Today's Virginian Pilot has an updated and more detailed story on the Navy's long overdue decision to oust Senior Chief Michael Toussaint (pictured at left) for his reign of sadism while in charge of a canine unit in Bahrain in 2006-2007. Unfortunately, the story does not identify the more senior officer who gave Toussaint when this matter was first investigated. That officer, as well as Toussaint, needs to be ousted from the Navy. Under DADT, honorable LGBT service members are routinely forced from the military yet bastards like Toussaint all too frequently face no consequences and even get promoted. This speaks volumes about the sick mindset among many of the top military brass. One can only hope that Toussaint will ultimately be court martialed and spend some time in prison. Kudos to those who would not let the story die and to Youth Radio which first broke the story on its website. Here are some additional highlights:*
The announcement Wednesday came in response to news reports about an investigation into abusive behavior in the military working dog unit in Bahrain in 2005 and 2006. Sailors told an investigator of being force-fed dog treats, hog-tied to chairs, instructed to act like dogs, and ordered to simulate homosexual oral sex in training videos. Toussaint has returned to the United States from deployment and is on leave, according to a spokesman for the Navy's special warfare command. Toussaint does not wish to comment, the spokesman said.
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Petty Officer 1st Class Shaun Hogan submitted detailed notes about Toussaint's abuse during more than two years under his command. Hogan told the Navy lawyer who originally handled the case that Toussaint routinely made inappropriate comments about and inquiries into sailors' sex lives, and threatened to revoke sailors' dog-handling credentials if they crossed him. Hogan also described Toussaint's directing the filming of training videos that required some sailors to act out lesbian love scenes, others to simulate gay male sex and one to have rubber balls thrown at his crotch, all in a guise of running the dogs - trained to sniff out explosives - through various "real life" scenarios.
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An unnamed commanding officer decided to handle the matter through nonjudicial punishment, and issued Toussaint a nonpunitive letter of reprimand. The other sailor implicated in the inquiry - Petty Officer 1st Class Jennifer Valdivia, who took over for Toussaint - killed herself in Bahrain shortly after learning she would be implicated in the hazing. There, the story seemed to end.
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Two things kept it alive. Hogan returned to New England, entered the Naval Reserve and couldn't stop thinking about what had happened in Bahrain. He requested a copy of the investigation through the Freedom of Information Act and came to believe that he should have done more to stop the abuse as it was happening. Separately, Rocha was on track to become an officer. He finished officer candidate school and enrolled in a Navy prep school to prepare him to enter the Naval Academy. But the abuse he suffered in Bahrain resulted in post-traumatic stress disorder, and Rocha, who is gay, realized that he wasn't ready to be commissioned in a Navy that wouldn't allow him to openly serve. He acknowledged being gay, left the Navy, and enrolled at the University of San Diego. At a gay rights march this year, Rocha told a journalist with Youth Radio, a non-profit journalism organization in California, about what he had endured in Bahrain. He told the student journalists to call Hogan, who had the documents to back up the story.
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A few weeks later, U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, a retired two-star admiral from Pennsylvania, got wind of the case and asked the Navy to investigate. On Wednesday, Sestak said he's glad Roughead has also asked the Naval Criminal Investigative Service to look into the "command climate" in Bahrain at the time. It's possible those findings could implicate higher-ranking sailors. Sestak, a Democrat, said the Navy's new actions against Toussaint were appropriate but that he still wants to know why the chief petty officer was not prosecuted. "There was criminal behavior that occurred," Sestak said. "Hitting sailors, dragging them through feces, locking them up in kennels, breaking regulations and asking if they were gay. It's outrageous."
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Because of the censure, Toussaint's record will be evaluated by an administrative board that recommends a retirement pay grade for sailors leaving the service under questionable conditions. He could argue to the board that he deserves to retire as a senior chief, Smith said, or waive his right to challenge the board's recommendation. In any case, she said, the Navy will expedite his retirement.
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Gays discharged under DADT lose their retirement. Why is this bastard going to be allowed to retire and draw retirement? The situation is seriously f*cked up.
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