Balboni's tale of Sex Harassment on Coast Guard "Love Boat"

BALBONI v. DOT; USCG; L. Telfer, P. Keyes, A. Cascardi.

United States Coast Guard Civil Rights Hearing, DOT Case No. 82-177.

Case was heard February 6, 1984 and following at U.S. Coast Guard Base Alameda, Ca. before The Honorable Paul E. Weil, Administrative Law Judge for the Department of Transportation.

APPEARING for the United States Coast Guard;
LCDR Gary Heil, 12th Coast Guard District, Government Island, Alameda, Ca. 94501

APPEARING for Captain Larry Telfer; an Alleged Discriminating Official (ADO)
LCDR Tom Barrett, Commandant (G-L)

APPEARING for Commander Phil Keyes; an Alleged Discriminating Official (ADO)
Lcdr. Robert Allard, Commandant (G-L)

APPEARING for LT Andrew Cascardi; an Alleged Discriminating Official (ADO)
Lcdr. Michael Kudalis Commandant (G-L)

APPEARING for the COMPLAINANTS LT(jg) Christine D. Balboni and CWO Charles VanMeter,
Lcdr. London Steverson, Chief, Investigating Officer, MIO, New York, NY.

WITNESSES:
LTJG Christine D. Balboni, USCG
LTJG Ann Flamang, aka Gang-bang Flamang, USCG,
LTJG Jodie Turner, aka Diesel Dyke Turner, USCG,
LTJG Margaret Carlson, USCG Communications Officer onboard USCGc RUSH (WHEC)
Mr. Jeremiah Healy, formerly a Coast Guard enlisted man, ST2 Jerry Healy.
MST1 Smith.
CDR Phil Keyes, USCG, Executive Officer onboard USCGC RUSH (WHEC)
LT Andrew Cascardi, USCG Operations Officer onboard USCGC RUSH (WHEC)
CAPT Larry Telfer, USCG, Commanding Officer, USCGC RUSH (WHEC)
CWO Charles Van Meter, USCG.

(Regulatory Authority: Pursuant to Department of Transportation (DOT) Order 1000.8A, and the U. S. Coast Guard Civil Rights Manual Commandant USCG Instruction M5350.11B)

COMPLAINT: The Complainant, LTjg Christine D. Balboni, alleges and contends that the three Alleged Discriminating Officials (ADO) discrininated against her on the basis of her sex; that they sexually harassed her; that they verbally abused and slandered her; that they created a hostile and intimidating work environment for her onboard the USCGC RUSH (WHEC) that made it impossible for her to do her job; that they circulated rumors and malicious gossip concerning her among the other officers and the enlisted men on the ship; that they memorialized this same gossip and rumors when they reduced it to writing in the form of regular and special officer fitness for duty reports that they swore to and forwarded up the chain of command; and that they did it recklessly and with knowledge of its probable affects upon her Coast Guard career. The Complainant further alleges and contends that this conduct on the part of the ADOs was unbecoming of an officer and a gentlemen, and that it was to the predjudice of good order and discipline.

EXCERPTS from the Official Transcript of the Formal Hearing on the record.

OPENING STATEMENT: (LCDR L. Steverson, Counsel for the Complainants.)
May it please the Court, Your Honor, the United States Coast Guard is the last bastion of white male supremacy among the Armed Forces of the United States. Discrimination, bias, prejudice, abuse of power, hatred, and harassment have all been employed to keep it that way. These are evils that withstand the winds of logic by the depth and toughness of their roots in the past.
It was inevitable that this case maybe even others would have to be brought to see which way the Coast Guard would go and to see wherein does justice lie.
It is only be happenstance that the Complainant in this case is LTjg Christine D. Balboni, or that the Alleged Discriminating Officials are Captain Larry Telfer, Commander Phil Keyes, and Lieutenant Andy Cascardi. They are all victims of the twin forces of history and destiny.
We believe that the evidence in this case will show that the Complainant, Ms. Balboni, has been greatly wronged. The evidence will show that the workplace onboard the U. S. Coast Guard Cutter RUSH was pervaded with sexual slurs, insults and innuendo; that Ms. Balboni was personally the object of verbal sexual harassment; that this harassment took the form of vulgar and offensive, sexually-related epithets addressed to and employed about her by the ADO's.
We will show that she was forced to work in a hostile and intimidating environment where the walls were papered with the pictures of nude women; where pornographic movies were were regularly shown on the ship's videotape T.V. monitors; where a prophylactic was unrolled and taped to her state room door; where male crew members bursted into her room uninvited around midnight; where she could not even close her state room door in privacy whenever a friend or a crew member of the opposite sex was in the room; where she was prohibited, ordered not to associate with the only friend that she had on the ship; where she was accused of compromising acts that had actually been done by other female members of the crew, and other acts that, in one instance, had not even occured; where she was penalized with adverse officer performance ratings, or fitness reports, as you will, because of these incidents where she was falsely accused and where no investigation or verification of the facts had been done; where her pleas to higher authority for help fell on deaf ears, or she was further demeaned by being told that she did not have the right plumbing, an obvious reference to her sex and that she was not a man, all in an atmosphere of motion pictures depicting fellatio, cunnilingus, "menage-a-tois" in the officer's ward room during the evening meal and Sunday morning breakfast.
The Complainant, Ms. Balboni, was accused of being immoral, unethical, and unprofessional simply because she whispered and giggled with and had a close platonic friendship with a fellow officer who happened to be married.
The evidence will show that LTjg Balboni was never seen holding hands or kissing or anything else with Chief Warrant Officer Van Meter; that she was never seen by Commander Phil Keyes sitting in Chief Warrant Officer Van Meter's lap with her arms around his neck; that she was never seen by a crew member in a male officers state room naked or with no bra on while a male officer was present. Yet she has been accused of these very acts. She has been reprimanded for these very acts.
The evidence will show that the incidents of harassment in this case were so pervasive that all of the Alleged Discriminating Officials and maybe even their supervisors were aware of them, that they had actual and constructive knowledge of the existence of a sexually hostile working environment and that they took no prompt action or in some cases no action at all to remedy the situation.
Thank you, Your Honor.


OPENING STATEMENT: (LCDR Gary Heil, Counsel for the US Coast Guard)
May it please the court, Your Honor, this case is going to be a case that if limited to the allegations, will show something significantly different than what was described by LCDR Steverson. Some of what Mr. Steverson has described possibly, you know, may be shown at the Hearing. Much of it is not going to be that way, I think.

I would like to prepare you for what's going to happen with the evidence from the Government's perspective along the lines of the specific allegations made by Ms. Balboni that were certified to be heard at this Hearing.

The first one being that she was discriminated against by CAPT Larry Telfer because he prohibited her association with CWO Charles Van Meter. The evidence will show clearly that neither CAPT Telfer nor CAPT Phil Kies nor LCDR Andrew Cascardi nor anybody else in the Coast Guard tried to prohibit her association with Mr. Van Meter.

