U.S. Navy commander loses carrier job over lewd videos

I'll bet he doesn't lose his retirement pay and benefits.

President Obama will likely punish the Captain by making him march in this years San Francisco gay pride parade. That will teach that big meanie not to be politically incorrect! We want our warriors to be all sugar and spice and everything nice - not "brusque"... No, that just won't do!

They should have hired a comedian to do that !!!! I'm very sorry for the XO. Sometimes when you try to appear funny you will offend somebody.

I've seen worse behavior than this. This is very lame compared to back in the days old school Navy.

Throwing a puppy off a cliff ????? WTF ? What kind of sick idvidual does that ?

There's a difference between a leader who simulates jerking off to 'improve morale' and a leader who turns a blind eye to someone else simulating jerking off to 'improve morale'. The main difference is, the leader who turns a blind eye is still employed.

whiskeysour: He deserved to be fired because of his lack of humor. I watched the whole video and couldn't find one instance of something remotely funny. Guess you could say he was forced to "quit his day job".

Suicidal "political correctness" again wins over common sense.

thought it was funny

I have lost confidence in Capt Honors’ ability to lead effectively

Translation: I still believe Capt. Honors is an effective leader. I know that because I have access to the data we use to measure the performance of a commanding officer. However, due to a small but vocal minority of people I have to remove him from his position. That is I have to remove the best person for the job a few weeks before the ship goes on deployment.

This whole thing pisses me off to no end. What is very likely to have occured is some little turd went to Mast (non-judicial punishment, UCMJ Art.15), thought his punishment too severe, and wanted to get back at The Man.

I watched the whole video and couldn't find one instance of something remotely funny.

Probably because you are a prude. Or maybe you only saw the one video available which is a collection of popular moments from all the previous XO Movie Night videos. There were several made. Someone were just silly stuff, a few addressed needed issues (water conservation, OPSEC, proper behavior in port, etc.), but most were kind of corny. A lot of them had something to do with Capt. Honors' parrot.

To any that think the production of these videos took up the majority of his time is sorely mistaken. Capt. Honors took very good care of the things an XO is supposed to. Fraternity-like humor? You betcha'. What do you think the Navy or any armed force is?

Rusty: The captain lacked not only humor but also common sense. What he did excel in was arrogance. Whatever anyone thinks of the videos, why did he think in this day and age he could continue without punishment? For a captain this kind of judgement is unforgivable.

I have lost confidence in Capt Honors’ ability to lead effectively,” said Adm. John Harvey, head of U.S. Fleet Forces Command

He read my mind! That is EXACTLY what I was thinking about the Pentagon and reactionary stooges like Harvey!

“He showed bad judgment and he embarrassed the Navy."

Oh no! The Navy is embarrassing itself!

wasnt funny at all.. it was simply disgusting.

Ability to satisfy your personal funny bone is not on trial here.

Lewd videos???

The LA Times headline says he lost his job over anti-gay slurs...

Lewdness and verbal slurs are very different things.

So which is it?

Deal with it. This is a real aspect of the military. If the issue hadn't come to light to the public nothing would have been done. It's well known that female military personnel are often subject to all kinds of abuse, and rapes often go unpunished.

There are also accounts of new male recruits being violated as part of the hazing process.

Don't like it, don't join, don't be fooled by the spin and damage control department, and don't support the trouble they stir up around the globe.

The last 30 minutes of a documentary called "New American Century" will show you their true face.

@RstyShacklefor: Good points! One of y former shipmates who knows this guy was on the NBC Today Show yesterday defending him. This is simply some arm chair Adm back in the Pentagon doing this. Some of the videos weren't funny, and may have been crude, but nothing to get someone fired over.

The Navy made a mistake with this one. I guess they can rebuild their public image by having the Enterprise crewmemebers help build a school or orphanage when they make their first port visit on their cruise, that way to show that the Navy is a "Global Force for Good" and not a bunch of crude warriors.

saw the vid, stupid, but I've seen a lot while in the army and granted, while I was never on a ship for a few months, I did spend many months in a desert, cold mountains, etc.. so I think I have a bit of right to make a statement: You'd be surprised what men do when bored with no light at the end of the tunnel. The only difference I see here instead of the older ones I saw and part of was that that a Capt in the Navy is like a full bird colonel in the Army and the one fact of anti-gay statement. I think there should be a public hearing and I'd like to know what other ranking officers were present.

