Thinking Sexy Thoughts Will Not Be Tolerated

"Top Gun" Pilot Shot Down For Allowing Sexy Talk. 

Thinking a Congresswoman is attractive leads to disciplinary action if reduced to writing in an E-mail.

Loose Lips Sink Ships (In this case air ships). Sexually Explicit Speech Can Not Be Tolerated In This New Openly Gay Military.

Navy reassigns ex-Blue Angels commander after complaint he allowed sexual harassment.

SSgt Ryan Crane/US Air Force - Capt. Greg McWherter, right, then the Blue Angels flight leader, speaks with Col. Mike Hornitschek.

The Navy has reassigned a former commander of the Blue Angels, its acrobatic fighter squadron, and is investigating allegations that the elite team of pilots was a hotbed of hazing, sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination, documents show.
The Navy announced Friday that it had relieved Capt. Gregory McWherter, a two-time commander of the Blue Angels, of duty for alleged misconduct. At the time, the Navy did not describe the nature of the accusations or provide other details except to say that the case remained under investigation.

But an internal military document that a Navy official inadvertently e-mailed to a Washington Post editor states that a former member of the Blue Angels filed a complaint last month accusing McWherter of promoting a hostile work environment and tolerating sexual harassment. The complaint described an atmosphere rife with sexually explicit speech, the open display of pornography and jokes about sexual orientation.
The Navy officer is the latest in a string of senior military commanders to come under investigation for sexual misconduct or other misbehavior. Congress and the White House have grown especially frustrated at the Pentagon’s struggles to police sex crimes and harassment in the ranks.
The Navy appeared to move swiftly after the former Blue Angels member filed the complaint March 24 with the Navy inspector general. The complaint alleged that McWherter encouraged or allowed sexual harassment and lewd activity to occur when he commanded the Blue Angels during two stints between 2008 and 2012.
McWherter did not respond to e-mails seeking comment. The Navy confirmed the circumstances that led to the probe. The Navy also released a statement from Vice Adm. David H. Buss, the commander of Naval Air Forces, who said, “We remain fully committed to accountability, transparency, and protecting the integrity of ongoing investigations.”
According to McWherter’s biography, which the Navy has removed from a public Web site, he is an alumnus of the Citadel and graduated from the Navy’s famous “Top Gun” fighter pilot school in 1995.
The Blue Angels are a flight demonstration team that performs daring maneuvers at air shows and before large crowds at other public events. It is a major honor for pilots selected to join; the Navy treats the squadron as a valuable recruitment tool and a vivid symbol of its aviation firepower.
The commander of the unit is chosen by a panel of admirals and serves as the Blue Angels’ lead pilot.
Although the investigation has not been completed, Navy officials decided that the preliminary findings warranted taking action. McWherter was fired from his new job as executive officer of Naval Base Coronado near San Diego. He has been temporarily reassigned to other duties.
Summaries of the complaint and investigation are contained in a five-page internal document, labeled “official use only,” that was drafted by Navy public affairs officers in anticipation of media coverage.
The document included talking points and prepared quotes attributed to Navy admirals, expressing concern about the gravity of the case. The material was being assembled in the event that further details of the investigation became public.
McWherter was a commander highly regarded by many in the Navy. He was brought back to lead the Blue Angels for a second stint in 2011 after the unit was temporarily grounded that year for performing a dangerous barrel roll too close to the ground during a show in Lynchburg, Va.
Upon leaving the team in November 2012, he told the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal that he had no regrets.
“If being with the Blue Angels was the last time I fly a Navy plane, that’s a pretty good way to go out,” he said.
In the face of several ethics scandals over the past 18 months, the Pentagon has repeatedly pledged to hold commanders accountable for their actions. At the same time, however, the military has tried to suppress details about many embarrassing episodes.
For example, the Army announced in June, without elaboration, that it had suspended its top general in Japan for allegedly mishandling a sexual assault case. On Tuesday, after obtaining a copy of the investigative report under the Freedom of Information Act, The Post disclosed that the general was given a plum job at the Pentagon even though he had violated regulations by failing to refer the sexual assault complaint to criminal investigators.
In January, after obtaining another batch of investigative documents, it was reported that the Pentagon had disciplined three other generals for personal misconduct.
One was found guilty of assaulting his mistress. A second joked in e-mails that he sexually gratified himself after meeting a member of Congress whom he described as “smoking hot.” The third kept a bottle of vodka in his desk and was investigated for having an affair, according to the documents.
At the same time, it appears that some military leaders have become highly sensitive to the issue and are quick to launch investigations at any hint of sexual impropriety or ethical misbehavior in the ranks.
In February, the Army announced it had suspended a brigade commander at Fort Carson, Colo., and in a highly unusual move, would not allow him to deploy with his soldiers to Afghanistan. Again, Army officials did not divulge what had prompted the decision.
A copy of the investigative report in that case, however, shows that the commander was suspended after three female soldiers alleged that he had made insensitive comments during a meeting to discuss sexual assault policies.
The commander, Col. Brian Pearl, was later cleared of wrongdoing and allowed to join his troops in Afghanistan. A copy of the investigative report was first obtained and published Tuesday by the Gazette newspaper of Colorado Springs.