What the evidence will show is that the officers in question tried to limit the outward manifestations of those behaviors in the workplace. They tried to limit the amount that these officers were seen together in ways that could be perceived by the crew as being somewhat unprofessional in their relationship.

The Second Allegation is Ms. Balboni's allegation that she was discriminated against because of her sex by CAPT Telfer because he asked for her immediate transfer to keep her from associating with Mr. Van Meter.

Your Honor, I think the evidence will show that CAPT Telfer requested her immediate transfer because, after repeated counselling with Ms. Balboni and Mr. Van Meter refused to act in a way that would quell the kind of rumors and the kind of problems that had caused them real problems in the workplace.
For instance, the evidence will show that the Engineering Officer had to become the first line supervisor because of their relationship when Mr. Van Meter could not be found.
For instance, the evidence will show that Ms. Balboni's work sufferred tremendously because of their relationship in that when they were suppossed to be working or she was supposed to be working on Morale work, they were working together doing something else and the Morale job never got done.

In the Third Allegation, Your Honor, she says that she was discrimated against because the crew was allowed to believe that she was involved in two incidents that occurred on 28-29 August and 7 September 1981 which never were investigated until nine months later.

Your Honor, neither CAPT Telfer nor Capt Kies did anything with the crew, as the evidence will show, to promote that these things were Ms. Balboni. As a matter of fact, in at least one instance, the evidence will show that they didn't know who it was, and that the informer who brought up the incident in question wasn't even asked who it was for some period afterwards.

She alleges in her next allegation, Your Honor, that she was discriminated against because of her sex by CAPT Telfer who wrote a special fitness report on her because he did not approve of her friendship with CWO Van Meter.

Your Honor, again, this is the same allegation as we stated. The evidence will show that it wasn't the friendship that the Coast Guard objected to. What they objected to was the continual presence of the two in each other's company in their state rooms, on the Bridge, and on watch.

The evidence will show and other officers will testify that whenever they wanted to find them, they found them together. It was this togetherness that caused them management problems at work that they absolutely refused to change.

The evidence will show that when this Open-door policy was instigated by CAPT Telfer, the other officers on theship tried to keep a low profile as to any relationships that were happening at work, where on the otherhand Ms. Balboni and Mr. Van Meter flaunted their relationship.

The evidence will show also, Your Honor, that their relationship or friendship was more than a normal friendship between ward room officers.

The next allegation says that Ms. Balboni was discriminated against because of her sex by CAPT Telfer when he promulgated a ship-wide policy on male-female relationships designed to weaken and destroy her relationship with Mr. Van Meter, and the next one that required women to have open doors anytime they were in the same room or space with someone of the opposite gender.

Your Honor, such a policy, the evidence will show was promulgated. The evidence will show that the purpose of such a policy was not to destroy a friendship-- it applied evenly between males and females. What the policy, the evidence will show, was to do was to deter the kind of rumors that Ms. Balboni complains about.

There were rumors about the ship, and the evidence will show that. What the Command was interested in stopping is the rumors, because the rumors were causing them specific management problems on te jobs which took their time and counseling to do.

The evidence will show, Your Honor, that the rumors were not unfounded. They were not rumors of no basis. The evidence will show that Ms. Balboni herself had physical relationships of types with members of the crew on the ship and while the ship was underway away from home port.

We will hear from enlisted men, such as, MST1 Smith and ST2 Healy. We will hear from MST1 Smith about the incident in the O Lab in which MST1 Smith will say contrary to Ms. Balboni's sworn statement, that this was not the first time that they were in the O Lab behind a locked door.
MST1 Smith will say that this was the fourth time behind the locked door, and he will say that they kissed, that they hugged, and that they petted.
I have a sworn statement from ST2 Healy, and he will testify also that similar behavior happened on a custody crew in which Ms. Balboni was stationed when they rode a Korean vessel back to the shores.

Your Honor, I also have a tape of a sworn statement from when ST2 Healy was interviewed by a Coast Guard Intelligence Agent. I have a transcript of the taped interview; and, I have a a statement from the investigator who took Healy's statement. ST2 Healy will testify that Ms. Balboni and he met where Ms. Balboni was staying on the Korean vessel, on several occasions, and I quote "acted like high school kids, light petting". Those are the words that Healy used. MST2 Smith will testify to similar behavior from Ms. Balboni in the MST lab behind locked doors. Healy said that Ms. Balboni came on to him. I might add that he was super protective of Ms. Balboni. We believe that Healy withheld evidence because he has an axe to grind against the Coast Guard. But his statement still has a lot of information in it. The statement is very important because it speaks of the exact same kind of behavior, Your Honor, that MST1 Smith will testify to. This is the kind of information that CAPT Telfer himself couldn't know when he did the investigation because he never asked the right questions.

The rumors that were happening, Your Honor, they were not unfounded, gossipy rumors. They were true and they were causing real management problems, and CAPT Telfer's open-door policy was not an attempt to break up their friendship, but an attempt to corral these kinds of rumors so that he could manage the ship so that they could get the job done.

I will point out that the evidence will show that both of these people who we have statements from of this kind of conduct worked in the same Division as Ms. Balboni, the Operations Division.

Next, Ms. Balboni is alleging that she was harassed because of her sex when CAPT Telfer ordered her to stand at attention for two-wnd-q-half hours while he yelled and screamed at her about her relationship with Mr. Van Meter.

Your Honor, the evidence will show that she was allowed to stand easy; she was asked if she wanted to sit down, and it was a counseling session, a correctice counseling session where two officers didn't see eye to eye, that kind of relationship at work, not because of her sex, merely because of her behavior in failing to keep her professional conduct professional at work.

Next, Your Honor, she's alleging that CAPT Telfer harassed her because he accused her of being the cause of the marital problems between Mr. and Mrs. Van Meter.
I think the evidence will show that that wasn't harassment, Your Honor, but I think what the evidence will show is that the captain did ask her or relay to her that he had been told that she was the problem. The evidence will show that Mrs. Van Meter made numerous complaints to officers on the ship and to their wives that Ms. Balboni was breaking up their marriage.

The evidence will show that Mrs. Van Meter told an officer in the ward room who will testify here, Your Honor, that if she didn't stay away from her husband that Mrs. Van Meter was going to do her bodily harm.

The evidence will show that Mrs. Van Meter called CAPT Telfer on at least one occasion to complain and to ask him to take action. The evidence will show that CAPT Kies got repeated calls from Mrs. Van Meter asking where her husband was at 2:00 o'clock in the morning, and asking "How come he had to leave for the ship?"

The evidence will show, Your Honor, that specific problems in a closed unit where you have to manage a system that lives together day and night was causing so many problems that the ward room started to break apart, there were personal problems going back and forth, and those were the problems they had to manage somehow.

The evidence will show that they did have an open-door policy and they did try to counsel the complainant, Ms. Balboni, about those issues; but, not to the point of discriminating against her because of her sex.

The next allegation, Your Honor, says that she was harassed by CAPT Telfer when he called her the sexpot of the world.

I think, Your Honor, the evidence will show that what happened was that CAPT Telfer said words to the effect that she should be behaving in a way that didn't lead the crew and everybody else to believe that she was the sexpot of the world, or words to that effect.

He was counseling her to stop the behavior that was causing her problems day in and day out. That is what the evidence will show, Your Honor.

Ms. Balboni alleges that she was harassed by CAPT Telfer because of her sex when he referred to rumors and perceptions and ordered Ms. Balboni not to be friends with CWO Charles Van Meter.

Your Honor, I think that CAPT Telfer, the evidence will show, did refer to those rumors and the gossip. Those were the specific rumors and gossip that caused CAPT Telfer, CAPT Kies and LT Cascardi problems day in and day out in trying to lead Ms. Balboni to do a job. I think that, as I said earlier, the evidence will show that CAPT Telfer never ordered her not to be friends CWO Van Meter.

As a matter of fact, Your Honor, the evidence will show that when he recommended transfer to two units within the 12th District, within this District, he was trying to transfer them to units close enough to each other so that they could still have a friendship.
What he wanted, the evidence will show, what he wanted was a relationship where they could continue discreetly off the ship because it was causing management problems for him.

As a matter of fact, the evidence will show that CAPT Kies said very specifically, "I don't care what you and Van--'as CAPT Kies referred to CWO Van Meter'--what you and Van do off the ship, but on the ship you've got to cool it. You've got to stop behaving like this because it is causing me problems, and it's causing LT Cascardi problems". It was because of those problems that CAPT Telfer felt he needed to take some action.

Next, Ms. Balboni alleges that she was discriminated against because of he sex by CAPT Kies, the Executive Officer, when he informed her that, "you are not accepted by the Operations Officer because you don't have the right plumbing".

Your Honor, I submit that on the face--I'm not sure what this one means, the words, but what the evidence will show actually happened with the allegation is that CAPT Kies told Ms. Balboni, when Ms. Balboni came to him for counseling, that there was a difference between men and women and that with an integration into any social system, we all know tat there are differences. Everybody was treated the same.

CAPT Kies will testify that he probably did not use the right words whe he said "the right plumbing", but the clear intention was not that she didn't have the right plumbing but that he was pointing out that everyone is different and that we have to get along, not that Mr. Cascardi didn't like her because she was a woman. (sic)

Ms. Balboni alleges that she was discriminated against when CAPT Kies informed her that her fitness report was graded down because of her friendship with CWO Van Meter.

Your honor, again the evidence will show it's not the friendship; it's the outward manifestation of their behavior together not their presence in the wardroom. As a matter of fact this is part of the problem that they had in trying to get their job done that caused the problem. It was the rumors and inuendoes, the evidence will show, that was caused as much by Ms. Balboni herself and her ability not to have relationships with other members of the crew underway which caused the rumors and gossip and which caused the management problems which, of course, led to more counseling, which made it harder to get the job done, and poor work performance. It was the work performance that was the issue, not the friendship.

The evidence will show, Your Honor, on the next charge that Ms. Balboni's own admission in her own statement, not her own affidavit, the agreement, when she finished her appointment at the Human Rights District Office for which she had permission to be there, she was ordered to return immediately to the ship because there was a performance problem that Mr. Cascardi was responsible for getting done that was not done.

Ms. Balboni says that she was discriminated against by LT Cascardi because LT Cascardi ordered her to return to the ship even though at the time she had permission to be at the District Office.
The evidence, from her own testimony, will show that she was ordered to rush back from the offices when she was finished. She alleges that she was discriminated against by LT Cascardi because of her sex by his assigning extra work to the women.

Well, LT Margaret Carlson, who also worked for LT Cascardi, will testify that the women didn't get any more extra work than the men. The evidence will show that not only didn't Ms. Balboni get any more work than anyone else, the evidence will clearly show that she did not do the work that she was assigned and the work was no more than anyone else had.

The evidence will show that CWO Van Meter did much of the work that Ms. Balboni was assigned. The evidence will show that Mr. Van Meter did this work for Ms. Balboni even when he was not assigned as her assistant as Morale Officer.

The evidence will show that CWO Van Meter was relieved as assistant Morale Officer at some time in early December and that he continued to do her work for her, including morale reports, after specifically being ordered not to do so by CAPT Kies.

The evidence will show that CAPT Kies ordered CWO Van Meter relieved of the assistant Morale Officer because the time they were spending together was causing rumors and inuendos and he was trying to protect her from those rumors and inuendos. So, he had CWO Van Meter relieved, and still Mr. Van Meter and Ms. Balboni continued to flaunt their relationship.

The last allegation, Your Honor, says that she was the victim of continued and repeated harrassment from January 25 to Aprl 26 by CAPT Kies and LT Cascardi.

I don't know what the evidence will show on that, Your Honor, because as we talked before in the Motions before trial, that's hardly specific enough for me to understand what the harrassment would be.

In short, Your Honor, it's a simple case of a management problem which was caused by the Claimant's own behavior. The Captain heard the rumors; he heard the inuendos; he heard the gossip. It caused him some management problems. He instituted ruls, most of the other officers accepted the rules, whether they liked it or not.

The evidence will show that they put down the command in front of everyone on the ship; they made comments about the captain. The evidence will show that they were derogatory in nature, made to undermine; that Ms. Balboni specifically had relationships on the ship with enlisted members of the crew which caused the rumors to get worse, to cause the management problems to get worse.

When CAPT Telfer had to take some action, Balboni and Van Meter were counselled on several occasions; they did not take any action about it; their relationship continued; and Mr. Van Meter was warned that Mrs. Van Meter kept calling everyone on the ship and trying to get some action from everyone on the ship; that Mr. Van Meter and Ms. Balboni put the Command in such an awkward position that to get the job done became very difficult.

When it became very difficult, what the Command did was treat both of them very evenly--counsel themm, give them a chance to correct their conduct. Still they continued to flaunt their conduct, to the point of, as the evidence will show, that they were always together and the engineers had trouble finding Mr. Van Meter, and everytime they did find hhim, 90 percent of the time he was in Ms. Balboni's stateroom. What we have here is a management problem that became impossible to solve because of the recalcitrance of the two complainants.

Thank you, Your Honor.


FINDINGS OF FACT:

ADJUDGED AND ORDERED:


EPILOGUE:
Not one of the Alleged Discriminating Officials (ADO) was disciplined or punished. The sworn charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) against all three officers were dismissed by the Commandant of the Coast Guard. No rational reasons were given.
 Captain Larry Telfer was transferred to Coast Guard Headquarters,  and his attorney representative, LCDR Tom Barrett eventually was promoted to Vice Admiral of the Coast Guard.
Commander Phil Keyes was promoted to Captain and selected to attend post graduate training at the Command and Staff College.
Lieutenant Andy Cascardi was promoted to Lieutenant Commander.
As the allegations in her complaint were proved to be true, all of the relief that LTJG Balboni requested was granted. She was not transferred from the CGC RUSH prematurely. The regular reports and the special fitness reports written concerning her were expunged from her service record. They were replaced with new reports for continuity purposes. She was never passed over for promotion.
Christine D. Balboni was rehabilitated and welcomed back into the brotherhood of the officer corps. She received her Masters of Science degree from George Mason University in 1995. She is presently a Captain on active duty in the United States Coast Guard. She retired as a Coast Guard Captain.

