Two Tailhook Plaintiffs Urge Further Action

Two alleged victims of sexual assaults at the 1991 Tailhook Assn. convention Thursday welcomed the Navy’s removal of three admirals from their commands for failing to adequately investigate the sex scandal, but they called for additional “housecleaning” and prosecution of their attackers.

Lisa C. Reagan and Marie Colleen Weston, both Sacramento residents who are suing the Navy and the Tailhook Assn., said the Pentagon report supports their complaints that the Navy investigation of the scandal was a whitewash.

The women said they were assaulted in a third-floor hallway of the Las Vegas Hilton on Sept. 7, 1991, by up to 100 drunk Navy and Marine officers attending the convention.

Weston said the attacks lasted no more than five minutes but that the suffering will last a lifetime. Both women are in therapy.

Acting Navy Secretary Sean O’Keefe stripped the admirals of command Thursday after a Department of Defense report criticized them for using poor professional judgment during the Navy investigation of the scandal or for attempting to block the probe.

“What O’Keefe did is a good start. But I don’t think they should stop now,” Reagan said. “It’s time to clean house. And the attitudes that men have had over the years about women also have to stop. I’m glad the problem is finally getting some recognition from the military. I feel that the Navy’s investigation was incomplete.”

Weston and Reagan said they were interviewed in October and November by agents from the Naval Investigative Service. The first interview was a conference telephone call with one investigator.

Some time later, two NIS investigators traveled to Sacramento and interviewed each woman for about 30 minutes, Weston said.

“We cooperated fully, but that was the last we heard from them. They showed us eight or nine photos and asked us if we recognized the men,” Reagan said. “I was very disappointed. We were assaulted by between 50 and 100 men, but those were the only photos they showed us.”

Neither woman could identify their attackers from the photographs.

Reagan and Weston are among four women who filed lawsuits earlier this month over the incident. Each woman is seeking $2.5 million in damages from the Navy, the Las Vegas Hilton and the Tailhook Assn. The lawsuits were filed in federal court in Las Vegas and in Clark County Nevada District Court.

The two women were on a weekend excursion to Las Vegas while the convention was in progress. They were staying at the Hilton but were not there to attend the convention. The women said they were invited to the Tailhook party by an unidentified Marine captain.

Members of Congress charged that the NIS botched the Navy investigation. The Pentagon inspector general launched a separate investigation this summer. The report released Thursday was a critique of the NIS investigation. A second report, which is expected to recommend criminal prosecution of some aviators, mostly junior officers, is supposed to be released in December.

The three admirals recommended for dismissal are Rear Adm. Duvall M. Williams, commander of the NIS; Rear Adm. John Gordon, the Navy’s judge advocate general, and Rear Adm. George Washington Davis, the Navy’s inspector general.

Tailhook Assn. spokesman Stephen Millikin said at least 62 admirals and generals, both from the active and reserve ranks, attended the convention.

On Thursday, there was speculation among various Navy officials that the second Pentagon report will also recommend the firings of other admirals who were at the convention during the alleged assaults.

The Pentagon report said the Navy leadership was aware of “lurid” conduct by its junior officers at the annual Tailhook conventions since 1985.

Several Navy officers in San Diego said they have heard consistent reports that 11 admirals who attended the 1991 convention will be recommended for disciplinary action.

“It is too premature to see what that (December) report brings,” said Capt. Tom Jurkowsky, spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

Jurkowsky’s boss, Adm. R. J. Kelly, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, was among the dozens of admirals and generals who attended the convention.

On Thursday, local Navy officials referred all questions about the Pentagon report to Department of Defense officials in Washington.

Tailhook spokesman Millikin said he supports the firings of the admirals and the report’s findings.

“In terms of the admirals being fired or reassigned, this is consistent with the way the Navy does things. All officers are accountable for the effectiveness of their efforts,” Millikin said. “ . . . Obviously there were shortcomings in the Navy investigation. This (report) is consistent with what we said all along. We felt that the facts had not been brought out before.”