(By Craig Whitlock)

Balboni Case Was A Precursor Of Today's Toxic Environment

(LTJG Christine D. Balboni and her attorney, LCDR London Steverson at her hearing on sexual harassment allegations at Coast Guard Base Alameda California in 1984) 

Today Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, (Dem,N.Y.) said  "Commanders can’t always be objective, nor can all of them distinguish between a “slap on the ass” and more serious cases such as rape.

Lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives led by Senator Gillibrand, who serves on the Armed Services panel, have introduced legislation that would remove sexual-assault cases from the military chain of command.

“After speaking to victims, they have told us that the reason they do not report these crimes is because they fear retaliation,” Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, told the military leaders at the hearing. “You have lost the trust of the men and women who rely on you that you would actually bring justice” in their cases.

Victims’ advocacy groups say service members who are attacked often are reluctant to step forward in a system in which commanding officers decide whether to bring charges, choose the military jury and can reduce or overturn a sentence.

The Sexual Harassment case of LTJG Christine D. Balboni was a harginger of today's military environment.  In that case the military was treated to a preview of the toxic environment that the Senators are hearing about today. The Coast Guard did not take the warning that the Balboni Case presented them with. The military did not accept it as an omen.

 The uniformed leaders of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, in a Senate hearing room with dozens of other military officers, admitted to lawmakers that the Defense Department had failed to effectively prevent or respond to sexual assaults despite years of trying.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., grew heated in questioning military leaders during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearingtoday, June 4, 2013.

 The Pentagon doesn’t know how many members are raped or sexually assaulted because surveys don’t distinguish between “predatory” behavior and an “unhealthy” working environment, she said at the hearing.

The military has “sexual predators who are not committing crimes of lust,” she said. “This isn’t about sex.” Rather it’s about “domination” and violence, she said.

When asked by Levin, only the chiefs of the Coast Guard and Army said that leaders have been relieved of command as a result of a climate of sexual assault and harassment. (Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Papp relieved a Captain of command in 2007 because of inappropriate relationships. It is too bad he was only a junior officer and was not in a position of senior leadership in 1980 when LTJG Balboni filed her case against three senior Coast Guard officer aboard the USCGC Rush WHEC in Alameda, California.)



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 was disciplined or punished. The sworn charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice 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. 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.

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/

Even a Man's-man May Turn Out To Be A She-man

Even Man's-men May Turn Out To Be She-men

A former member of the elite U.S. Navy SEALs has come out to say she's now a woman.