In 2002 Vice Admiral Tom Barrett became the first judge advocate to serve as Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard. (See page 10 of the link below:
 http://www.uscg.mil/legal/CGJAG%20History.pdf

Lcdr Steverson congratulates Balboni on her continued good fortune at her wedding.


Lcdr. London Steverson, Ensign Balboni's attorney was the only officer punished after the sorry saga of sexual harassment on the high seas. He had not asked for the case. He had been ordered to take it and to represent her zealously within the bounds of the law. He did his job too well. He was passed over for promotion to the next higher rank. He was passed over every year for the next ten years. He was forced to retire from active duty in 1988 having not been selected for promotion to commander.
He was Black.

(POST SCRIPT) Twenty-nine years later the U. S. Navy is hit with a similar incident of sexually explicit videos being shown on board a vessel. How did the Navy handling of the situation differ from that of the Coast Guard?

USS ENTERPRISE VIDEO SCANDAL: NAVY COMMANDER REVEALED AS THE MASTERMIND BEHIND RAUNCHY VIDEOS.
UPDATED: This story has been updated to include the full statement released by the U.S. Navy on matters addressed in the story below.

Owen Honors, Captain of the Norfolk-based USS Enterprise, was revealed as the producer of a series of "raunchy" videos made aboard the Navy carrier several years ago in a report released by the Virginian-Pilot on Saturday.

Filmed in 2006 and 2007 when Honors was the Enterprises's executive officer, the clips were reportedly shown to 6,000 sailors and U.S. Marines on the ship as part of what was called "XO Movie Night."
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/01/uss-enterprise-video-scandal_n_803263.html)

In one scene, two female Navy sailors stand in a shower stall aboard the aircraft carrier, pretending to wash each other. They joke about how they should get six minutes under the water instead of the mandated three.

In other skits, sailors parade in drag, use anti-gay slurs, and simulate masturbation and a rectal exam. Another scene implies that an officer is having sex in his stateroom with a donkey.

The videos created onboard USS Enterprise in 2006-2007 and written about in The Virginian-Pilot article on Saturday, January 1, 2011, are clearly inappropriate. Production of videos, like the ones produced four to five years ago on USS Enterprise and now being written about in The Virginian-Pilot, were not acceptable then and are not acceptable in today's Navy. The Navy does not endorse or condone these kinds of actions. Those in command, Commanding Officers, Executive Officers, and Command Master Chiefs (the command triad) are charged to lead by example and are held accountable for setting the proper tone and upholding the standards of honor, courage and commitment that we expect Sailors to exemplify. U.S. Fleet Forces Command has initiated an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the production of these videos.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cNEyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Pu8FAAAAIBAJ&dq=london%20steverson&pg=1336%2C997934

http://militarynjustice.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/female-officer-defends-honor/

Rape on the High Seas.

Balboni v. DOT; USCG

The facts surrounding this incident are protected by the rules governing the Attorney Client Privilege. A Freedom of Information Act request to the U S Coast Guard or the Department of Transportation for a copy of the transcript of the testimony might prove fruitful. Also, a diligent search of the archives of the San Jose Mercury News, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Oakland Tribune, or one of the Massachuetts newspapers with national coverage might unearth the facts. References have been made by part-time Coast Guard Academy professors concerning rape in the laundry onboard the CGC Eagle during a cadet cruise in scholar treatises concerning the special challenges that female officers have to face.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cNEyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Pu8FAAAAIBAJ&dq=london%20steverson&pg=1336%2C997934

http://militarynjustice.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/female-officer-defends-honor/

Jim Crow, Cotton, and The Constitution. The Great Emancipator was a BIGOT.

Some one once said that the secret of success is to start from scratch and to keep on scratching.


Fleecey locks and black complexions,
Cannot forfeit nature's claim.
Skin may differ, but affection dwells
In white and Black the same.
If I were so tall as to reach the Pole,
Or to grasp the Ocean at a span;
I must be measured by my soul,
For the mind is the measure of the man.



A lot of confortable people were born on third base, and they go through life acting as if they had hit a triple; when in actuality, they have never even been up to bat.
Not me; I was on the team but not in the Line-up when I was called to pinch hit. I managed to get on base and had advanced to third base when I decided to try to steal home.

You see, I drew my 1st breath in Millington, TN; but I was born in New London, CT. Most people have a 9 month gestation period. Mine lasted 17 yrs & 9 mo. My first 17 yrs were spent living in and under a repressive Jim Crow apartheid system of de jure segregation. That gave me the mental, physical, & spiritual strength to survive outside of the womb of Jim Crow.

Inside my Jim Crow world I existed on the edge of American Society, on a Lonely Island of Poverty in the midst of a vast Ocean of material prosperity.

A crust of bread, and a corner to sleep in;
A moment to laugh and an hour to weep in;
A pint of joy to a peck of troubles,
And never a smile,
But the moans came double,
And that is life.

Segregation was the Rule, The Law; that meant that most Public Facilities were OFF-Limits to me. No libraries, motels, hotels, amusement parks, public parks, swimming pools, etc.. Life consisted of little more than a crust of bread and a corner to sleep in, a moment to laugh and an hour to weep in, a pint of joy to a peck of troubles and never a smile but the moans came double. In those 17 years, I never traveled more than 50 miles from home, and that was by school bus. I started riding the school bus at age 4 to my all Black school, pass many larger all White schools. [http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millington%2C_Tennessee]
[http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws]
My first airplane ride was from Mem,TN to NYC, enroute to New London, CT. That began all things new for me. It was on that American Air Lines 737 that I came down the Birth Canal, and at 20,000 feet GOD slapped my butt and I took my first breath of fresh air. Life began. I was born.



New London, CT was the home of the United States Coast Guard Academy. As the valedictorian of my high school graduating class, I had been tendered an appointment to the Academy.
[http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Coast_Guard_Academy]








Let me tell you about the Memphis that I knew in the 40’s and 50’s.
Memphis, TN, down in Dixie, on the banks of the Mississippi River, where Cotton was King, and we worshiped him diligently 3 months of the Year, and paid Homage the other 9 months.























Memphis, TN, was the home of Beale Street, William C. Handy, B. B. King (the Beale Street Blues Boy), Bobby Blue Bland, and Admiral Benbow Inn.






