Navy Discipline Plan To Be Offered

Mon., Dec. 30, 1996

Compiled From Wire Services

(From For the Record, December 31, 1996:) Two outdated Associated Press stories appeared in Monday’s editions. One misidentified Les Aspin as the Secretary of Defense. Aspin resigned in 1993.

Navy Secretary John Dalton is set to recommend that dozens of top Navy officers be disciplined for their failure to prevent the Tailhook sex abuse scandal, Pentagon and congressional sources said Sunday.

Dalton was taking the step after reviewing the files of some 35 retired and active duty Marine Corps generals and Navy admirals who had attended the rowdy 1991 Tailhook Association convention in Las Vegas, where dozens of women were groped and fondled by Navy and Marine Corps aviators.

Dalton is prepared to make the recommendations today to Defense Secretary Les Aspin, but it was not clear when or if his suggestions might be acted upon by the secretary, said senior officials in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill.

“He’s made his decisions and he’s ready to go,” one source said. The sources declined to specify the exact number of recommendations, or precise type of discipline suggested.

The steps could range from the most harsh - such as removing them from their posts or seeking their retirement - to lighter disciplinary action, such as an oral reprimand that is not recorded in an officer’s file.

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Navy Discipline Plan To Be Offered

Jesse Tinsley

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Rob Curley

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