Kristin Beck, formerly Chris, served 20 years as a SEAL and fought on some of the most dangerous battlefields in the world, but after she left the service she realized she wasn't living the life she wanted.
"Chris really wanted to be a girl and felt that she was a girl and consolidated that identity very early on in childhood," said Anne Speckhard, co-author of Beck's biography "Warrior Princess," which was published over the weekend of May 31 to June 2, 2013. Speckhard told ABC News Beck suppressed that secret for decades, however, through the trials of SEAL training and the harrowing missions that followed, growing a burly beard as she fought on the front lines of American special operations.
Brandon Webb, a former SEAL who served on a different SEAL team than Beck, said that Beck's reputation in the SEALs was a good one and said she was, by all appearances, the "consummate guy's guy."
But the book says that Chris "had considered living as the woman he felt himself to be for a very long time, but while he was serving as a SEAL he couldn't do it."
"For years Chris had turned off his sexuality like a light switch and lived as a warrior, consumed with the battle -- living basically asexual. For Chris the other SEALs were brothers and in the man's man warrior lifestyle, even if he had wanted to entertain sexual thoughts, there really was never any time to be thinking too much about sexuality," the book says.
After her retirement in 2011, however, "Now seemed the right time to go for it -- to make his body match his identity -- or at least start by dressing like a woman in his regular life."
Speckhard said Beck first announced her decision to friends online with the declaration "No more disguises" and the book describes her going out to gay bars in Florida as a woman.
Beck is currently on hormone therapy in preparation for sexual reassignment surgery and generally wears long hair, make-up and women's clothes, Speckhard said.
In the book's Preface, Beck said she wrote the book "to reach out to all of the younger generation and encourage you to live your life fully and to treat each other with compassion, be good to each other, especially in your own backyard (whether it be high school or your community)."

Military Commanders Wake Up To Broad Reach Of Proposed Changes By Civilians To Military Justice Code

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Uniform Code Of Military Justice (UCMJ) gives American military commanders  substantial power to discipline the troops they lead. However an epidemic of sexual assaults in the armed forces has Congress considering changes to that well established authority.

The big question is by how far and how wide?

Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the four-star officers atop each service are scheduled to testify June 4th at a Senate hearing on congressional proposals to modify theUCMJ with the aim of staunching the escalating number of sexual assaults that have outraged the military and the public.

Dempsey and other military leaders say they are open to legislative solutions to the problem. But, they are deeply concerned that too drastic an overhaul by Congress will lead to unintended and alarming consequences.

Curbing too sharply a commander's ability to decide how and when to punish or pardon service members will send a message there is lack of faith in the officer corps, and that in turn will undermine the efficiency and effectiveness of the military in peacetime and war, Dempsey warned in a recent letter to Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Paradoxically, the Defense Department's failure so far to change the military's male-dominated culture is driving a vocal group of mainly female lawmakers led by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., to advocate aggressive reforms.

Tinkering at the edges, they argue, won't produce the seismic shift needed to send the message that sexist attitudes and behaviors will no longer be tolerated. Victims need to be confident that if they report a crime their allegations won't be discounted and they won't face retaliation.
The latest in a string of allegations came May 31, 2013.
The Pentagon said the U.S. Naval Academy is investigating allegations that three football team members sexually assaulted a female midshipman at an off-campus house more than a year ago, and a lawyer for the woman says she was "ostracized" on campus after she reported it.
The Naval Academy investigation follows several recent arrests: A soldier at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point was charged with secretly photographing women, including in a bathroom. The Air Force officer who led the service's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response unit was arrested on charges of groping a woman. And the manager of the Army's sexual assault response program at Fort Campbell, Ky., was relieved of his post after his arrest in a domestic dispute with his ex-wife.
The Pentagon estimated in a report last month that up to 26,000 military members may have been sexually assaulted last year, up from an estimated 19,000 assaults in 2012, based on an anonymous survey of military personnel. While the number of sexual assaults members of the military actually reported rose 6 percent to 3,374 in 2012, thousands of victims are still unwilling to come forward despite new oversight and assistance programs aimed at curbing the crimes, the report said.
Those numbers and outrage over two recent decisions by Air Force generals overturning juries' guilty verdicts in sexual assault cases are generating support for Gillibrand's proposal to largely strip commanding officers of the power to toss out a verdict, a change initially recommended in April by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and backed by Dempsey, the service chiefs and many members of Congress.
But Gillibrand's bill goes much farther — too far, according to Dempsey. It would remove commanders from the process of deciding whether serious crimes, including sexual misconduct cases, go to trial. That judgment would rest with seasoned trial counsels who have prosecutorial experience and hold the rank of colonel or above.
Her legislation, which has 18 cosponsors that include four Republicans, also would take away a commander's authority to convene a court-martial. That responsibility would be given to new and separate offices outside the victim's chain of command.
"The current system allowing commanders to have sole discretion in the disposition of legal matters is clearly broken and has a chilling effect on reporting," said Gillibrand, who chairs the Armed Services Committee's personnel subcommittee. "We must ... increase accountability within the system by removing the influence of the chain of command in the prosecution of intolerable crimes."
In a May 20 letter to Levin, Dempsey said taking away a commander's ability to convene a court-martial would "radically" alter a principal tenet of military law dating back two centuries and merged more than 60 years ago into a single Uniform Code of Military Justice.
"While Congress has modified the UCMJ from time to time, it has never removed commanders from the military justice system," Dempsey wrote. "The consequences of such a decision would be far-reaching and extraordinarily damaging to the nation's security."
Whether all or parts of Gillibrand's Military Justice Improvement Act are added to the defense policy bill for the 2014 fiscal year remains to be seen.
But changes are coming. The GOP-led House Armed Services military personnel subcommittee used Hagel's April recommendation as a starting point and then went further in a bill it approved two weeks ago.
In addition to taking away the authority to reverse courts-martial rulings, the subcommittee voted to establish dismissal or dishonorable discharge as the mandatory minimum sentence under military law for service members found guilty of rape, sexual assault, forcible sodomy or an attempt to commit those offenses. Commanders also would be barred from reducing or commuting the minimum sentence except in situations where the accused substantially aided the government in the investigation or prosecution of another assailant.