[http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._C._Handy]
[http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beale_Street]
[http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.B._King]
[http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Blue_Bland]
Tennessee was the Heart of the Old Confederacy, One of the original States to secceed fm Union 1861. Tennessee is the birth place of the Knights of The Order of The White Camelia, aka Klu Kux Klann, in 1867 in Pulaski, TN. Col Nathan Bedford Forrest claimed that they were the reincarnated souls of dead Confederate soldiers come back to keep the freed slaves "in their place".[ http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kkk]
Tennessee produced 2 U.S. Presidents; Andrew Jackson, and Andrew Johnson. Both were impeached.
Blacks had been locked out of the political process since the Second Reconstruction. However, sometime during the 1970s and 1980s a real revolution took place in the South. Ordinary people stopped fighting the Supreme Court desegregation rulings and decided to get on with life and living. The Black segregated parts of town where original American art was being created in the clubs and honky-tonks of Beale Street were revitalized. Then Black soul music, rhythum and blues, and jazz were marketed to the world by Sun Records, Jerry Wexler, Watts Stack Records, Colonel Tom Parker, and Dewie Phillips, among others. B B King, Bobbie Blue Bland, Solomon Burke, Rufus Thomas, Sam Moore, Booker T and the MGs, Aretha Franklin, and Isaac Hayes became drawing attractions. Tourists from around the world came and spent a lot of money.
Local Black entertainers were courted by national political candidates. Some, like Isaac Hayes, the Black Moses, made endorsements. In this billboard Isaac Hayes can be seen endorsing Congressman Steven Cohen, a white candidate who was running against a Black candidate, Nikki Tinker.

Nikki Tinker ran for Tennessee's 9th Congressional District.


Her primary battle against incumbent Steve Cohen has gained national attention as Tinker's campaign went negative against the white congressman. One of Nikki Tinker's campaign ads drew the ire of Senator Barack Obama as being divisive and hateful.
The most incendiary part of the ad: "While he’s is OUR churches clapping his hands and tapping his feet, he was the only Senator who thought OUR kids shouldn’t be allowed to pray in school."
When the absentee ballots were counted, Cohen had 81% of the vote. It never went below 79% and his winning total was 79.34%. Harold Ford and the Association of Armenian Americans had supported Nikki Tinker. The Armenians had deep pockets and gave substantial financial support to Tinker. According to Kirk Cartozian, owner and ceo of Cartozian Associates of Downey, California, the primary reason is that Steve Cohen has denied that there was an Armenian Genocide. Tinker finished with 18.64%. Rahm Emanuel, Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer has also backed Nikki Tinker.


It was interesting that before Tinker let loose with her barrage of vicious,negative ads Cohen was only leading with 65%. Negative ads work with some voters, not so much with predominately Black Democratic voters in Memphis. “It says Memphis has come a long, long way and that people who were counting on racial voting to prevail are thinking of a Memphis that doesn’t exist anymore,” Cohen said. “The people of Memphis are more sophisticated voters that deal with issues and someone’s record and not simply race.”
Capitol Hill Police and local Memphis law enforcement have launched separate investigations of Congressman Steve Cohen’s forced removal of Armenian American journalist Peter Musurlian, a personal friend of Kirk Cartozian, from an August 6th press conference, reported Armenian National Committee of America - Western Region (ANCA - Western Region) told PanARMENIAN.Net.

Musurlian reportedly spoke with officers from the Memphis Police Department as well as Capitol Hill police, describing Rep. Cohen’s angry tirade and physical attack on the reporter. Memphis television and radio stations provided extensive coverage of the altercation, along with Rep. Cohen’s subsequent ethnic slurs directed at Armenian Americans.
"Rep. Cohen’s violent and bizarre actions against Musurlian are, taken in the most charitable light possible, conduct ill-befitting a Member of Congress," stated ANCA Western Region Board Chairman Vicken Sonentz-Papazian. "We know of at least two ongoing criminal investigations and I suspect the House of Representatives will be instituting disciplinary proceedings against Rep. Cohen for both his criminal assault and defamatory remarks toward the Armenian American community once Congress returns. Equally disturbing is Rep. Cohen’s characterization of both Musurlian, a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces, and Armenian Americans as killers and assassins. This incident raises serious question as to whether this man is fit to remain a Member of Congress," concluded Sonentz-Papazian.
Cohen made disparaging references to Musurlian’s ethnicity, referring to him repeatedly as "that Armenian guy" and Armenian-Americans as "those Armenians," going so far as to generalize Armenians as assassins and killers. "There have been Armenians who assassinated and killed many people including people in this country," stated Rep. Cohen, "and I don’t rest very comfortable with one of these fellows coming into my home."

Musurlian, who served as a journalist for the U.S. Armed Forces covering the conflicts in Bosnia and Croatia, traveled to Memphis to document the days leading up to the August 7th Democratic primary between first-term incumbent Steve Cohen and challenger, former civil rights lawyer, Nikki Tinker, for LA based Horizon Armenian Television. Musurlian works for a public access TV station in Burbank, California, in addition to running his own production company, Globalist Films.
Members of the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR) met with long time friend and supporter Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA-28) on August 5, 2008 to discuss issues relating to the Armenian American community. Congressman Berman serves as Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (HCFA).

"The Armenian American community deeply appreciates Chairman Berman’s keen awareness of and respect for human rights," stated ANCA-WR Executive Director Andrew Kzirian. "We shall work closely with the Chairman in the future to ensure that genocide denial has no place in the United States," he added.


Memphis is the home of the Lorraine Motel, where Rev Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968.























[http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King]
In Memphis, I stood at the back of the Bus, did not use public toilettes, or water fountains unless they had signs that read "COLORED ONLY". To do otherwise to get me assaulted or arrested, because that was the LAW.

To this day I have never been inside the Memphis Public Library.
One day the old Public Library was torn down and a new modern public was built. It was named for Benjamin Hooks the first Black head of the Federal Communications Comission.



In August 2008 when I visited the Benjamin Hooks Public Library and applied for a library card, the clerk asked me if I had ever had a Memphis Library card? I said no. When I lived here I was not allowed inside the Memphis Public Library. The elderly white lady from Maryland looked perplexed. So, I explained to her that until 1968 the official policy concerning public accomodations was that Blacks were not allowed inside the public library. Memphis was a segregated city. There were signs on the door that said "FOR WHITES ONLY".



