Navy chief in hazing scandal fights for full pension

NORFOLK

Lawyers for a Navy senior chief implicated in a hazing scandal in Bahrain say he's been smeared by "scurrilous allegations" and are mounting a vigorous defense in hopes that he can retire at full pay.

A three-member board convened Thursday to consider the retirement of Michael Toussaint, a master-at-arms who served as kennel master of the military working-dog unit in Bahrain from 2004 to 2006.

An investigation shortly after Toussaint left the unit documented more than 90 instances of hazing and abuse of junior personnel. Sailors told of being forced to eat dog treats, hogtied to chairs, locked into a feces-filled kennel and told to simulate oral sex during a training event.

The admiral who endorsed the investigation noted that the unit's senior enlisted leaders encouraged - and in some cases instigated - hazing. Toussaint received a nonpunitive letter of caution and was later promoted. He is assigned to Naval Special Warfare Group Two at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Virginia Beach.

Lt. Cmdr. Keith Lofland, one of Toussaint's two military defense lawyers, said Toussaint strongly denies any allegations of hazing, maltreatment or fraternization.

"The only victim in this board is Senior Chief Toussaint," Lofland said, adding that Toussaint's accusers were disgruntled sailors "who chafed under what can only be characterized as effective leadership."

Another sailor implicated in the hazing killed herself in Bahrain as the investigation was wrapping up. Petty Officer 1st Class Jennifer Valdivia, who managed the kennel after Toussaint departed, died in January 2007, shortly after learning she might be disciplined for not reporting the hazing.

Last fall, after concerns surfaced about how the Navy handled the investigation and its findings, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead reopened the matter. Roughead rescinded Toussaint's re-enlistment, which would have had him serve through 2012.

In October, the secretary of the Navy issued a letter of censure, and the Navy began processing Toussaint out of the service.

Officials decided not to court-martial Toussaint, citing the time that had passed since the original investigation and his being months away from qualifying for retirement.

The board - two officers and a master chief petty officer - spent Thursday reading hundreds of pages of background, including the original investigation as well as copies of Toussaint's awards, performance evaluations and letters of support from colleagues and family members. To day, the three men will hear testimony from witnesses.

The board will recommend at what paygrade Toussaint should retire, but the final determination will be made by an assistant secretary of the Navy.

One of the documents the board received was Toussaint's rebuttal to the secretarial letter of censure. In the 14-page letter, he denies directing personnel to participate in sexually explicit training exercises. He says he encouraged trainers to come up with realistic training scenarios and told them about situations he encountered as a master-at-arms.

"While I recall sharing a 'sea story' about a call that involved two sailors involved in homosexual acts, I strongly deny ever dictating that any sailor perform degrading or embarrassing acts of this kind," he wrote.

Toussaint also denied ordering someone to bend over a copy machine to get spanked.

"Under the circumstances, I doubt that I would have interfered if this event were characterized as modest 'birthday' spankings," he wrote. "However, if this occurred in an offensive or coercive manner, I would have taken action immediately to end it."

The rebuttal contains testimonials from more than two dozen sailors, many lauding him for bravery during combat last year in Afghanistan. Some of them are expected to testify to day. Also on the witness list: sailors who say they were targets of Toussaint's abuse in Bahrain.

Although the hearing is in a Navy courtroom and will include testimony given under oath, it is not a court-martial. Only Toussaint's retirement pay is at stake.

Retiring as a senior chief would bring Toussaint about $25,100 this year. A newly retired chief petty officer would collect about $22,800, and a petty officer first class about $19,500.