THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 10, 1996 TAG: 9603120419
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: BY BARRETT R. RICHARDSON
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
FALL FROM GLORY
The Men Who Sank the U.S. Navy
GREGORY L. VISTICA
Simon & Schuster. 447 pp. $27.50.
Gregory L. Vistica's ``expose'' of the U.S. Navy re-launders a lot of dirty linen that has made headlines since the 1980s. Fall From Glory may strike a nerve in our Navy-oriented community, particularly among the top brass, whom the author blames for much of the service's troubles. Nonetheless, the book is lively reading about recent scandals and not so recent behind-the-scenes Machiavellian machinations in the corridors of Navy power.
Newsweek reporter Vistica draws a bead on John Lehman, secretary of the Navy under Ronald Reagan. He depicts Lehman as a man who damaged the service while trying to make it over in his own image and bring himself glory. He put a severe strain on the nation's finances.
Under Lehman, the Navy reached tremendous power, initially inspiring renewed pride among its members and the public. Respect for the Navy was spurred by the shooting down of two Libyan airplanes over the Gulf of Sidra and the capture of Palestinian terrorists who hijacked the ocean liner Achille Lauro.
But, Vistica contends, Lehman's legacy ultimately was a Navy with its morale in shambles over the Tailhook scandal, the battleship Iowa explosion and Naval Academy cheating.
Drawing on hundreds of interviews and a vast assortment of declassified documents, Vistica details a series of events that, he believes, sent Navy prestige down a slippery slope it has yet to rescale.
In 1981, when Lehman took the helm determined to wrest control of the service from its admiralty, he had a Navy lawyer research the statutes pertaining to his office to help him consolidate his power. Then with a cadre of hand-picked officers, Lehman launched a trillion-dollar naval buildup to fund a 600-ship fleet the nation did not need and could not afford.
According to Vistica, Lehman and Navy officials buried intelligence reporting that the Soviet navy was inefficient and defensive, and characterized the Russian fleet as a serious threat to U.S. security in order to finagle financial support from Congress.
Naval aviation, Lehman's pet, bears the brunt of Vistica's wide-ranging assault, which culminates in detailed coverage of the Tailhook scandal. The author persuasively argues that Tailhook was the ultimate manifestation of the Navy's macho culture, reflected in mistreatment of women that ranges from harassment to sexual battery.
The book contains eye-opening accounts of lurid escapades of Navy men at Tailhook Association conventions and at Subic Bay in the Philippines. (Including a fast opening scene that has a naked woman dangling over a prone John Lehman.) The author places part of the blame on the officer corps for not offering the moral leadership and discipline to clean house. Instead of shaping up the service, the brass is more interested in covering up mistakes and perpetuating power, Vistica says.
Other embarrassments described include the F-14 Tomcat engine problems that caused about 50 crashes and dozens of deaths; the environmental nightmare caused by dumping a hot nuclear reactor into the Atlantic off the coast of Newfoundland in the 1970s; and risky secret naval operations off the coast of the Soviet Union.
Vistica offers little hope for a reshaping of the Navy image and a return to its former luster, concluding that despite some lip service regarding better treatment of women, it's pretty much business as usual:
``Previous gains made in changing the male-dominated culture were under attack by conservative politicians whose endgame was to repeal the federal law allowing women to serve in combat,'' he writes. ``Amid this backdrop, rape, sexual assault, and harassment claims in the armed forces continued to climb'' after Tailhook.
After reading Vistica's depressing litany of Navy problems, one wonders if it is the same outwardly appearing ship-shape service we see daily in Hampton Roads. Fortunately - and Vistica does not dispute this - the rank and file Navy men and women are conscientious and patriotic individuals who work hard, stay out of trouble and stand ready to put their lives on the line in the service of their country. MEMO: Barrett R. Richardson is a student of military history and a retired
staff editor. He lives in Portsmouth. ILLUSTRATION: JOHN EARLE/The Virginian-Pilot
by CNB