[http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis%2C_TN]
If California were Tennessee in the 50’s and 60’s, I would not be allowed to go to Disneyland, Universal Studios, Raging Waters, Kirkorian Theater, The Embassy Suites Hotel, The Los Angeles Public Library, or to eat in MIMI’s Cafe, Denneys, Hometown Buffet, or Sambi’s, and all my school books would be the ones that were thrown away from white or mexican or asian high school students.
In those days there were only two races or colors, as far as the U. S. Census Bureau was concerned. They were Black and White. You were one or the other. If there was one drop of African blood in your veins, you were Black. That was the application of "The One-Dreop Rule".
Every body else was White. Even in Memphis, if you were pure blooded African, you could use the Segregated public accomodations just like whites. However, if you were a so-called Negro, that is to say, a miscegenated descendant of former African slaves, then you were prohibited from using public accomodations. [http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American]
We lived, moved, and had our being under, Doctrine of Separate but Equal, the progeny of the Supreme Court Case of PLESSY v FERGUSON. But in the midst of Plessy v Ferguson, the Light was shinning in the dark places. It was the Light of the Great Society, of President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ).
LBJ was the Greatest President EVER of the U.S.A. for Black people, because he gave us Head Start, The Civil Rights Act, The Voting Rights Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the EEOC Guidelines to Equal Employment; that is, all the fruits of The Great Society. He was a white southerner who believed that, "together, We Shall Overcome". He gave us Free Food; milk and cookies each morning before school; That was after we had morning prayer and Bible reading over the public address system. Most people are surprised to find out that Abe Lincoln is not revered in the Black Community. Most people think that Lincoln freed the slaves, but he did not. Most people think the Civil War was fought to free the slaves, but it was not. You see, the freed slaves and their African-American descendents are the only Constitutionally protected Class in America.
The 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments were added to the US Constitution because of the African Americans.
Lincoln did not free the slaves, Congress did when the 13th Amendment was ratified.
On 1/31/65, The 13th amendment passed the House of Representatives. On 12/18/65 it had been ratified by 27 STATES and became a Constitutional Amendment. (Lincoln was shot and killed 4/15/65)
Lincoln did not write the first Emancipation Proclamation, he copied his and stole it from a General in the Western Territories.
Lincoln wanted to and had plans to send all the Africans, slaves and free back to Africa.
Ask any Central American history student and he will tell you about the King of Nicaragua, William Walker (1856). William Walker was a Special Agent Provocateur of President Lincoln. He was dispatched to conquer Central America (like Davey Crocket and others had taken Texas from Mexico)
Lincoln planned to turn Central America into an ALL Black Zone with harbor for shipping the Blacks back to Africa.
North America was to be All Anglo European White enclave, and South American was to be inhabited by Spanish, Latino and Indian people.
This is American History. William Walker conquered Nicarauga and declared himself King.
Four countries Recognized him and established diplomatic relations. The USA was the first.
When Walker was killed in Costa Rico by Juan Santamaria, their national hero, Lincoln saw no alternative but to fight the Civil War, to keep the Southern States fm leaving the Union.
This period of American History did more to shape our Social Fabric than any other.
[http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Walker_(soldier)]
[http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Santamaría]
Here are some Supreme Court cases that codified the LAW with respect to African Americans.
Dread Scott v Sandford (1857)-a lousy decision written by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (USCG named a ship after him) said that Blacks were not citizens of the USA, they are property, chattel. [http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dred_Scott_v._Sandford]
Blacks were not included in the Preamble to Constitution "WE the People, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the Common Defense, promote the General Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to Ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the US of America.
PLESSY v Ferguson (1896)- It legalized JIM CROW and said that separate but equal facilities for Blacks do not violate the Equal Protection of Laws provisions of the 14th Amendment. [http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plessy_v_Ferguson]
BROWN v Bd of Education (1954) said segregated facilities are a violation of the 14th Amendment guarantees of Equal Protection of Laws.
That was 50 years ago, and We just celebrated 50th Anniv of BROWN v Bd of Education in 2005. [http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education]
As a cadet at the Coast Guard Academy I wrote a paper in my American History class on the History of Segregation in America. I read the Sandford case and the Plessy v Ferguson case. They facinated me. It never entered my mind that I wanted to become an attorney. I just wanted to be a good Coast Guard officer. I wanted to make the world safe for democracy. About five years after graduation, while I was stationed in Juneau, Alaska, I had a vision.
[http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneau,_Alaska]
One night while I was hovering on the brink of sleep, I heard the voice of God say to me "Be a lawyer!" That was it. I called Coast Guard Headquarters and asked to be reassigned to Washington, D.C., because I wanted to attend George Washington University Law School. [http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_George_Washington_University]
[http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.]

U.S. Coast Guard to the rescue. Freeing the Argentine icebreaker, SanMartin, from the Antarctic pack ice.

He traveled to Antarctica during two patrols from July 1968 to August 1969, supporting the research operations of the National Science Foundation's Antarctic Research Project in and around McMurdo Station. During the 1969 patrol the CGC Glacier responded to an international distress call from the Argentine icebreaker General SanMartin, which was stuck solidly in the multi-year pack ice. the CGC Glacier was able to loosen the ice around the San Martin and allow her to break free. A Boarding Party was put aboard the San Martin. The Commanding Officer showed his appreciation by presenting a bottle of fine Argentine wine to the Marine Science Officer, Ltjg Steverson.

Operation DeepFreeze, Life On An Icebreaker, Duty at The South Pole Antarctica.

Outer space and Antarctica are the last frontiers. The original Star Trek series made space junkies and Trekies out of the Baby Boom generation. I worship and adore Captain James T. Kirk, Doctor Spock and Lieutenants Sulu and Uhuru of the Star Ship Enterprise. I think of them in the same breath as Robert F. Scott, Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen, and Admiral Richard Byrd. But, it was the later that I followed to the Last Frontier at the bottom of the globe, Antarctica. This is the story of my life at the South Pole during Operations Deep Freeze 1968-69 and 1969-70.

    The U. S. Navy’s Operation Deep Freeze was established to provide logistical support for the International Geophysical Year (IGY) in the peaceful pursuit of unlocking the secrets of the Last Frontier on earth. Scientists from the United States and 11 other nations gathered in Antarctica on July 1, 1957  and began the systematic scientific study of the ice, water and the atmosphere of Antarctica.

      National Geographic Magazine in the February 1907 issue said that there is a land south of the Straits of Magellan twice the size of the United States that is called the most mysterious land in the world. I can say of this land just as the Queen of Sheba said of King Solomon, the half has never been told. After having spent about two years of my life in pursuit of her secrets, and having traveled the length and breadth of Alaska, I can say that Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, driest, emptiest, and the most remote place on the earth that I have ever visited. It has no native human population, and no flora or fauna except for a few mosses and four species of seals and penguins.

(Belanger, Dian Olson: DEEP FREEZE, The United States, the International Geophysical Year, and the Origins of Antarctica’s Age of Science. University Press of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 2006)

Preface

Trying to write a book about my life is like trying to describe the landscape by looking out the window of a moving train. The events continue to unfold faster than one can describe them. My life is a work in progress. For this reason I have decided to look at my life in phases that have a clearly defined beginning and an end. In this book I intend to describe the most adventurous and satisfying part of my life immediately after graduating from the United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) in June 1968.

There were xxx people in my graduating class. I was #xxx out of xxx. The number one man in my class was the top graduate. His name was Tom Jenkins, and we ended up serving on the same ship as our first duty station. That is the USCGC Glacier (WAGB-4). That is quite amazing considering there were xxx between me and the top man.

