicated, Valdivia was handcuffed to a bed wearing only a bedsheet and told to simulate lesbian sex with another woman. Valdivia committed suicide Jan. 16, 2007, . . . "As a 26-year-old female, she could never have stopped Toussaint," he said. "He bullied her. He would humiliate her in front of us.

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Gays are alleged to be bad for unit morale - well what the hell did this crap do for morale? Just more of the "boys will be boys" mindset of the senior Navy command? People need to be thrown out of the military for this conduct. The question is, will anything happen.