THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 18, 1995 TAG: 9503180215
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By KERRY DEROCHI, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
The Navy has ended its investigation into claims that a female recruit was beaten and kicked in the showers of an Orlando, Fla., boot camp and has ruled that the allegations were unfounded.
Citing inconsistencies in the victim's story, and an absence of corroborating witnesses, Navy officials said Friday they were no longer pursuing criminal assault charges from the Aug. 12, 1992, incident. The woman, a recruit at the time, is now a petty officer.
The investigation has been sent to the chief of naval education and training in Pensacola, Fla., for a review of the training practices used on Navy recruits.
``The Naval Criminal Investigative Service conducted an extensive investigation and determined the claims made by this petty officer were not substantiated,'' said Capt. George Farrar, a spokesman for the Atlantic Fleet in Norfolk.
In a statement released Friday, Farrar said that while the incident raised questions about the treatment of recruits at the boot camp - the first to integrate men and women - it did not constitute an assault.
``The investigation found deviations from established policy for the treatment of recruits,'' Farrar said.
``All the motivational training is to be conducted in the berthing compartment. In this case, some of the recruits were given remedial physical exercise in the shower areas.''
The decision ended a three-month probe into allegations from Stacie M. Nevells, an operations specialist who told investigators that she was kicked in the head and struck with broom handles by three enlisted instructors.
Nevells, 23, who lives in Norfolk, is awaiting a medical discharge from the Navy for a rare equilibrium disorder that doctors have said may be linked to the incident. She will officially leave the Navy Friday after 2 1/2 years of service.
In a statement to investigators last December, Nevells said she had been taken into the showers to be initiated as one of the first women trainee leaders.
She said that while in the shower, three Navy chiefs - all men - told her she had to prove herself before she could assume a leadership position. She said she was then struck repeatedly while being told to complete the physical training.
But Navy officials familiar with the investigation said Friday those claims were not borne out by the 146 interviews conducted with members of Nevells' recruit class.
Though they would not publicly discuss the case, the officials said they were unable to find a single person who saw the beating or who heard Nevells complain of mistreatment.
``No one saw her hit, struck or beaten,'' said one official. ``A number of people talked to her, she never told them anything about the incident.''
Reports of the assault were made public last December when an internal Navy memo was leaked to the media, detailing Nevells' claims.
The report sparked outrage in the Navy community because the incident had taken place at a time when the service was beginning to crack down on the treatment of its women sailors.
One week before the alleged beating, in August 1992, the Navy touted its integrated boot camp at Orlando as an example of how men and women can work together. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
Stacie M. Nevells will officially leave the Navy Friday on a
medical discharge.
KEYWORDS: NAVY INVESTIGATION ABUSE RECRUIT WOMEN IN THE MILITARY
ASSAULT BEATING BOOT CAMP RECRUTI TRAINING by CNB