The top graduate was given the first choice from the List Of Available Billets that had to be filled from my class. The number two man was given the second pick from the assignments left on the List. This continued consecutively until all the billets were filled. Needless to say, some of the people further down the precedence list did not have much of a choice. They were forced to choose among what was left.

I was really fortunate because not many people in my class relished the thought of 7 or 8 month patrols to the South Pole. And there was always the threat of have to spend the entire winter on a ship frozen in the multi-year pack ice. Also, some of my considerate friends who were helping to manage the selections let it be known that I wanted to be assigned in Long Beach, California where a large portion of my family lived. The Glacier was tied up in Long Beach, California. So, it is possible that some officers who would have chosen the Glacier did not out of deference to me.

I do not think there were many in that category for several reasons. Many of my classmates were getting married within days of graduation. Their brides to be did not want them to go aboard ship that would be away from home for 6 month to a year. They wanted ships that were in large metropolitan areas that would go out for a day or two at the most and return to home port.

Not all of my classmates were married. Many of the single members, most wanted to be assigned to units that would deploy to Viet Nam. They were the ones we considered the most gung-ho. They thought that operational assignments to Viet Nam would improve their chances for fast promotions and give them more leverage in future assignments. Many of these were the off-springs of military members. They knew more about service life and what was required to have a successful career. All academy graduates were convinced that we would serve in the military for 20 years or more. Most of us thought we would be promoted to Flag Rank of at least Rear Admiral.

My first duty assignment after graduating from the United States Coast Guard Academy was in Antarctic research logistical support. In July 1968 I reported aboard the Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Glacier (WAGB-4), an icebreaker operating under the control of the Commander Naval Support Forces, Antarctica, U.S. Navy, and served as a deck watch officer and the head of the Marine Science Department. I traveled to Antarctica during two patrols from July 1968 to August 1969, supporting the research operations of the National Science Foundation's Antarctic Research Project in and around McMurdo Station. During the 1969 patrol the CGC Glacier responded to an international distress call from the Argentine icebreaker General San Martin, which we freed from being icebound in multi-year pack ice.

The trip from Long Beach, California required the ship to cross the International Date Line, the Equator and the 50 Degrees south Latitude. Each Line Crossing is steeped in nautical history. Any sailor crossing these Lines is required to undergo an initiation ritual.

The ceremony of Crossing the Line is an initiation rite in the Coast Guard which commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the equator. Originally the tradition was created as a test for seasoned sailors to ensure their new shipmates were capable of handling long rough times at sea. Sailors who have already crossed the equator are nicknamed (Trusty) Shellbacks, often referred to as Sons of Neptune; those who have not are nicknamed (Slimy) Pollywogs.
The two-day event is a ritual of reversal in which the older and experienced enlisted crew essentially takes over the ship from the officers. Physical assaults in keeping with the 'spirit' of the initiation are tolerated, and even the inexperienced crew is given the opportunity to 'take over'. The transition flows from established order to the controlled 'chaos' of the Pollywog Revolt, the beginnings of re-order in the initiation rite as the fewer but experienced enlisted crew converts the 'Wogs' through physical tests, then back to, and thereby affirming, the pre-established order of officers and enlisted. Like the old physically- and emotionally-intensive boot camp, the "Crossing the Equator" ritual deconstructs then reconstructs the initiates' experience from newbie outsider into the experienced military fraternity.
The eve of the equatorial crossing is called Pollywogs' Revolt and, is a mild type of reversal of the day to come. 'Wogs' - all of the uninitiated - are allowed to capture and 'interrogate' any shellbacks they can find.
After crossing the Equator, Pollywogs receive subpoenas to appear before King Neptune and his court (usually including his first assistant Davy Jones and her Highness Amphitrite and often various dignitaries, who are all represented by the highest ranking seamen), who officiate at the ceremony, which is often preceded by a Beauty Contest of men dressing up as women, each department of the ship being required to introduce one contestant in swimsuit drag. Afterwards, some wogs may be "interrogated" by King Nepture and his entourage, and the use of 'truth serum' (hot sauce + after shave + ?) and whole uncooked eggs put in the mouth. During the ceremony, the Pollywogs undergo a number of increasingly disgusting ordeals (wearing clothing inside out and backwards; crawling on hands and knees on nonskid-coated decks; being swatted with short lengths of firehose; being locked in stocks and pillories and pelted with mushy fruit; being locked in a water coffin of salt-water and bright green sea dye (fluorescent sodium salt); crawling through chutes or large tubs of rotting garbage; kissing the Royal Baby's belly coated with axle grease, hair chopping, etc), largely for the entertainment of the Shellbacks.
Once the ceremony is complete, a Pollywog receives a certificate declaring his new status. Another common status is the Golden shellback, a person who has crossed the equator at the 180th meridian (international date line). When a ship must cross these lines, the ship's captain will usually intentionally plot a course across the Golden X so that the ship's crew can be initiated into the Golden Shellbacks.
In the 19th century and earlier, the this Equator-crossing ceremony was quite a brutal event, often involving beating "pollywogs" with boards and wet ropes and sometimes throwing the victims over the side of the ship, dragging the pollywog in the surf from the stern. In more than one instance, sailors were reported to have been killed while participating in a crossing the line ceremony.
As late as World War II, the line crossing ceremony was still rather rough and involved activities such as the "Devil's Tongue" which would be an electrified piece of metal poked into the sides of those deemed pollywogs. Beatings were often still common, usually with wet firehoses, and several World War II Navy deck logs speak of sailors visiting sickbay after crossing the line.

Single Up All Lines. Starboard engine back one-third.


USCGC Glacier leaves Long Beach, California for DeepFreeze 1968-1969.


Lt. Bill Thompson, Operations Officer.


Ensign London Steverson, Marine Sciences Department Head and Deck Watch Officer.



Entering Panama Canal locks.


Rodman Canal Zone, Panama Canal.

Balboa, Panama

Papaete, Tahiti

French sailors from French The Atomic Test Center want to player an American basketball team.























































































Please, God, send down those golden rays and make me brown like the Australians, but don't burn me.





Merry Christmas in Punte Arenas, Chile.






Steverson's first duty assignment out of the Academy was in Antarctic research logistical support. In July of 1968 he reported aboard the Coast Guard Cutter (CGC) Glacier [2] (WAGB-4), an icebreaker operating under the control of the U.S. Navy, and served as a deck watch officer and head of the Marine Science Department. He traveled to Antarctica during two patrols from July 1968 to August 1969, supporting the research operations of the National Science Foundation's Antarctic Research Project in and around McMurdo Station.

The trip from Long Beach, California required the ship to cross the International Date Line, the Equator and the 50 Degrees south Latitude. Each Line Crossing is steeped in nautical history. Any sailor crossing these Lines is required to undergo an iniation ritual.

