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- THE WEEK, Page 26SOCIETYIt Ain't Flattery, Guys
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- The Navy comes to grips with sexual harassment in the ranks
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- For most women, catching the hey-baby bloodshot eye of a
- drunken sailor is about as pleasing as walking past a bevy of
- foul-tongued construction workers. Unfortunately, the women
- present at a Las Vegas naval gathering in September witnessed
- an even darker side of the military man on the make. In a memo
- issued last week, Navy Secretary H. Lawrence Garrett III
- implicated 70 officers in an investigation of sexual harassment
- at the now infamous Tailhook convention. Part of the shenanigans
- at this annual meeting of Navy and Marine aviators included
- lining up in the halls of the Hilton Hotel and pawing at the
- breasts and buttocks of any unlucky woman who walked by.
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- At least 26 women -- more than half of them officers --
- were assaulted at the convention, but an initial inquiry into
- the incident turned up few culprits, because male pilots
- remained tight-lipped on the subject of after-hours "fun."
- Garrett's memo fiercely chastised the six men directly involved
- in the incident, but also targeted those who refused to
- cooperate with the investigation and the commanding officers
- present at the Hilton who did nothing to end the lewd goings-on.
- The Navy says it is taking appropriate action against all those
- involved and started a service-wide program against sexual
- harassment.
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