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

DATE: FRIDAY, May 19, 1995                   TAG: 9505190110
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: JACKSONVILLE, FLA.                                 LENGTH: Short

BELIEFS LEAD TO DISCHARGE

A Navy board voted unanimously Thursday to recommend an honorable discharge for a helicopter pilot who says his religious beliefs would keep him from leading women into combat.

The recommendation by the three Navy captains to dismiss Lt. Cmdr. Kenneth A. Carkhuff, based with an anti-submarine unit at Mayport Naval Station, now goes to the secretary of the Navy.

The 13-year Navy veteran and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy was accused of failure to support and carry out Pentagon policy.

``I think the Bible clearly teaches that we should not subject women to violence,'' the 35-year-old Carkhuff, who attends an Episcopal church, said in an interview. ``I think combat is probably the most extreme violence one can undergo in society.''

Cmdr. Douglas Beeks, Carkhuff's squadron leader, testified that in August, Carkhuff told him that after months of consideration and prayer, he had decided he opposed the policy allowing women in combat.

At the time, Carkhuff's helicopter detachment, which had two women pilots, was preparing for possible assignment in the military operation in Haiti.

by CNB