This stems from the tradition that the captain always goes down with his
ship. Even in events where circumstances did not warrant immediate
action, a skipper's neck is always on the line. I have had the sad
experience of witnessing at least two skippers relieved for cause of
major combatant vessels. This is not done lightly and typically spells
the end of a career for any Naval officer. COs of aircraft carriers are
typically being groomed for flag rank (admiral) and as a consequence are
extremely well screened and evaluated.
The actions of CAPT Honors clearly violate the expectations for behavior
of a Naval officer. It is one thing to appear in crew skits - but the
ramifications of questionable materials and context must ALWAYS be
considered. A Navy O-6 is expensive to train and prepare for command -
a carrier qualified captain even more so.
However, there is a far higher standard for military officers to uphold.
Navy Relieves Enterprise Captain for 'Poor Judgment'
<http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=62320>
Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:12:00 -0600
Navy Relieves Enterprise Captain for 'Poor Judgment'
By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2011 - A Navy captain whose shipboard videos have
made headlines since they surfaced in the media over the weekend has
been relieved of his command for demonstrating poor judgment, a senior
Navy officer announced today.
Capt. Owen Honors made the videos while serving as executive officer
aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise in 2006 and 2007, and he had
served as commander of the Enterprise for about seven months when he was
relieved.
"The responsibility of the commanding officer for his or her command is
absolute," U.S. Fleet Forces commander Navy Adm. John C. Harvey Jr. said
today in Norfolk, Va. "While Captain Honors' performance as commanding
officer of USS Enterprise has been without incident, his profound lack
of good judgment and professionalism while previously serving as
executive officer on Enterprise calls into question his character and
completely undermines his credibility to continue to serve effectively
in command."
Honors' video skits garnered global attention after the Virginian-Pilot
newspaper published three of them and an accompanying story on its
website Jan. 2. The videos include anti-gay slurs and depict male
sailors in drag and female sailors showering together in a single stall.
The Enterprise crew viewed some of the videos on the ship's
closed-circuit television system while the vessel was deployed in 2006
and 2007 supporting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the
newspaper's reports.
"It is fact that as naval officers we are held to a higher standard,"
Harvey said. "Those in command must exemplify the Navy's core values of
honor, courage and commitment, which we expect our sailors to follow.
Our leaders must be above reproach, and our sailors deserve nothing
less."
Honors has been reassigned to administrative duties at Naval Air Force
Atlantic.
Navy Capt. Dee Mewbourne will take command of USS Enterprise, Harvey
said. The ship is scheduled to deploy in the coming weeks. Mewbourne
commanded the carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower during two combat
deployments supporting Operation Enduring Freedom, Harvey said.
Mewbourne had been serving as chief of staff for Navy Cyber Forces, and
was to assume command of the Enterprise this afternoon.
Harvey said an investigation will continue on all aspects of the videos'
production, including the actions of other senior officers who knew of
the videos and the actions they took in response.
Biographies:
Navy Adm. John C. Harvey Jr.
<http://www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/navybio.asp?bioID=138>
Related Sites:
USS Enterprise <http://www.enterprise.navy.mil/>
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