The Navy senior chief petty officer at the heart of a scandal over sexually provocative hazing and abuse of junior sailors in Bahrain will be forced to retire in January, two years earlier than planned, a Navy official said Wednesday.
Senior Chief Michael Toussaint, a dog handler assigned to the Naval Special Warfare Development Group in Virginia Beach, also received a letter of censure from the Secretary of the Navy, the harshest administrative action that can be taken against a sailor. The letter will become part of his permanent military record and is likely to affect his retirement pay, said Cmdr. Elissa Smith, a Navy spokeswoman at the Pentagon.
The announcement Wednesday came in response to news reports about an investigation into abusive behavior in the military working dog unit in Bahrain in 2005 and 2006. Sailors told an investigator
of being force-fed dog treats, hog-tied to chairs, instructed to act like dogs, and ordered to simulate homosexual oral sex in training videos.
Toussaint has returned to the United States from deployment and is on leave, according to a spokesman for the Navy's special warfare command. Toussaint does not wish to comment, the spokesman said.
Adm. Gary Roughead, the chief of naval operations, opted to cancel Toussaint's final years of service. Roughead "found that the incidents were not in keeping with Navy values and standards and violated the Navy's longstanding prohibition against hazing," according to Smith. "Our sailors are to be treated with dignity and respect in a healthy and positive working environment."
One victim, former Petty Officer 3rd Class Joseph Rocha, said he was subjected to repeated slurs about his sexuality after he refused to have sex with female prostitutes.
Petty Officer 1st Class Shaun Hogan submitted detailed notes about Toussaint's abuse during more than two years under his command. Hogan told the Navy lawyer who originally handled the case that Toussaint routinely made inappropriate comments about and inquiries into sailors' sex lives, and threatened to revoke sailors' dog-handling credentials if they crossed him.
Hogan also described Toussaint's directing the filming of training videos that required some sailors to act out lesbian love scenes, others to simulate gay male sex and one to have rubber balls thrown at his crotch, all in a guise of running the dogs - trained to sniff out explosives - through various "real life" scenarios.
The abuses were detailed in a command investigation completed in 2007 that documented more than 90 instances of abuse. By then, Toussaint had transferred to another job and been promoted to senior chief.
An unnamed commanding officer decided to handle the matter through nonjudicial punishment, and issued Toussaint a nonpunitive letter of reprimand.
The other sailor implicated in the inquiry - Petty Officer 1st Class Jennifer Valdivia, who took over for Toussaint - killed herself in Bahrain shortly after learning she would be implicated in the hazing.
There, the story seemed to end.
Two things kept it alive.
Hogan returned to New England, entered the Naval Reserve and couldn't stop thinking about what had happened in Bahrain. He requested a copy of the investigation through the Freedom of Information Act and came to believe that he should have done more to stop the abuse as it was happening.
Separately, Rocha was on track to become an officer. He finished officer candidate school and enrolled in a Navy prep school to prepare him to enter the Naval Academy. But the abuse he suffered in Bahrain resulted in post-traumatic stress disorder, and Rocha, who is gay, realized that he wasn't ready to be commissioned in a Navy that wouldn't allow him to openly serve.
He acknowledged being gay, left the Navy, and enrolled at the University of San Diego.
At a gay rights march this year, Rocha told a journalist with Youth Radio, a non-profit journalism organization in California, about what he had endured in Bahrain. He told the student journalists to call Hogan, who had the documents to back up the story.
In early September, Youth Radio posted a story - and redacted copies of the documents - on its Web site.
A few weeks later, U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, a retired two-star admiral from Pennsylvania, got wind of the case and asked the Navy to investigate.
On Wednesday, Sestak said he's glad Roughead has also asked the Naval Criminal Investigative Service to look into the "command climate" in Bahrain at the time. It's possible those findings could implicate higher-ranking sailors.
Sestak, a Democrat, said the Navy's new actions against Toussaint were appropriate but that he still wants to know why the chief petty officer was not prosecuted.
"There was criminal behavior that occurred," Sestak said. "Hitting sailors, dragging them through feces, locking them up in kennels, breaking regulations and asking if they were gay. It's outrageous."
Sestak said the facts surrounding Valdivia's suicide also deserve more scrutiny.
"Someone died as a result of this," he said. "How can you not send a message? How can you not stand tall and say, 'This was wrong,',"
Rocha also credited Navy officials for re opening the investigation.
"I think it makes sailors safer," he said. "This is a milestone - seeing the two most powerful men in the U.S. Navy take up and speak out for an openly gay veteran."
