THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 31, 1996 TAG: 9601310463
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
The Senate confirmed Adm. Joseph Prueher on Tuesday as head of the U.S. Pacific Command, putting aside concerns about his handling of a 1989 sex harassment investigation at the U.S. Naval Academy.
In a voice vote, the Senate confirmed President Clinton's nomination of the four-star admiral to the Honolulu post, one of five regional military commands responsible for U.S. armed forces in the Pacific.
A decorated combat pilot and now the vice chief of naval operations, Prueher succeeds Adm. Richard Macke, whom Clinton asked to resign last fall after Macke made a remark about a rape case involving U.S. servicemen on Okinawa.
In 1989, Prueher was a Navy captain, commandant of midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., when a group of male students chained a female classmate to a urinal and taunted her.
Prueher headed the investigation, which led to written reprimands, demerits and lost leave time, but no more severe punishments against the assailants.
At his confirmation hearing last week, Prueher, 53, said he could have handled the investigation better, particularly by showing greater sensitivity to the victim, Gwen Dreyer, who left the academy in disgust.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., placed a hold on Prueher's confirmation. The senator indicated through a spokesman that he wanted more time to review the admiral's record.
But as the Senate confirmed Prueher for three promotions since the Naval Academy incident, lawmakers were hard-pressed to justify blocking his advancement now, said a Senate staffer.
In the end, Kennedy supported Prueher's promotion.
The issue of sexual harassment is doubly significant in this case because Macke, Prueher's predecessor, caused a furor by suggesting that three U.S. servicemen who raped a 12-year-old Japanese girl on Okinawa could have hired a prostitute.The focus on the Naval Academy case obscured but did not obliterate consideration of Prueher's overall military record.
Sen. William Frist, R-Tenn., who sponsored the Nashville native's nomination, noted Prueher's exploits under fire as an attack squadron pilot in Vietnam. Prueher was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for one particularly dangerous mission.
A 1964 graduate of the academy, Prueher also earned a master's degree in international affairs from George Washington University and a degree from the Naval War College in 1973. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Adm. Joseph Prueher, 53, is now the vice chief of naval operations.
KEYWORDS: U.S. NAVY U.S. PACIFIC COMMAND by CNB