I wonder how morale is on the USS Enterprise right now. I'd venture a guess that her upcoming deployment is going to be pretty miserable from top to bottom throughout the entire Chain of Command.

Captain Honors did nothing more than try to improve morale and may have come up short in the P.C department in his attempt, but at least he did attempt to in his own way and it showed the crew that he was a leader that cared enough to take chances with his own personal career. He put the crew first and his own personal career second.

That is called Leadership, something the Navy has just now demonstrated is sorely lacking at the top brass level right now by his being relieved of Command for "secret" videos that were shown to the entire crew and made on a deployment about 4 years ago.

The U.S. Navy?? Lewd videos?? If you have ever met or heard any horny, drunk US sailors, this is as low as any pervert can go legally, so this video etc..must have been real, real LOW, guys getting it on with animals etc...Go! Navy GO!

The U.S. Navy?? Lewd videos?? If you have ever met or heard any horny, drunk US sailors, this is as low as any pervert can go legally, so this video etc..must have been real, real LOW, guys getting it on with animals etc...Go! Navy GO!

You know its interesting that you've also describe just about any College campus in America and what the students do at the keg parties.

This reminds me of Ben Elton's book Blast from the Past where any US military officer wanting to make it to the top must be squeaky clean, clean to the point where they become unnatural.

Or where aspects of their human nature get pushed down and hopefully hidden from all human sight.

nandakandamanda, does it matter? Up until a couple weeks ago, the entire U.S. military was an anti-gay slur.

It probably still is, Runwithscissors. They just got rid of some "Don't ask" clause, that's all.

Looks like he also used unauthorized footage showing Glenn Close.

He put the crew first and his own personal career second. That is called Leadership

Do I hear violins.

Any officer who needs to stimulate masturbation on video to boost morale is a loser, and any real sailor knows it. The navy doesn't need a captain with such lack of wisdom. There's a lot of lewdness that goes on in the armed forces, but this is just dumb. I can't believe anybody's defending this guy. It has nothing to do with DADT or whatever you think of PCness or Obama's military or the so-called 'chickification' of America. Real officers don't do this, and he would have been fired under Reagan as quickly as now.

"He put the crew first and his own personal career second. That is called Leadership . . . "

Arrogantly thumbing one's nose at established rules and the chain of command is called "Leadership"? Interesting.

Honors dared the Navy to do something about the vidoes and got just what he asked for. If anything, he should be sacked for sheer stupidity.

Hopefully the next XO won't be as dumb. But hey, it's all in good fraternal fun, right?

Do I hear violins.

Any officer who needs to stimulate masturbation on video to boost morale is a loser, and any real sailor knows it. The navy doesn't need a captain with such lack of wisdom. There's a lot of lewdness that goes on in the armed forces, but this is just dumb. I can't believe anybody's defending this guy.

Please kindly explain how Captain Honors after his tour as XO on the Enterprise was then given own CO's tour as Captain of the USS Mount Whitney on January 2008, the U.S. Sixth Fleet Command Ship, No less. "Losers" don't assume Command of the Fleets Flag Ship. By your logic every single Officer in the Navy should be fired for not only allowing him to make the non-P.C videos ( and I've seen tons worse with the Gay sailor jokes on The Family Guy then anything he even came close with).......Instead they gave him his own Command as Captain in his own right, and just now because of DADT being repealed he is now thrown to the wolves to satisfy some current P.C crap instead now. Nice to know Senior Leadership has your back (not) and is that example you want to set for the deck-plate level?

Arrogantly thumbing one's nose at established rules and the chain of command is called "Leadership"? Interesting.

Same question to you LFR.

Please kindly explain how Captain Honors after his tour as XO on the Enterprise was then given own CO's tour as Captain of the USS Mount Whitney on January 2008, the U.S. Sixth Fleet Command Ship, No less. "Losers" don't assume Command of the Fleets Flag Ship. By your logic every single Officer in the Navy should be fired for not only allowing him to make the non-P.C videos ( and I've seen tons worse with the Gay sailor jokes on The Family Guy then anything he even came close with).

Sailwind,

It wasn't so much that he made the video, but that he went out of his way to inform anyone higher up on the chain of command that he didn't particularly care what they thought about it. He also went out of his way to inform any enlisted men and women aboard the Enterprise who might object to the video that he not only didn't care what they thought either, but that their complaints would likely fall on deaf ears.