Still, he would like to have seen Toussaint charged with violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
That option was technically available, Smith said, because the alleged abuses fall under a five-year statute of limitations for certain kinds of courts-martial. The window for handling the case nonjudicially, through a captain's or admiral's mast, closed two years after the abuse occurred.
Because almost four years have passed, and because the commanding officer at the time decided not to pursue a court-martial, Smith said, Roughead "took actions he thought were appropriate."
Toussaint, a master-at-arms, will finish his career on administrative duty, not in a position of leadership, she said. He will work at Special Warfare Group 2 at the Little Creek campus of the Joint Expeditionary Base.
He is a few months shy of the mandatory 20 years of service required for a military pension.
Because of the censure, Toussaint's record will be evaluated by an administrative board that recommends a retirement pay grade for sailors leaving the service under questionable conditions.
He could argue to the board that he deserves to retire as a senior chief, Smith said, or waive his right to challenge the board's recommendation. In any case, she said, the Navy will expedite his retirement.
Kate Wiltrout, (757) 446-2629, kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com
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January 13, 2010 update
January 13, 2010
To Whom it may concern.......This Battle plan (poa) against an enemy isn't ENOUGH. The problem will sadly continue. The abuse is evident of this Navy. What else would it be a dream? To think this will stop it or raise any sustained level of awareness is nothing less than a fantasy.
Where is the Honor,Courage and Commitment? STAND UP...SAILOR UP.
Lead more than just your shadow
Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Joe Sestak (PA-07), a former 3-star Navy Admiral, was briefed by Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Gary Roughead regarding the Navy’s most recent actions to address hate crime abuses committed against Petty Officer Third Class Joseph Rocha in a Bahrain dog handling unit and why appropriate action was not taken following the initial inquiry into the matter two years ago. Rocha was later discharged under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, but had been abused earlier because of superiors’ belief that he was gay.
The discussion with the CNO followed Congressman Sestak’s efforts since August to address the abuse. He first wrote Secretary of the Navy Mabus calling for a full review of the case and in October was informed by the Secretary and CNO that the re
Wonder Why ?
THE wonder IS......why the animal "ISN'T" on a sexual predator list.
Why doesn't this trail of misdeeds go higher ?
Who was in attendance &/or had knowledge of such behavior and didn't
STAND UP ?
Who (exactly) is/was ignoring the evidence ?
Who,what,where was the disclose-investigative process slowed ?
Will their evals note such behavior ?
He should report to his local police as a sexual deviant. Keeping them updated on his change of address,tel,email,ect ect.
To you who stood around w/your hands in your pockets.....
Drank w/ this sicko..played ball w/ him....
Shame on you, you need help....God help your families....
May you forever have nightmares of that which went by you.....
UNOPPOSED.
Sexual Predator ?
I can't help but wonder, Why this animal is on the sexual offenders list?
Seems to fit the bill and more. What about involuntary manslaughter too ?
The warped E-8
Now that the Officer/CPO/White Hat comments have been played out: Let this wack job retire as an E-8. Better yet make him a Master Chief: just being sarcastic. No matter what the value of his retirement he'll be paying some slick ambulance chaser to defend him against the civil suits the WILL be brought against him once he's booted out from inside the Navy's self-serving, protective, good old boy protection racket. He will be sued by the most well known and the most obscure civil liberties organizations in the country and his BS evaluations won't hold up in ANY civilian court ANYWHERE. A court-martial and dishonorable discharge is too fast and clean. Let him retire and then let the civil authorities just slowly, deliberately chip away at every cent, every benefit, every job application.....his day is yet to come and it's going to be endless.
The only place he'll be able to work is XE/Blackwater: they specialize in his kind.
Navy Petty Officer Ousted Thown Overboard
The Navy did not go very far up the chain of command as usual.
Senior Chief Michael Toussaint was thrown under the bus(ship)to protect the higher-ups who knew or should have known what was happening.
Apparently the captain no longer goes down with the ship, only the petty officer.
Things that make you go huh?
“An unnamed commanding officer decided to handle the matter through nonjudicial punishment, and issued Toussaint a nonpunitive letter of reprimand”
Here is the real question. Was this CO so blind that he felt a private warning was all the investigator’s report required? Will he ever be named and publically questioned for his actions/inactions in a manner similar to the SCPO? Since this situation is linked to the review of the case I would hope so but I will not be holding my breath until another Senator/retired Admiral asks the CNO for more action. I was not there but it is hard to see how this got handled in this manner without reports going up the chain or those reports being questioned. Sounds like a few more people should be invited to a green table that has water on the other side in order to produce additional administrative actions that reduce retirement pay. Remember, it is not punishment, it is administrative.
forced to retire?
Now that's what I call a good thing!
Confused?