The ceremony of Crossing the Line is an initiation rite in the Coast Guard which commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the equator. Originally the tradition was created as a test for seasoned sailors to ensure their new shipmates were capable of handling long rough times at sea. Sailors who have already crossed the equator are nicknamed (Trusty) Shellbacks, often referred to as Sons of Neptune; those who have not are nicknamed (Slimy) Pollywogs.
The two-day event is a ritual of reversal in which the older and experienced enlisted crew essentially takes over the ship from the officers. Physical assaults in keeping with the 'spirit' of the initiation are tolerated, and even the inexperienced crew is given the opportunity to 'take over'. The transition flows from established order to the controlled 'chaos' of the Pollywog Revolt, the beginnings of re-order in the initiation rite as the fewer but experienced enlisted crew converts the 'Wogs' through physical tests, then back to, and thereby affirming, the pre-established order of officers and enlisted. Like the old physically- and emotionally-intensive boot camp, the "Crossing the Equator" ritual deconstructs then reconstructs the initiates' experience from newbie outsider into the experienced military fraternity.
The eve of the equatorial crossing is called Pollywogs' Revolt and, is a mild type of reversal of the day to come. 'Wogs' - all of the uninitiated - are allowed to capture and 'interrogate' any shellbacks they can find.
After crossing the Equator, Pollywogs receive subpoenas to appear before King Neptune and his court (usually including his first assistant Davy Jones and her Highness Amphitrite and often various dignitaries, who are all represented by the highest ranking seamen), who officiate at the ceremony, which is often preceded by a Beauty Contest of men dressing up as women, each department of the ship being required to introduce one contestant in swimsuit drag. Afterwards, some wogs may be "interrogated" by King Nepture and his entourage, and the use of 'truth serum' (hot sauce + after shave + ?) and whole uncooked eggs put in the mouth. During the ceremony, the Pollywogs undergo a number of increasingly disgusting ordeals (wearing clothing inside out and backwards; crawling on hands and knees on nonskid-coated decks; being swatted with short lengths of firehose; being locked in stocks and pillories and pelted with mushy fruit; being locked in a water coffin of salt-water and bright green sea dye (fluorescent sodium salt); crawling through chutes or large tubs of rotting garbage; kissing the Royal Baby's belly coated with axle grease, hair chopping, etc), largely for the entertainment of the Shellbacks.
Once the ceremony is complete, a Pollywog receives a certificate declaring his new status. Another common status is the Golden shellback, a person who has crossed the equator at the 180th meridian (international date line). When a ship must cross these lines, the ship's captain will usually intentionally plot a course across the Golden X so that the ship's crew can be initiated into the Golden Shellbacks.
In the 19th century and earlier, the this Equator-crossing ceremony was quite a brutal event, often involving beating "pollywogs" with boards and wet ropes and sometimes throwing the victims over the side of the ship, dragging the pollywog in the surf from the stern. In more than one instance, sailors were reported to have been killed while participating in a crossing the line ceremony.
As late as World War II, the line crossing ceremony was still rather rough and involved activities such as the "Devil's Tongue" which would be an electrified piece of metal poked into the sides of those deemed pollywogs. Beatings were often still common, usually with wet firehoses, and several World War II Navy deck logs speak of sailors visiting sickbay after crossing the line.
































Judge London Steverson
London Eugene Livingston Steverson (born March 13, 1947) was one of the first two African Americans to graduate from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1968. Later, as chief of the newly formed Minority Recruiting Section of the United States Coast Guard (USCG), he was charged with desegregating the Coast Guard Academy by recruiting minority candidates. He retired from the Coast Guard in 1988 and in 1990 was appointed to the bench as a Federal Administrative Law Judge with the Office of Hearings and Appeals, Social Security Administration.

Early Life and Education
Steverson was born and raised in Millington, Tennessee, the oldest of three children of Jerome and Ruby Steverson. At the age of 5 he was enrolled in the E. A. Harrold elementary school in a segregated school system. He later attended the all black Woodstock High School in Memphis, Tennessee, graduating valedictorian.
A Presidential Executive Order issued by President Truman had desegregated the armed forces in 1948,[1] but the service academies were lagging in officer recruiting. President Kennedy specifically challenged the United States Coast Guard Academy to tender appointments to Black high school students. London Steverson was one of the Black student to be offered such an appointment, and when he accepted the opportunity to be part of the class of 1968, he became the second African American to enter the previously all-white military academy. On June 4, 1968 Steverson graduated from the Coast Guard Academy with a BS degree in Engineering and a commission as an ensign in the U.S. Coast Guard.
In 1974, while still a member of the Coast Guard, Steverson entered The National Law Center of The George Washington University and graduated in 1977 with a Juris Doctor of Laws Degree.

USCG Assignments.
Steverson's first duty assignment out of the Academy was in Antarctic research logistical support. In July 1968 he reported aboard the Coast Guard Cutter (CGC) Glacier [2] (WAGB-4), an icebreaker operating under the control of the U.S. Navy, and served as a deck watch officer and head of the Marine Science Department. He traveled to Antarctica during two patrols from July 1968 to August 1969, supporting the research operations of the National Science Foundation's Antarctic Research Project in and around McMurdo Station. During the 1969 patrol the CGC Glacier responded to an international distress call from the Argentine icebreaker General SanMartin, which they freed.
He received another military assignment from 1970 to 1972 in Juneau, Alaska as a Search and Rescue Officer. Before being certified as an Operations Duty Officer, it was necessary to become thoroughly familiar with the geography and topography of the Alaskan remote sites. Along with his office mate, Ltjg Herbert Claiborne "Bertie" Pell, the son of Rhode Island Senator Claiborne Pell, Steverson was sent on a familiarization tour of Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force bases. The bases visited were Base Kodiak, Base Adak Island, and Attu Island, in the Aleutian Islands.[3]
Steverson was the Duty Officer on September 4, 1971 when an emergency call was received that an Alaska Airlines Boeing 727 airline passenger plane was overdue at Juneau airport. This was a Saturday and the weather was foggy with drizzling rain. Visibility was less than one-quarter mile. The 727 was en route to Seattle, Washington from Anchorage, Alaska with a scheduled stop in Juneau. There were 109 people on board and there were no survivors. Steverson received the initial alert message and began the coordination of the search and rescue effort. In a matter of hours the wreckage from the plane, with no survivors, was located on the side of a mountain about five miles from the airport. For several weeks the body parts were collected and reassembled in a staging area in the National Guard Armory only a few blocks from the Search and Rescue Center where Steverson first received the distress broadcast.[4]. Later a full investigation with the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the cause of the accident was equipment failure.[5]
Another noteworthy item is Steverson's involvement as an Operations Officer during the seizure of two Russian fishing vessels, the Kolevan and the Lamut for violating an international agreement prohibiting foreign vessels from fishing in United States territorial waters. The initial attempts at seizing the Russian vessels almost precipitated an international incident when the Russian vessels refused to proceed to a U. S. port, and instead sailed toward the Kamchatka Peninsula. Russian MIG fighter planes were scrambled, as well as American fighter planes from Elmendorf Air Force Base before the Russian vessels changed course and steamed back
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