Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Gay-Bashing Navy Video Producer Likely to See Career End

The Virginian Pilot is reporting that while no decision has yet been made, Captain Owen Honors - the man behind raunchy and anti-gay videos made and shown aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise - will likely his lose his position as commander of the aircraft carrier Enterprise, and military experts said his Navy career is almost certainly over. One question not addressed is what should/will happen to the admirals who almost certainly were aware of the videos and allowed them to continue. The Christianists are claiming that gays serving openly in the military will result in perversion, but as Honors has shown, the all too common frat boy mentality of straights is not insignificant problem. I suspect gays would do far less to undermine decorum that the good Captain Honors has done. Both Honors and his superiors need to be held to account for the outrageous conduct that went on apparently for quite some time - despite the support coming from some who believe bashing and ridiculing others is perfectly fine. Here are highlights from the Pilot's story:
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The Virginian-Pilot reported Saturday that during his tenure as second-in-command aboard the Norfolk-based carrier, Honors produced and broadcast for the crew a series of short videos that included sexual jokes, subordinates parading in drag, anti-gay remarks, and sailors pretending to masturbate and shower together.
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The newspaper published an edited version of one of the videos on its website over the weekend. Since then, the video has been broadcast by numerous national and international media outlets. While some have criticized Honors since the videos became public, others - especially retired and active-duty sailors - have rallied in his support.
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U.S. Fleet Forces Command has launched an investigation into the videos. Other media outlets were reporting late Monday that Honors could be relieved of command as soon as today, but the Navy said no official call had been made. Military experts said it's unlikely Honors will stay, given that officers have been removed for far less in the past.
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"This is very serious," said Eugene Fidell, a law professor at Yale University and president of the National Institute of Military Justice. "After watching the videos, I don't see how he could stay. He runs a warship, not a fraternity house."
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The Enterprise and its 6,000 sailors and Marines are slated to deploy overseas this month. "Especially given the deployment, I expect he'll be removed sooner rather than later," Fidell said. The Navy hasn't announced plans to delay the deployment, and Fidell doubts it will. "They'll put someone else in his place and they'll go," he said. Honors will probably face a mast, or a Navy disciplinary hearing before an admiral, before being forced to retire, Fidell said. Honors' rank may be reduced, he added.
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Honors has not responded to requests for an interview. Neither has the Enterprise's then-commanding officer, Larry Rice, now a rear admiral assigned to the Norfolk-based Joint Forces Command. Rear Adm. Raymond Spicer and Vice Adm. Daniel Holloway, who commanded the Enterprise carrier strike group during Honors' time as XO, could not be reached.

1 comment:

FuguesStateKnits said...

Two things I found particularly disturbing in the video released on the news last night: his nasty remarks to the "gutless" people who had complained about him but not to his face (duh! wonder why!) and his use of two women in a shower scene (were they pressured into this?).
The conversation on CNN was interesting - NOBODY had anything good to say about this fellow - and look how high up he was in the level of command. Ew.