Tailhook Incident

The Tailhook scandal was a military scandal in which United States Navy and Marine Corps aviation officers were alleged to have assaulted up to 83 women and seven men, or otherwise engaged in "improper and indecent" conduct at the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada. The events took place at the 35th Annual Tailhook Association Symposium from September 5 to 8, 1991. The event was subsequently abbreviated as "Tailhook '91" in media accounts.

The alleged sexual assaults mainly occurred in a third-floor hallway in which "hospitality suites" rented by participating military units for the conference were located. According to witnesses, a "gauntlet" of male military officers in civilian clothes groped, molested, or committed other sexual or physical assaults and harassment on women who walked through the hallway. In addition, military officers were alleged to have engaged in public nudity, excessive alcohol intoxication, public sexual activity, and other lewd behavior in and around the convention location at the hotel. One of the alleged victims, naval officer Paula Coughlin, initiated an investigation into the incident when she notified her chain of command about what she had experienced.

About a month after the conference, the public learned of the affair when it received widespread attention in the media. In response, the United States Congress, led by the Senate Armed Services Committee, directed the US military to investigate the event, verify the allegations, and prosecute the personnel involved. The resulting Navy inquiries were criticized for failing to adequately investigate what had happened. Also, it was learned that Secretary of the Navy Henry Garrett had attended the convention, but his involvement had not been disclosed in the Navy's investigation report.

As a result, the Department of Defense Inspector General's Office took over the inquiry. Its investigation led to approximately 40 naval and Marine officers receiving non-judicial punishment, mainly for conduct unbecoming an officer and false official statements. Three officers were taken to courts-martial, but their cases were dismissed after the presiding military judge determined that Chief of Naval Operations Frank Kelso, who had attended the conference, had concealed his own involvement in the events in question. No officers were disciplined for the alleged sexual assaults.

The aftermath resulted in sweeping changes throughout all military services in the Department of Defense regarding attitudes and policies toward women. Military critics claimed that the scandal highlighted a hostile attitude in U.S. military culture towards women in the areas of sexual harassment, sexual assault and equal treatment of women in career advancement and opportunity. Following the incident, in April 1993, Secretary of Defense Les Aspin announced a revised policy on the assignment of women in the armed forces: both services were to allow women to compete for assignments in combat aircraft, and the Navy was to open additional ships to women and draft a proposal for Congress to remove existing legislative barriers to the assignment of women to combat vessels.

Background

Tailhook history

The Tailhook Association began in 1956 as an informal club for Navy and Marine aviators (pilots and aircrew), who met once a year to socialize and swap stories. By 1963, the annual event had grown in popularity and attendance, and moved from San Diego to the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. In 1968, the convention relocated to the Las Vegas Hilton, which became its home until 1991.

Over time, the Tailhook Association attained semi-official status with the US military, including being given rent-free office space at Naval Air Station Miramar. The annual conventions featured forums, presentations, and symposiums on military aviation and operations. Officers were allowed to attend on official duty (called "temporary duty assignment"), rather than leave, although they dressed in civilian clothes. Senior officers and Defense Department (DoD) officials, including flag officers, as well as defense contractors, also became regular attendees. The DoD often provided military aircraft for attendees to travel to the conference. In 1991, 96 percent of the Tailhook Association's 14,000 members were male, reflecting the numbers in the naval air fleet, in which, out of 9,419 pilots and aircrew, 177 were women, with only 27 of them flying in jet aircraft.

Concerns over behavior

The conventions were well known for the partying atmosphere that prevailed. Participants at the conventions' social events frequently engaged in heavy alcohol intoxication, public nudity, outrageous stunts, and aggressive sexual advances. Navy and Marine flying squadrons would host hospitality suites at the Hilton, many of which encouraged alcohol consumption and featured sexually-oriented activities and presentations, such as performances by strippers. The events often caused thousands of dollars in damage to the hotel.

After the 1985 convention, several senior attendees, led by Tailhook board members Duke Cunningham, Rear Admiral James E. Service, and Vice Admiral Edward H. Martin, formally complained that the drunken revelry they had witnessed had crossed the line. In response to threats from Navy officials that official sponsorship could be withdrawn, the Tailhook Association imposed restrictions on behavior at future conventions, including the blacklisting of hospitality suites most known for promoting salacious activities. As a result, the 1986 convention exhibited calmer deportment, with one notable exception. Attendees later reported that Secretary of the Navy John Lehman engaged in a sexual act with a stripper in front of 50 to 100 spectators in the hospitality suite for Navy fighter squadron VFA-127.

In spite of continued exhortations and warnings from Tailhook leadership, subsequent conventions returned to featuring excessive alcohol consumption, sexually explicit presentations and activities, and lewd behavior by attendees. Reportedly, some hospitality suite hosts competed with each other as to who had the most outrageous entertainment. In one custom that persisted, "ballwalking," male participants (usually on the patio around the pool or in the suites) would hang their genitalia outside of their unzipped pants.

Tailhook Association leaders were especially concerned over a practice that started in the late 1980s and became a custom at succeeding conventions. The custom involved young aviators lining up on both sides of the east wing third floor hospitality suite hallway and slapping stickers of their squadron insignia on the bodies of passersby, usually women. Often, after running out of stickers those involved would change to groping or pinching the women as they walked by. The activity became known among observers as the "gauntlet." The Hilton management was aware of the gauntlet, and had told its female staff to avoid the third floor at night during the Tailhook conventions.

1991 convention

Agenda

The 1991 Tailhook convention, formally titled "The 35th Annual Naval Aviation Symposium" and scheduled for September 5–8 at the Las Vegas Hilton, was expected to be the largest in the organization's history. The Gulf War had taken place earlier in the year, and over eleven hours of presentations and discussion concerning US Navy and Marine Corps aviation operations in the conflict were to be the central focus for the 4,000 attendees. Twenty-two Navy and Marine flying squadrons or other military organizations reserved suites. Just over one-third of all the fixed-wing carrier aviators in the Navy were expected to be in attendance. On Friday, September 6, three of the eight Navy and Marine pilots shot down and captured by Iraq gave a presentation on their experiences. That evening the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Frank Kelso spoke at a banquet for the attendees.

On the afternoon of Saturday, September 7, a session called the "flag panel" took place, drawing an estimated 1,500 attendees. A tradition at the conferences, it consisted of a panel of flag officers answering questions on any topic from attendees. The 1991 session was chaired by the senior naval aviator (officially titled the Assistant Chief of Naval Operations (Air Warfare)), Vice Admiral Richard Dunleavy

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases