I spent 8 years of my 26 on an aircraft carrier (USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN-71), both as ship's company, and as the Battle Group Communicator with the Roosevelt as our flag ship. While I don't condone what the CAPT did as the XO of the Enterprise, it did happen 5 years ago, and now it's a big deal? While it may have not been in the best of taste and it was a poor decision on his part, he did it in the realm of moral for the troops. Having done a few extended cruises in my career, and doing them during heightened OP tempos, getting a moral booster during a cruise comes in nicely. Surprisingly, he's getting tremendous support from both male and female crewmembers that were stationed on the Enterprise when he did these vids, and almost all of them state that he didn't do anything more than what they would see on Saturday Night Live or MTV. Still doesn't excuse him from bad judgment. Should he be relieved, would my confidence in him as a skipper change because of this, probably not. But in this world of PC everything, he will more then likely be relieved for cause and his career will be over. Towards the end of my career (I retired in 1999), I started witnessing the "pussification" of the Navy. It was no longer fun to be in the Navy because you had to second guess everything you said or did. It's hard to do your job when you have to wonder who or what you're going to offend this time if you do something. JMO and observations after spending 26 great years in the "canoe club".