The House bill, however, stops short of taking those cases outside the chain of command, as Gillibrand's bill proposes. Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, who co-chairs the House Military Sexual Assault Prevention Caucus, said the focus should be on preventing sexual assaults, not scrapping central elements of the current military justice system.

The hearing June 4 may indicate how far the Senate Armed Services Committee is willing to go. A final plan will eventually be produced after any differences between the House and Senate are resolved.

Levin has not publicly stated his position on Gillibrand's proposal but has made clear he is dissatisfied with the Pentagon's efforts to eradicate what he has described as the "plague of sexual assaults in the military."

And Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., an Armed Services Committee member and critic of the Pentagon's handling of sexual assault cases, isn't co-sponsoring Gillibrand's bill, backing instead many of the changes the House panel approved.

McCaskill told reporters last month that she's not opposed to Gillibrand's legislation but wants to be sure Congress doesn't squander a chance to pass a bill because of partisan differences over its scope. "I am tired of trying to legislate around the gridlock in Congress," she said.
___

Who Will Protect Us From Those Who Watch Over Us?

Air Force Chief of Sexual-Assault Prevention Arrested on Sexual Battery Charges

Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski, the chief of the Air Force’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program, was arrested and charged with sexual battery in Arlington, Virginia. Photo: Arlington Police Department

