i was in high school when the tailhook sexual assault scandal hit. i was 17. it was early 1990s. i remember it vividly because up until that point the military had always been to me this bastion of rigidity and order and control. and tailhook was anything but. this is not the raucous party. this was a case where we had sexual assault on women. in september, 1991, thousands of natural and marine corps officers gathered at a las vegas hotel to attend the annual tailhook convention, a three-day event known for its panels and parties. soon after, word of debachry made its way to top naval brass. undersecretary dan howard says the navy has identified some individuals who molested women at the convention. he promises they eventually will be punished by their base commanders. but months later, the investigation had gone nowhere.
resigned, and the pentagon took over the investigation, revealing a failing of senior leadership and widespread abuse. investigators cite at least 90 victims of indecent assault or exposure during the convention, a general atmosphere of debachry with paid and public sex. promises of zero tolerance were made. out of the 140 officers who were investigated, no one was criminally prosecuted. several admirals were forced into early retirement, but most officers were issued small, punitive fines. we have heard zero tolerance over and over from secretaries of defense and chiefs of staffs, and the generals, and admirals. but if we look at the data, women are getting sexually assaulted today at the same rate they were in 2006. colonel don christensen is the president of protect our defenders, the nation s leading organization dedicated to ending sexual assault in the military.
what s become known as the tailhook scandal. i was in high school when the tailhook sexual assault scandal hit. i remember it vividly because up until that point the military had always been to me this bastion of rigidity and order and control. and tailhook was anything but. this is not the raucous party. this was a case where we had sexual assault on women. in september, 1991, thousands of natural and marine corps officers gathered at a las vegas hotel to attend the annual tailhook convention, a three-day event known for its panels and parties. soon after, word of debachry made its way to top naval brass. undersecretary dan howard says the navy has identified some individuals who molested women at the convention. he promises they eventually will be punished by their base
blitz, the secretary of the navy resigned, and the pentagon took over the investigation, revealing a failing of senior leadership and widespread abuse. investigators cite at least 90 victims of indecent assault or exposure during the conv convention, a general atmosphere of debachry with paid and public sex. promises of zero tolerance were made. out of the 140 officers who were investigated, no one was criminally prosecuted. several admirals were forced into early retirement, but most officers were issued small, punitive fines. we have heard zero tolerance over and over from secretaries of defense and chiefs of staffs, and the generals, and admirals. but if we look at the data, women are getting sexually assaulted today at the same rate they were in 2006. colonel don christensen is the president of protect our defenders, the nation s leading organization dedicated to ending