For the life of me I cannot understand why these members did the things this Senior Chief forced them to do. No way in hell would someone have hogtied me to a chair, forced me to eat dog treats or simulate sexual acts, no matter what rank they are (and yes, I am active duty). I am not at all saying that this Senior Chief and those involved should not be held accountable, but I am really having a hard time understanding why they did these things just because someone in their chain of command told them to. Age, perhaps?
dog biscuits
My thoughts exactly, why would anyone subject themselves to this, and how the hell did all of this go on and no one knew? For two years this went on and no one knew?? No buying it.
is he immune from prosecution?
Forced retirement? This is so awful! No prosecution? Hey; it's not what you do, it's who you know that really matters in this town.
picture
look at the photo...if crazy had a look....
Widespread
Do we really want this type of person degrading the reputations of service members. Unfortunately this type of behavior, while not always sexually oriented, has become widespread in our military ranks. There is a difference between discipline and bullying. Discipline is enforced uniformly across the ranks, but bullying is targeted towards individuals who are not liked by people who should not be in command and is the result of a lack of equally dished out discipline. Soldiers know what to expect when they go to war and they can handle it. They have seen the movies. What they are unprepared for is to have to do battle with their comrades in arms. Just like in our schools. Bullying is the primary cause of suicide and fratricide in the military. http://bit.ly/ewYlM
How shocking!!! The Khaki
How shocking!!! The Khaki are looking out for their own, as usual. That POS should have been sent to court martial, got a Big Chicken Dinner and got put out on his butt, with no retirement and no benefits whatsoever.
In typical Navy fashion the senior personnel can get away with anything, the men & women that should be setting the example and should be held to a HIGHER standard than their subordinates are committing heinous acts like this.
I guarantee that if this entire scenario was played out with an E-5 in charge and doing the same things that E-8 did then the E-5 would have gotten a BCD. But the Khaki's always look out for other khakis, from Admiral down to chief.
Khaki
Very insightful PO2 Babaloo. I would like to congratulate you for meeting with all the Khaki's in the Navy and forming a personal opinion of each and everyone. That must have taken quite a while. So what did you go to CO's NJP for?
You cannot generalize a whole community for the acts of a few. What happened was terrible but it was not the whole Khaki world that was responsible. Rarely is the good that is done awarded much press. It is always the dramatic and ugly stories that get everyone worked up. Maybe someday the GOOD that we as a community, a military and a Nation do will be recognized.
Take care PO2 and strive to put your negativeity behind you and become the leader you see us needing!
Responsibility if command
"You sound like a jealous enlisted person...you had the chance to be an officer...what happened? Do you have any idea how many CO's have paid the price of being relieved because of other's mistakes...grow up!
Signed - Retired Navy 0-5."
Commander, yes, a lot of CO's paid the price of someone elses mistake but that is the weight of responsibility. Get in there, set the example to your junior officers, shake them up and make them lead, educate, and hold each accountable. Had this E-8's CO been on the ball perhaps it would not have come to this. That is the weight of responsible leadership. That should have been foremost on your mind every time you returned an enlisted solute, not just an ego boost. Lead, follow or get out of the way.
By the book?
In the Navy you do things by the book or get punished. This guy broke alot of rules including DADT with his abuse of his subordinates. All of the findings published in the article indicate widespread disparities in the military's ability or willingness to enforce it's own rules. What was Adm. Roughead thinking when he decided to let this guy off with a slap on the wrist? The man should be court martialed. The "good ole boy" attitude is no longer acceptable in today's military.
you all are missing it
the navy command is making him retire at yet to be determined pay grade. and that doesn't mean when he gets his DD--214 that is will be honorable. they may give him a general or an OTH. this is all to be determined. can you imagine that he has spent all this time in the navy and then be forced to retire as an E-1. May not be the justice we all want but this may be the deal that his lawyer, and yes he's probably had an court appointed lawyer this whole time durning the investigation. and he is telling the E-8 to take the deal without going to trial as alot more will come out.
william
Oh, sorry if I allowed myself to get too mouthy at perceived injustices. I shouldn't have targeted you like I did and I hope you will overlook my oft times personality flaw of being too fiery.
kate43483
You are sure one opinionated Homo Sapien!
And the rest of the story?
"Hogan returned to New England, entered the Naval Reserve and couldn't stop thinking about what had happened in Bahrain. He requested a copy of the investigation through the Freedom of Information Act and came to believe that he should have done more to stop the abuse as it was happening". Ya think? A First Class Petty officer who kept a log for 2 years and waited until he got out and went into the Reserves before he thinks he should have done more? Along with the suicide there is a lot more to this story than we will ever know. And as far as Rocha not wanting to be an officer unless he could openly serve as a gay I say good riddance!