Then he topped it all off with a highlight reel of past XO Movie Night videos in which he thumbed his nose again and again at any suggestion that he be held accountable for creating videos he had been clearly told on at least one occasion were inappropriate.

To answer your question, it doesn't matter how capable he was as a navy commander. And it doesn't matter that the Navy promoted him after the Enterprise tour. What matters is that he brazenly dared someone -- ANYONE -- to hold him accountable for the videos, and he got precisely what he asked for. In other words, he was stupid.

Seriously, this is like a poor man's version of "A Few Good Men" with Mr. Honors in the role made famous by Jack Nicholson. Personally, I feel a lot better about military officers who understand and can comply with the restrictions inherent in a civilian-controlled military, rather than adhering to some half-baked, "We're MEN! Grrr!!" rationalization for defying Navy policy regarding sexist, anti-gay locker-room humor coming from the XO's office. But that's just me.

I understand that ribald humor is part and parcel of men spending lots of time in close quarters together. I'm not immune to the phenomenon either. But it shouldn't be coming from the XO and the XO doing it most certainly shouldn't be celebrating his disregard for Navy policy so publicly. It's bad for morale. It's bad for the chain of command. And that's why Honors lost his job, deservedly so.

Typical PC Crap. Hopefully when the new President is sworn in 2 years from now, one of his first official acts will be to ask for the resignation of all involved in this sorry affair.

I feel a lot better about military officers who understand and can comply with the restrictions inherent in a civilian-controlled military, rather than adhering to some half-baked, "We're MEN! Grrr!!" rationalization for defying Navy policy regarding sexist, anti-gay locker-room humor coming from the XO's office.

Just for the record do you know what the Navy slang term is for F/A-18 Super Hornet Fighter Pilots?

Guess what......FAG: Fighter Attack Guy - an F/A-18 Hornet/Super Hornet pilot or naval flight officer ("NFO").

That is why he is calling the SWO Fag boy in the videos and no one is offended, they understand the humor and the slang that is unique here on in the floating world of the carrier and life aboard. Puts things a little different light now doesn't it.

I'm sure that term will now go away also and life aboard the ship will even get little more sterile than it already is as we turn the Navy into a joyless place where you can be relieved for things that were acceptable 3 years ago but are not now due to P.C gone wild.

Is this video up on Youtube?

Sailwind,

"do you know what the Navy slang term is for F/A-18 Super Hornet Fighter Pilots? FAG: Fighter Attack Guy"

Uhm... And this is supposed to leave me better enlightened how exactly? "Oh, we made up an ancronym for a fighter pilot that insinuates he's homosexual. Har har har."

You're trying too hard here, Sailwind.

"I'm sure that term will now go away also and life aboard the ship will even get little more sterile than it already is as we turn the Navy into a joyless place where you can be relieved for things that were acceptable 3 years ago but are not now due to P.C gone wild."

Horse puckey. Anyone who thinks that the only joy to be found in the military is in masturbation jokes, lesbian inuendo, junior high school-level bathroom humor, and poorly constructed jabs at homosexuals might not be too bad off with a little more sterility in their lives, if for no other reason than to reomove the clutter of boorish humor one step above fart jokes, clearing the way to other expressions of humor.

And you're avoiding the real issue, namely Honors' flagrant disregard for a chain of command that told him to knock it off with these idiotic videos.

Reminds me of when we had to delay launch of a product because the computer had arbitrarily assigned a product prefix code of FU2 to the thing. Nobody cared until one person started to complain and sent memos all over saying that it was offensive. Cost a bundle to rework all the nameplates, documentation, etc. But that's how it goes when an outsider who doesn't understand how things are done gets their nose out of joint.

The irony is that, on the way home on the day of the decision, I saw a license plate on the car in front of me: FU2-1234. Go figure.

Is it any wonder that people walk on eggs when any misconstrued statement could end your career? I agree that the Enterprise is going to be a joyless, timid place where everybody is looking over their shoulder before they say a word. Great for morale.

And you're avoiding the real issue, namely Honors' flagrant disregard for a chain of command that told him to knock it off with these idiotic videos.

What the hell are you talking about here? What, you think he was spending all his time making raunchy videos, and none of it acting as an officer in the Navy? Try again. This is nothing more then Political Correctness run amok. Nothing else.

Looks like he also used unauthorized footage showing Glenn Close.

