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As a follow-up to our earlier post (“Anti-LGBT, bestiality-suggestive Navy videos produced by captain w/your tax dollars“) the Navy is investigating the production and broadcast of video “entertainment” for service members aboard the U.S.S Enterprise by Captain Owen Honors. The shenanigans made with your tax dollars included:
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
NBC now reports that Owens will be temporarily relieved from his post as early as today while the Navy investigates. (NBC, via Americablog):
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Jim Miklaszewski (stand up): NBC News has learned that Capt. Owen Honors will be temporarily relieved of his command of the aircraft carrier Enterprise as early as tomorrow, pending the Navy’s formal investigation into those controversial videos.
That means Honors would NOT BE in command when the ship sails off toward Afghanistan in a couple weeks.
Miklaszewski (on tape): This is what landed Capt. Honors in all this trouble — a series of raunchy videos, laced with profanity and gay bashing, produced aboard the Enteprise four to five years ago when he was the ship’s executive officer, second in command.
Honors (on tape): Well I guess we won’t be showing this to the kids at home.
Miklaszewski (on tape): Not only did Honors condone the videos, he took center stage — appearing in one edited shot as three different people.
Honors (on tape): Finally, let’s get to my favorite topic, and foreign to the gay kid over there, chicks in the shower.
Miklaszewski (on tape): In flips-flops and a shower cap, Honors plays to the camera — revealing both men, and women supposedly showering together. In another segment Honors unleashes a barrage of hard-core profanity. At one point, Honors and others engage in simulated sex acts — unconcerned that any of his crew, men or women, may be offended.
While videos like this are not uncommon in the military — Navy officials say THESE videos have crossed a line — calling them “clearly inappropriate” and “not acceptable in today’s Navy.”
Navy investigators also want to find out how Honors was promoted to the top commander of the Enterprise, even after these videos were first discovered four years ago.
Jack Jacobs (on tape): Well his chain of command must have thought his benefits to the Navy far outweighed the stupid things he was doing.
Miklaszewski (on tape): Up until now, Captain Honors has had a stellar military career. He was known as a serious-minded aviator and commander of an F-14 squadron when he took Tom Brokaw on a combat flight over Afghanistan in 2002. And more than 1500 fellow sailors took to Facebook today to express their admiration and support for Honors.
Pete Clark (on tape): People love him, they love him. I’ve never heard the crew of a ship love their XO and a captain more than Opie, Honors.
Miklaszewski (on tape): But Navy officials say these videos now raise serious questions about Honors judgment and leadership.
12 Comments
Example of Royal Navy ship vida bit less problematic
TEMPORARILY relieved of his command?Window dressing. Why do I suspect that Honors will be back on the job once the publicity dies down?
I’d rather have a commander like Capt. Honors, than . . . . . . one with a Christianist Dominionist bug up his arse.
I grant that the man’s sense of humor is warped and sophomoric, but I don’t equate such a warped sense of humor with bigotry and prejudice without more to the picture – it may be smoke, but it’s not necessarily fire.
In his capacity as XO, Mr. Owens (I believe) served in a number of capacities, including morale officer. If
it may well mean that he scored very well in keeping crew morale up in the wiltering heat, and I think that should serve to outweigh the negatives. Personally, given his stellar record, I think the brass may be making a mistake here. I would have given him the opportunity to handle the DADT repeal process with his crew. I would imagine he would be able to handle it with the kind of professionalism that one might not glean a bit of, if the only thing we know about him is the content of these videos.
I note that my assessment would be different if the videos included blackface performances, which would have clearly gone beyond the line – what was actually done may have been offensive but does not appear to have been intended to be anything but weirdly funny.
Just to think critically here…why would it be considered “weirdly funny”? Because anything gay is “weirdly funny”?
Need The BackstoryYesterday I commented that he would be used as a martyr for the righteous right. He will be, he already is. Reading comments posted on media websites that allow commenting on the article is full of the usual hate and ignorance. If not so pathetic it reveals the people who still believe in 1848.
