Navy to investigate lewd videos shown on carrier

NORFOLK, Va. — The Navy said Sunday it will investigate "clearly inappropriate" videos broadcast to the crew of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in which a top officer of the ship used gay slurs, mimicked masturbation and opened the shower curtain on women pretending to bathe together.

The star of the videos, made in 2006 and 2007, is a former Top Gun pilot who now commands the same ship, the Norfolk-based USS Enterprise, which was deployed in the Middle East at the time and is weeks from deploying again.

The Virginian-Pilot newspaper reported on the videos in its Saturday editions and posted an edited version of one video on its website.

Capt. Owen Honors appeared in the videos while he was the USS Enterprise's executive officer — the second in command — and they aired on the ship's closed-circuit television. Honors took over as the ship's commander in May.

It's not immediately known why the videos are surfacing now. The Virginian-Pilot quoted anonymous crew members who said they raised concerns aboard the ship about the videos when they aired, but they were brushed off.

It's clear from the videos that Honors had already gotten complaints when some of them were made. "Over the years I've gotten several complaints about inappropriate material during these videos, never to me personally but, gutlessly, through other channels," he said in the introduction to the video posted by the newspaper.

In the same segment, Honors uses a derogatory term for gays.

Next comes a sequence of what appear to be outtakes in which Honors and others curse, followed by clips in which he and others are shown making hand motions that mimic masturbation.

Honors segues to the next segment by saying, "Finally let's get to my favorite topic ... chicks in the shower." Next are shown clips of pairs of women and a pair of men pretending to shower together. No nudity is shown, but the men's and women's bare shoulders imply they are nude.

Other clips in the video show a man in drag and a mock rectal examination.

Navy spokesman Cmdr. Chris Sims said in a statement sent to The Associated Press that the videos "were not acceptable then and are not acceptable in today's Navy."

Executive officers and other leaders "are charged to lead by example and are held accountable for setting the proper tone and upholding the standards of honor, courage and commitment that we expect sailors to exemplify," he said.

Sims said U.S. Fleet Forces Command "has initiated an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the production of these videos."

In a statement to the Virginian-Pilot on Friday, however, the Navy said it had put a stop to videos with "inappropriate content" on the Enterprise several years ago.

"It is unfortunate that copies of these videos remained accessible to crewmembers, especially after leadership took action approximately four years ago to ensure any future videos reflected the proper tone," the Navy said.

It also said the videos "were intended to be humorous skits focusing the crew's attention on specific issues such as port visits, traffic safety, water conservation, ship cleanliness, etc."

A phone listing for Honors was not immediately available. He is a 1983 alumnus of the U.S. Naval Academy and was a naval aviator before holding command. He attended the U.S. Naval Fighter Weapons School, also known as Top Gun.

The newspaper reported that the videos were made during the Enterprise's two six-month deployments to the Middle East in 2006 and 2007.

Commissioned in 1961, the Enterprise is the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. It is scheduled to sail two more deployments before it is decommissioned in 2013. It can carry a crew of more than 5,800.

The commanding officer of the Enterprise at the time the videos were made, Lawrence Rice, was later promoted to the rank of the rear admiral and now works at the Norfolk-based U.S. Joint Forces Command. A message left with the command seeking comment from him on Sunday was not immediately returned.

The video posted by the newspaper included clips of past "movies" Honors had made — including several statements in which he holds his higher-ups blameless for the material.

"As usual, the admiral and the captain have no idea about the contents of the video or movie this evening, and they should not be held accountable in any judicial setting," Honors says. (AP) 

<한글 기사>

미 항모함장 외설 비디오 방영 '물의'

(노포크<美버지니아주>) 세계 첫 원자력 추진 항공모함인 엔터프라이즈 호 함장이 5천800여 승무원들에게 함상 폐쇄회로로 외설 비디오를 방영해 물의를 빚고 있다고 미국 버지니아에서 발행되는 한 신문이 2일(현지시각) 보도했다.

지난해 5월 제독이 된 오웬 오너는 지난 2006년과 2007년 엔터프라이즈 호 함장 직을 맡고 있을 당시 자신이 직접 출연해 동성애를 비하하는 발언을 하고 `이상한 동작'을 하는가 하면 여군들이 샤워하는 장면을 폐쇄회로 TV로 승무원들에게 보여줬다고 `버지니아 파일럿'이 일요판에서 전했다.

해군은 이 비디오를 조사할 계획이라며 "아주 부적절한 행위"라고 말했다.

원래 이 방송은 특정 주제, 예를 들어 기항이라든가 교통안전, 수질보호, 선박 의 청결상태 등에 관해 승무원들의 주의를 환기시킬 목적으로 코믹하게 만들어 방영 하는 것이라고 해군 측은 설명했다.

물의를 빚은 오너는 지난 1983년 해군사관학교를 졸업했으며 해군 전투기조종사 훈련과정을 마친 `최우수 조종사(탑건)' 출신이다.

신문이 입수해 웹사이트에 게재해 놓은 비디오를 보면, 오너는 직접 카메라 앞 에서 말을 하면서 외설스러운 일련의 화면을 소개하기도 한다. 그 자신도 인정했다시피 이 화면들은 다른 승무원들로부터 문제 있다고 지적받은 것들이다.

오너는 "오늘 저녁 방영하는 것들의 내용이 무엇인지에 대해 보통 때와 마찬가 지로 제독이나 함장은 관심이 없으므로 그들이 법적 책임을 져야할 건 없다"며 "수 년 동안 이 비디오를 틀 때 부적절한 내용에 대한 불만을 들었다. 나에게 직접 한 게 아니라 비겁하게 다른 통로를 통해서였다"고 말했다.

이 도입부에서도 오너는 동성애자를 비하하는 용어를 사용했다.

본 방송에서 삭제된 장면을 편집해 놓은 듯한 장면에서는 오너와 다른 사람들이 악담을 퍼붓기도 한다. 오너가 `배 안의 코미디언들은 망가져야 웃음을 유도하는 법 '이라고 말한 뒤 그와 다른 사람들이 자위행위를 연상시키는 동작을 한다.

오너는 이어 "마침내 내가 좋아하는 얘깃거리, `샤워하는 영계들'을 얘기할  때 가 됐다"며 샤워장면을 내보내기도 했다.

이 비디오가 유출된 경위는 즉각 알려지지 않았지만 신문은 익명의 승무원들이 `방영 당시 우려를 제기했지만 싹 무시당했다'고 말했다고 전했다.

신문은 또 이 비디오가 지난 2006년과 2007년 중동 해역에 두 번 배치됐을 때 제작된 것이라고 말했다. 

지난 1961년 취역한 엔터프라이즈 호는 세계에서 처음으로 원자력을 동력으로 사용하는 항공모함이며 오는 2013년 퇴역 전에 두 차례 더 작전배치될 예정이다. 승 무원은 5천800여명이다. (AP-연합뉴스)