No. Glenn Close actually came out to the boat while we were at sea as part of some USO thing. I have her autograph on a DVD of Fatal Attraction (yes, I actually have that on DVD).

I'm sure that term will now go away also and life aboard the ship will even get little more sterile than it already is as we turn the Navy into a joyless place where you can be relieved for things that were acceptable 3 years ago but are not now due to P.C gone wild.

@sailwind: you are true on this point. If you remember the term "FLIP Charts" that pilots use on their laps to show airfields, they can't use the term "FLIP" chart anymore since it is a derogatory term for Filipinos.

I get the whole point of the "fun naming" that others don't understand. There are plenty of terms that the public doesn't get. So I guess the next time a famous British or Australian actor asks for a "Fag" to smoke, there will be a huge political uproar in America, since we are so PC now.

"But that's how it goes when an outsider who doesn't understand how things are done gets their nose out of joint."

"I get the whole point of the "fun naming" that others don't understand."

These would be valid points if the referred to something that was brought to the attention of the public by a layman or non-military person. But that isn't the case here. The videos were brought to light by someone from within the military, hence the reprimand Honors received about the videos in the first place (Re: the beginning of the XO Movie Night video where Honors and his two "alternate personalities" devote time to calling a coward the person who complained above Honors' head about the videos instead of bringing the issue to him directly)

Molenir, THAT'S what I'm talking about. Honors got nailed for publically daring the Navy to do something about it. He placed the Navy in a tight spot, and got burned for it. What did he expect would happen when -- no, not "if" but when -- these videos went public? This isn't the bygone era of super-secret "good old boy" clubs, where everything that happens on the ship stays on the ship. It's the Internet Age. It's the age of YouTube. Of Skype. Of Facebook. For Honors to have expected these videos to stay onboard and away from public scrutiny belies no small amount of ignorance on his part, and a large dose of arrogance.

It's not at all unlike the Tailhook scandal years back where again officers reveled in a mysoginistic, sexist celebration of "I've got man parts" and just assumed it would never get out. Silly them. How many careers went up in smoke after that? This Enterprise issue isn't a simple case of boys just being boys. It's a case of boys being abysmally stupid.

LFRAgain, I wonder if you have considered that the person who brought it up, literally YEARS later, did it for some reason other than a complaint? It seems obvious to me that the higher ups are just using this in a political way for career advancement.

Comparing this to Tailhook is sneaky and wrongheaded. This is nowhere near the selfishness and cruelty of Tailhook, let alone the stupidity. How could it be?

Molenir said it best: "PC run amok". These PC clowns all sit in comfortable offices.

We'll if we are going to go whole hog a making sure Navy videos shown on the ships UNCLASSIFIED and crews T.V system, which anybody on-board including civilians if they ride aboard as Tech reps can watch are totally P.C now.

We will need to also re-edit "Top Gun". After all "Goose" was a "backseat driver" to "Maverick" in the that Tomcat.

These would be valid points if the referred to something that was brought to the attention of the public by a layman or non-military person. But that isn't the case here. The videos were brought to light by someone from within the military, hence the reprimand Honors received about the videos in the first place

@LFRAgain, there are many subsets to the military that don't get each others jokes. There are things in the Naval Aviation community that i wouldn't get the full joke of and understand since I was a Surface guy, the same as some Navy goofs don't have any meaning to the Air Force.

This is just a matter of PC run amok. If the Navy would say, that he was a bit over the top on some issues, but didn't do it maliciously, then I could live with that. What they are doing is going too PC, and creating an atmosphere where zero tolerance for not thinking on the same accord (I am not talking about in the use of weapons but on how one views humor) which is not good in the long run.

Molenir, THAT'S what I'm talking about. Honors got nailed for publically daring the Navy to do something about it. He placed the Navy in a tight spot, and got burned for it.

If they had burned him for it, 3 years ago, when they first became aware of this, then you would have a case. I'd agree with you. However the Navy was aware of them, and chose to give him command of a carrier, despite this. When they come out, only then do they act. Thats what makes this simple PC BS. They're not punishing him for what he did, but rather for others finding out about it, and giving the Navy a black eye. This says they are more concerned with public perception, then they are with doing their jobs.

Admiral Harvey referred to it as a "profound lack of good judgment and professionalism" The same indeed could be said about him. And I sincerely hope, that when a President is finally sworn in, they remove him for this very reason.