How serious is the Air Force’s sexual assault epidemic? Yesterday, police in northern Virginia arrested the Air Force’s chief of sexual-assault prevention — for sexual assault.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, Jeffrey Krusinski, 41, was “arrested and charged with sexual battery,” according to the Arlington, Virginia police department. According to the arrest report, Krusinski drunkenly “approached a female victim in a parking lot and grabbed her breasts and buttocks.”
Until today, Krusinski, a lieutenant colonel, was the chief of the Air Force’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program. An Air Force spokesman, Maj. Eric Badger, told Danger Room that the Air Force removed Krusinski from his position within the program, “immediately upon learning of the arrest.” (It’s worth mentioning that the Air Force did not initially confirm Krusinski’s arrest when Danger Room spoke to a different spokeswoman, Jennifer Cassidy; and deferred that confirmation to the Arlington police.)
Dustin Sternbeck, a public information officer with the Arlington Police Department, released a mugshot, shown here, to Danger Room. While Sternbeck could not confirm Krusinski’s profession, the man shown in the mugshot looks a lot like Lt. Col. Krusinski, shown in this 2011 video from Afghanistan.
The office Krusinski ran “reinforces the Air Force’s commitment to eliminate incidents of sexual assault through awareness and prevention training, education, victim advocacy, response, reporting and accountability,” according to its website. “The Air Force promotes sensitive care and confidential reporting for victims of sexual assault and accountability for those who commit these crimes.”
According to the police report, Krusinski’s alleged intended victim “fought the suspect off” as he attempted a second groping, and called the police. “Police arrived on scene a short time after the victim reported the incident,” Sternbeck told Danger Room. “He did not resist arrest.” The intended victim was apparently responsible for the wounds visible on Krusinski’s face.
Krusinski was held on a $5,000 unsecured bond. His arrest was first reported by the website ARLnow.
“If these allegations are true, this is one more example on a long list of how fundamentally broken the military justice system and culture are,” emailed Nancy Parrish, the president of Protect Our Defenders, an advocacy group for the survivors of military sexual assault. “The idea that the head of the Air Force’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office could be arrested for sexual assault indicates the depth of the problem. It’s outrageous.”
Time and again, the Pentagon — and the Air Force in particular — has assured the public that it’s taking its sexual-assault problem seriously. An estimated 19,000 rapes or sexual assaults occur annually in the military, although a fraction ever get reported. “If we don’t take steps to deal with it — if we don’t exercise better leadership to confront it — it’ll get worse,” former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta remarked in September.
Yet it’s often been leaders within the military who carry out the abuse. Air Force instructors at Joint Base Lackland-San Antonio, where the Air Force conducts its training, allegedly sexually assaulted at least 59 cadets and airmen in the worst sexual assault scandal in the service’s history. Some instructors are facing military trials. Yet the Air Force also has shown leniency for its top officers: although Lt. Col. James Wilkerson was convicted by a military court of groping a sleeping woman’s breasts and vagina, the general in charge of the Third Air Force voided Wilkerson’s conviction and returned him to active duty. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) has placed a hold on a promotion for Air Force Lt. Gen. Susan J. Helms after learning Helms overturned the sexual-assault conviction of an Air Force captain.
It’s not just the Air Force. The former deputy commander of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division is facing a military tribunal for sexually abusing multiple women, and threatening their careers if they exposed the abuse.
News of Krusinski’s arrest comes at an inopportune time for the Pentagon. Tomorrow, it’s expected to release an annual report on sexual assault in uniform.
“On the eve of the Pentagon releasing their annual report on the epidemic of sexual assault in the military,” added Brian Purchia, a spokesman for Protect Our Defenders, “these latest allegations for the head of the Air Force’s sexual assault prevention program are sickening. … The reporting, investigation and adjudication of sexual assault must be taken out of the chain of command in 2013.”
“When I saw this it made me literally sick to my stomach,” Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) said in a statement emailed to Danger Room. Speier is the author of a bill that would remove the military chain of command from investigating and prosecuting cases of sexual assault, something advocates believe would remove a conflict of interest that inhibits adequately addressing the extent of the sexual-abuse epidemic. “How many more reasons do we need to take cases of rape and sexual assault out of the chain of command?”
Update, 10:08 p.m.: From a statement just released by Pentagon press secretary George Little: “This evening Secretary Hagel spoke to Air Force Secretary Donley about allegations of misconduct involving an Air Force officer who had been responsible for the service’s sexual assault and prevention efforts and was removed today from his position pending the outcome of an investigation. Secretary Hagel expressed outrage and disgust over the troubling allegations and emphasized that this matter will be dealt with swiftly and decisively. Secretary Hagel has been directing the Department’s leaders to elevate their focus on sexual assault prevention and response, and he will soon announce next steps in our ongoing efforts to combat this vile crime.”

 The past year has been a banner one for recognizing and speaking out about sexual assault in the military: During the summer of 2012, it was uncovered that 12 of the 400 Lackland Air Force Base instructors had conducted unwanted "seuxal improprieties" with 31 female recruits. (One of them had  28 charges brought against him.) Earlier this month, two high-ranking military officials — one Fort Hood sergeant, another, the head of the military's Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP), both whose job description involved protecting female cadets against sexual assault, were charged with that very crime. 

