THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 14, 1996 TAG: 9603140310
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
A Senate committee apparently has decided to take no further action now on the Navy's controversial nomination of Cmdr. Robert Stumpf for promotion to captain.
The Senate Armed Services Committee discussed the Virginia Beach-based aviator's case in a private meeting Wednesday night and adjourned without issuing a statement on its conclusions. It was the panel's second such session in as many days.
In a telephone interview, Stumpf said he received informal word after Wednesday night's meeting that the senators will tell the Navy that they have decided not to withdraw their earlier objection to his promotion.
A decorated veteran of the Persian Gulf War and a former commanding officer of the Navy's famed Blue Angels precision flying team, Stumpf was nominated for promotion to captain in 1994 and confirmed by the Senate later that year.
But Stumpf's advancement was derailed when the Navy acknowledged that it had failed to inform the committee of his attendance at the notorious Tailhook Association convention of 1991.
Stumpf had been cleared by the service of allegations that he witnessed illegal sexual acts at the convention, where dozens of Navy and civilian women were assaulted by drunken aviators. But under an agreement with the committee, the service was supposed to call the Senate's attention to any nominee with a Tailhook connection so that the panel could give those cases extra scrutiny.
After reviewing Stumpf's case, the committee asked Navy Secretary John H. Dalton not to promote him. And Dalton, while issuing public statements of support for Stumpf, agreed.
Stumpf's case has generated national attention, with conservative activists leading a drive to get the committee to reverse its stand while trying to persuade Dalton to order the promotion over the panel's objections. Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., lashed out against Stumpf's boosters on Tuesday, asserting that evidence against him was more serious than evidence the Navy and the committee had relied on to block the advancement of other officers.
The committee got a vote of confidence on the Senate floor Wednesday night from Sen. Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa Republican who has sometimes been a sharp critic of the military.
``Being cleared of criminal charges does not tell me that Cmdr. Stumpf is ready for promotion,'' Grassley said. He said the committee has an obligation to closely review the record of any nominee tied to Tailhook so it ``does not by CNB