I have not seen the backstory on why him, and why this moment. A few guesses would be he po’d some Obama or Pentagon person who decided to extract that pound from his ass. Another guess is probably during a round table of Naval commanders he refused to accept the new world and so a higher (or possibly lower rank looking to advance) decided this would be a good time to waste the man. Another guess is because the Enterprise is heading back to the SW Asia area in a few weeks the Pentagon and Obama did not want his act to be repeated during this time of preparing to prepare to repeal DADT.
Whatever the back story is it must be good to take out a carrier commander. And, he is going out without a whimper. So far not even the hint of a McCrystal type interview.
If you do bother reading the comments posted on the media sites look for those proclaiming they are veterans. I am sure most of them are not military veterans. One proclaimed he would rather have Honors in the foxhole with him than any other soldier. Rather strange, I doubt Honors has ever sat in a foxhole, his life has been on the water.
I’m somewhat conflicted here. I’ve made porn,transsexual porn, BDSM stuff, all of it very politically incorrect. But I’ve never done so under the auspices of a man making, what $80K/year to run what is basically a floating city who has the responsibility to decide whether to kill a bunch of people. Every day.
It’s not a job I’d ever want, am in no way qualified for, and sleep better for knowing that the people who decide these things are paid so little for such a great responsibility.
That being said, how big a transgression is this? Yes, it fostered a hostile work atmosphere, and yse he should be reprimanded. And every complaint about sexual harassment or whatever should be reopened and examined to see if the CO’s conduct or the atmosphere he encouraged was at fault.
But this is an “old school” guy who maybe didn’t know what was offensive. But he’s in charge of stuff much more important than the making of questionable videos. I’ve been paid to do stuff that would make a bonobo blush, but this guy holds the lives of his people and others in his hand.
Is this worth ending a guy’s career over? I’m not sure.
Because Honors has not been officially relieved of command?http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01…
No, it’s more based on the way it was doneIt seems to be have been intended more in the spirit of the kind of thing sailors do when they cross the equator. The tone seemed to me to have been intended to be funny, rather than offensive, even if when I look at it myself, a lot of it is offensive. If the man did not get any feedback from the crew as to this kind of thing being offensive, he wouldn’t have been likely to have changed anything.
With DADT in place, a gay or lesbian crew member would have had an issue if they indicated that they might have found the shows offensive – so I am sure he was not getting negative feedback, leaving him in a closed loop to do programming that was even more “zany.”
This isn’t like Tailhook, or Abu Graib. It was more like MAD-TV run amok.
He’s definitely not your Capt Bligh type, but….A few things come to my mind, and I’m sure would come to mind to even the most ossified old higher-up in the Navy.
If you want to promote the concept of ”One Navy” it’s probably not a good idea to depict the Top Gun fly boys (the XO’s background, by the way) as cool and the Surface Warfare Officers (SWOs) as fag dorks.
If these tapes had been made by enlisted, or even a junior officer, it would be a different kettle of fish. But this was orchestrated by, written by, directed by and starred the executive officer, the second in command. That’s a pretty big deal.
He plainly states that he knows that sailors have found previous videos to have been offensive and that they have complained (but apparently not to him directly), but he refers to such people as fags and tells them, in effect, too bad. He’s a commander who doesn’t want to entertain contrary opinions.
The Tailhook scandel took place in 1991; Capt. Honors graduated USNA in 1983. There’s not a naval aviator alive who doesn’t know how huge the fallout was (according to Wikipedia quoting a PBS Frontline report, “Ultimately the careers of fourteen admirals and almost 300 naval aviators were scuttled or damaged by Tailhook.”). Whether or not you’ve really bought into treating women in the services with respect, you’re stupid to be broadcasting skits that indicate you’re not on board with this concept.
Although morale boosting is a part of the XO’s job, Capt. Honors seems to have devoted way too much of his valuable time to these rather elaborate video productions.
