
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, October 16, 1993                   TAG: 9310160185
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

3 MORE DISCIPLINED IN TAILHOOK INCIDENT ADMIRAL'S RANK REDUCED; 2 CENSURED

In an effort to demonstrate that senior military officers bear much responsibility for the atmosphere of debauchery at the Tailhook Association convention, the Pentagon on Friday censured three admirals and took less-serious administrative action against 30 other senior officers, including Adm. Frank B. Kelso II, the chief of naval operations.

In announcing his judgment on the performance of 35 admirals and Marine generals, Navy Secretary John H. Dalton described the affair as a failure of leadership. And because of that, he said, he reserved the severest actions for the three naval officers most closely involved in planning and running the convention of Navy aviators in 1991 at a hotel in Las Vegas, Nev., during which scores of women were sexually assaulted.

The 30 other officers, including Kelso, were given what the Pentagon called letters of caution, which do not go in their files. Dalton had originally wanted Kelso dismissed as the ultimate demonstration of command responsibility, but he was overruled earlier this month by Defense Secretary Les Aspin.

Officials said Aspin believed that dismissing Kelso would have held him to a higher standard of accountability than than the other officers.

The punishments issued Friday ranged from the effective end of a few military careers to milder forms of reprimand that Pentagon officials said could be overcome.

One of the three who received letters of censure, Vice Adm. Richard Dunleavy, has retired and Friday's action means that he will remain at the two-star level, one-star lower than the highest rank he served. Dalton said the demotion could represent a loss of retirement pay of more than $100,000 over the years.

Rear Adm. Riley Mixson and Rear Adm. Wilson Flagg, who served as Dunleavy's deputies in organizing the Tailhook convention, also received letters of censure - letters that Pentagon officials said would tarnish their reputations and block promotions, effectively ending their careers. "I expect they will be retiring very shortly," a senior Pentagon official said.

by CNB