Sgt. First Class Michael McClendon, stationed at West Point to train and mentor cadets, was charged with videotaping more than a dozen female cadets in the shower and latrine between 2009 and 2012. He's since been transferred to Fort Drum and given a desk job, reports CNN. Because apparently violating the privacy and rights of over a dozen women for voyeuristic sh*ts and giggles isn't enough to get this guy fired.


NOT TO BE OUT DONE BY THE AIR FORCE, A WEST POINT SERGEANT HAS BEEN ACCUSED OF VIDEOTAPING FEMALE CADETS IN SHOWER.

A sergeant in charge of the health and welfare of 125 cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point is accused of secretly filming female cadets in the shower and elsewhere, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Sgt. First Class Michael McClendon, whom the school describes as a staff adviser “responsible for the health, welfare and discipline” of a company of West Point cadets, is being charged with indecent acts, dereliction in the performance of duty, cruelty and maltreatment, and actions prejudicial to good order and discipline. Officials said some of the images appear to have been taken in the shower, and others appear to have been taken consensually.

Sgt. First Class Michael McClendon, awarded the Bronze Star during one of his tours in Iraq and earned more than two-dozen other awards. Also he was a seven-time recipient of the Army’s Good Conduct Medal. He was in charge of a cadet company of 121 future officers and responsible for training them on leadership skills, an Army spokesman said.


McClendon, who had been at West Point since 2009, was transferred to Fort Drum after being charged on May 14 with indecent acts, dereliction in the performance of duty, cruelty and maltreatment, and actions prejudicial to good order and discipline.

McClendon, of Blakely, Ga., joined the Army in 1990, officials said. He served mainly at domestic bases for the bulk of his career, but did a five-year stint in Germany and two tours in Iraq, his record shows.

McClendon had served as a tactical non-commissioned officer at West Point Army Military Academy in New York since 2009, a job that put him in charge of mentoring and training a company of about 121 cadets, focusing on leadership development and other responsibilities.

“The Army is committed to ensuring the safety and welfare of our cadets at the Military Academy at West Point — as well as all soldiers throughout our Army,” Gen. John F. Campbell, the Army vice chief of staff, said on Wednesday. “Once notified of the violation, a full investigation was launched, followed by swift action to correct the problem. Our cadets must be confident that issues such as these are handled quickly and decisively, and that our system will hold those responsible accountable.”

The scandal is the latest in a string of high-profile military scandals involving sexual assault. The Air Force official in charge of its sexual assault prevention program was arrested for sexual battery earlier this month after he allegedly groped a woman in the parking lot of a Virginia bar.

 The following week, news reports surfaced that an Army soldier in charge of a sexual assault prevention program in Fort Hood, Texas, was under investigation for "abusive sexual conduct," and the manager of the sexual assault prevention office at the Fort Campbell military base in Kentucky was fired after he violated his ex-wife's order of protection.

The Pentagon released a report earlier this month estimating that as many as 26,000 military members may have been sexually assaulted in 2012, a sharp rise from the 19,000 estimated assaults in 2011. And officials say the true number may be higher, considering the victims who never come forward with their claims.

In response to the growing problem, members of Congress have introduced a flurry of legislation seeking to reform the UCMJ, military's justice system. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has ordered the military to retrain and recertify each military staffer responsible for administering sexual assault prevention programs. “We all have committed to turn this around, and we’re going to fix the problem,” Hagel said at a news conference last week. “The problem will be solved here, in this institution, and we will fix it.”

In May, Hagel ordered the armed services to immediately "re-train, re-credential, and re-screen" all military recruiters and sexual-assault prevention officers.
The military recruiter part of that directive comes from news that military recruiters have been committing sexual harassment and assault against civilians. In one case described as the worst of the worst, a Texas military court will convene to hear charges against an Air Force recruiter that involve rape, forcible sodomy, and other crimes he committed against 18 women over a three-year period.
In another case involving a recruiter, Marine Gunnery Sergeant Nicholas Howard, 33, was convicted of first-degree sexual assault and adultery in the rape of a 23-year-old woman in Alaska. He was given a dishonorable discharge but no jail time. Civilian law authorities were stunned at the result.
There are no exact figures to the amount of sexual violence committed by recruiters against civilians because the armed forces do not keep track of such data.