I am not posting the entire story, just a couple of paragraphs. You can hit the link to see the entire story.
I'll post my comments as a reponse instead of placing my thoughts in/next to the story.
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/10/navy_bahrain_hazing_100509w/
A naked female sailor was handcuffed to a bed rack and forced to role-play an angry lesbian spat with another woman — all while being videotaped by other sailors.
A dog handler who refused to visit a prostitute was duct-taped and locked in a kennel full of dog feces.
A female sailor alleged that she was sexually assaulted by another sailor, but it was never reported up the chain of command.
In all, a Judge Advocate General Manual investigation found 93 incidents involving hazing and other improper behavior in the Military Working Dog Division at Naval Support Activity Bahrain in 2005 and 2006.
Despite it all, the chief in charge of the kennel was promoted, and the investigation into the matter sat on the shelf, with no apparent discipline for anyone in a leadership role.......
.......Besides the abuse and hazing allegations, the command’s 2007 investigation found:
• Gambling, fraternization and socializing with prostitutes were commonplace among some of the unit’s sailors.
• The sailor was berated and removed from the kennel after admitting that some of his shipmates used to falsify — or “gun deck” — paperwork in the explosives accountability logs.
• The unit’s chief frequently threatened to use his connections and clout to punish anyone who reported his misconduct, saying: “God help anyone who airs our dirty laundry.”
And as the investigation was wrapping up, a female sailor who believed she would be implicated in the probe took her own life.
The man in the middle of it all, Chief Master-at-Arms Michael Toussaint, 38, was selected for senior chief in May 2006 and now works with SEALs at the elite Naval Special Warfare Development Group in Dam Neck, Va.
One Navy official familiar with the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Toussaint was “counseled” by his superiors in Bahrain......
......And copies of the JAGMan were forwarded to the current commanding officers of the sailors implicated.
None of the officials familiar with the investigation could say why none of the sailors was disciplined......
.....Once the documents surfaced in September, Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., a former vice admiral, sent a letter to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus asking about the investigation and its final outcome.
“Failing to treat everyone with the same level of dignity and allowing acts of assault and battery to go unaddressed would be counter not only to our national values, but to the concept of brotherhood and sisterhood that I learned is so essential to — and such a key part of — the spirit of our armed forces,” Sestak said in the Sept. 11 letter.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead on Sept. 22 directed the commander of Navy Installations Command, Vice Adm. Michael Vitale, to review what happened after the investigation, said Cmdr. Cappy Surette, a Navy spokesman at the Pentagon. Mercer said he, too, began looking into the matter earlier in September.
Vitale’s report is due to Roughead by Oct. 6......
.....Toussaint promoted favoritism among his sailors, offering his friends cushy temporary-duty assignments with increased pay, according to the investigation.
One sailor, Master-at-Arms 2nd Class Shaun Hogan, was removed from the kennel after responding “yes” to a question about whether some sailors “gun deck” their paperwork when compiling the unit’s explosives accountability logs, according to the investigation.
The supervisor — it’s unclear precisely who, because many names were redacted from the report — screamed at Hogan and said the proper response to that question was: “I can’t speak for other sailors, ... but I don’t gun deck my paperwork.”.....
.....
I'll post my comments as a reponse instead of placing my thoughts in/next to the story.
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/10/navy_bahrain_hazing_100509w/
A naked female sailor was handcuffed to a bed rack and forced to role-play an angry lesbian spat with another woman — all while being videotaped by other sailors.
A dog handler who refused to visit a prostitute was duct-taped and locked in a kennel full of dog feces.
A female sailor alleged that she was sexually assaulted by another sailor, but it was never reported up the chain of command.
In all, a Judge Advocate General Manual investigation found 93 incidents involving hazing and other improper behavior in the Military Working Dog Division at Naval Support Activity Bahrain in 2005 and 2006.
Despite it all, the chief in charge of the kennel was promoted, and the investigation into the matter sat on the shelf, with no apparent discipline for anyone in a leadership role.......
.......Besides the abuse and hazing allegations, the command’s 2007 investigation found:
• Gambling, fraternization and socializing with prostitutes were commonplace among some of the unit’s sailors.
• The sailor was berated and removed from the kennel after admitting that some of his shipmates used to falsify — or “gun deck” — paperwork in the explosives accountability logs.
• The unit’s chief frequently threatened to use his connections and clout to punish anyone who reported his misconduct, saying: “God help anyone who airs our dirty laundry.”
And as the investigation was wrapping up, a female sailor who believed she would be implicated in the probe took her own life.
The man in the middle of it all, Chief Master-at-Arms Michael Toussaint, 38, was selected for senior chief in May 2006 and now works with SEALs at the elite Naval Special Warfare Development Group in Dam Neck, Va.
One Navy official familiar with the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Toussaint was “counseled” by his superiors in Bahrain......
......And copies of the JAGMan were forwarded to the current commanding officers of the sailors implicated.
None of the officials familiar with the investigation could say why none of the sailors was disciplined......
.....Once the documents surfaced in September, Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., a former vice admiral, sent a letter to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus asking about the investigation and its final outcome.
“Failing to treat everyone with the same level of dignity and allowing acts of assault and battery to go unaddressed would be counter not only to our national values, but to the concept of brotherhood and sisterhood that I learned is so essential to — and such a key part of — the spirit of our armed forces,” Sestak said in the Sept. 11 letter.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead on Sept. 22 directed the commander of Navy Installations Command, Vice Adm. Michael Vitale, to review what happened after the investigation, said Cmdr. Cappy Surette, a Navy spokesman at the Pentagon. Mercer said he, too, began looking into the matter earlier in September.
Vitale’s report is due to Roughead by Oct. 6......
.....Toussaint promoted favoritism among his sailors, offering his friends cushy temporary-duty assignments with increased pay, according to the investigation.
One sailor, Master-at-Arms 2nd Class Shaun Hogan, was removed from the kennel after responding “yes” to a question about whether some sailors “gun deck” their paperwork when compiling the unit’s explosives accountability logs, according to the investigation.
The supervisor — it’s unclear precisely who, because many names were redacted from the report — screamed at Hogan and said the proper response to that question was: “I can’t speak for other sailors, ... but I don’t gun deck my paperwork.”.....
.....