Navy officer alleges anti-gay harassment

Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents and Virginia Beach police are looking into possible threats against a local Navy officer who says he was subjected to anti-gay harassment while assigned to Oceana Naval Air Station.

The threatening comments were posted on a website where current and former Navy aviation personnel talk shop; the site has since been disabled.

Ensign Steve Crowston publicly acknowledged in recent weeks a matter he privately fought for months. He said that last summer, a few months after he arrived at Oceana's Strike Fighter Squadron 136 for an administrative position, a group of officers gathered to give him and a few other personnel honorary call signs - nicknames used by pilots and flight officers.

The suggested monikers were written on a white board in the squadron's ready room, he said. Topping the list under his name: "Gayboy" and "Fagmeister," followed by "Romo's bitch," "Cowgirl" and "Redskin."

Both the executive and commanding officer of the squadron were present during the meeting, he said.

An avid Dallas Cowboys fan, Crowston said he would have been fine with the name that won the informal vote - Romo's bitch - had it not come after two other call signs that seemed to question his sexuality. Tony Romo is the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys.

The next day, Crowston said, he approached the executive officer and told him he was upset about the discussion and did not want a call sign. Nothing came of that discussion, he said.

Months later, Crowston said, he reported to his superiors other inappropriate or discriminatory comments, behavior and e-mail messages that he believed showed "poor command climate" in the squadron. His boss responded, he said, by opening an investigation into his conduct and putting a letter in his file questioning his fitness as an officer. Before becoming a limited duty officer last year, Crowston was a chief petty officer who worked in the legal field.

Earlier this year, Crowston filed a complaint detailing the alleged harassment. He also contacted various legislators to press his case. According to the Naval Inspector General's office in Washington, the investigation is still open.

Last week, articles about the case appeared in The Navy Times, Time magazine and on Fox News.

That spurred a flurry of comments on various websites about the matter. Over the weekend, Crowston said, a friend alerted him to a disturbing post on a site called AirWarriors.com. It contained a picture of a nearly naked man tied to "the tree of woe" with a comment that said, "Send the Fagmiester back to the Goatlocker. We'll take care of him/her/it..."

The "goatlocker" is a reference to the Navy's chief petty officer community. The picture comes from the movie "Conan the Barbarian," starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Another commenter said of Crowston: "I read this article the other day and literally wanted to seek out this idiot and put my hands around his throat."

Crowston, who last week transferred to a job with Naval Special Warfare Group 2 at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, said Friday that he's not living in fear, but he doesn't take the comments lightly, either.

Ed Buice, an NCIS spokesman, said agents met with Crowston this week and will decide whether to conduct a full-scale felony investigation. A spokesman for the Virginia Beach Police Department said it is sharing information about the case with NCIS.

Kate Wiltrout, (757) 446-2629, kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com