Probably most important to the brass at this time: The Navy is being help up to broad public ridicule and criticism thanks to this guy. This nail that’s sticking up isn’t going to get pounded down; it’s going to get pulled out and discarded. No, he won’t be dismissed. But he’ll probably be disciplined via an Admiral’s Mast, effective ending his career.
Another view of the British NavyIs the Royal Navy dangerously gay? Brass Eye investigates.
The worst thing was first aid drill.lol
“It is absolutely important for every man on board to be able to dress a penis wound. Ninety three percent of wounds sustained in naval battle are, in fact, to the penis.”
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Odds are…Honors being a Tomcat driver may have been at Tailhook. VA-126 TopGun was always at the Tailhook conventions as well as every other carrier capable squadron back then. Even mine was there and we only had 2 aircraft carrier qual’ed. He should be very well infomed on not only ‘Tailhook’ but everything that came out of it and probably knows someone who got axed because of it.
Rank, position or circumstance does not give anyone leeway to violate rules, regulations or laws. Being a Captian or Commanding Officer does not mean your actions are above reproach, but that your actions have the experiance and knowlege behind them that prove those actions are valid and have not violated any rule, regulation or law. I’ve served with many officers who were of that caliber and for some I would walk through a minefeild for. There are also a few who do mirror Honor, those I would gladly throw in to a minefeild.
Seriously, he knew better. If one person complains, then anyone knows to stop and take a look and get a sanity check. He elected to not only ignore that but also to deem anyone who complained was gutless and a whiner. Part of the XO’s job is to intake complaints and to look in to situations such as these and others in the same line. If the person who’s job it is to investigate these issues is making these kinds of statements its discouraging for anyone to come forward if a real ligitimate issue arises. Everything becomes suspect.
Oh yeah, y’all don’t ….ok, wait a second…
Under US Navy rules, regulation and law any
investigation(s) conducted within a command are directed by the XO who reports findings to the CO who then determines/judges and submits final disapline or directs further investiagtion to the JAG. The XO is responsable for every investigation… Like sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape. The XO’s recommendation to the CO on those matters carries a lot of weight.
Unless the XO is the problem.
The XO is in charge of Morale, Welfare and Recreation. The job is not making a fool of yourself. Its setting up a BBQ and a movie nights on the flight deck. Its getting a line on a ‘deal/deal’ so some of the crew can take a MWR trip to Paris cheap ($180 3 days, 2 nights with a tour bus, guide, hotel and memories for a life time.. that XO? Total asshole, never smiled once that I saw.) or having getting with the Ombudsmen to throw a new dad a party and figure out how to have a few minutes on a secure video link back home so he can see his new born son and his wife. They also do endless inspections and judge damage control drills… see? Yeah, its a hard job and there are a lot of XO’s out there who are great with the job.
But this guy is just an asshat. (That is an old AirNav term from ‘Flathat’ refering to the US Navy squadron ‘The Tophatters’. The Tophatters were/are THE flyboys. Some in the past like to show off too much and crashed. This led to the term ‘Flat Hat’ or ‘Flat Hatting’ because the old birds would crash and just flatten themselves the same as an old Top Hat. ‘Ass Hatting’ is when someone doesn’t just show off flat hatting but does it in front of um… a freaking video camera that the entire world see’s and does something that is known to cause a crash and burn and the guy then of course crashes and burns.)
So, Capt. Honors is an asshat. He should have known better.
Women of USS RONALD REAGANNow this is really fun! And a good use of the media department’s budget, if I do say so myself.
There are a lot of these types of music videos on YouTube now, probably most better than Capt. Honor’s attempts at humor. And populated mostly by guys. But check out this one of female enlisted and officers doing “That Don’t Impress Me Much.” It’s pretty sweet, including a scene on the bridge with the CO. And the other guys are good sports, too. Yeah, there’s definitely family in there.