THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 21, 1996 TAG: 9603210361
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
Navy Cmdr. Robert E. Stumpf, who last week sued the service in an effort to force his promotion to captain, may get a second chance at that rank through the Pentagon's regular channels.
A Navy selection board has recommended advancement of the Oceana-based aviator, The Washington Post reports this morning, forwarding his name up the chain of command for review by senior service and Defense Department officials.
A senior Navy official declined Wednesday night to comment on the board's recommendations, which generally remain secret until the Pentagon and the White House send a full list of nominees to the Senate. Sources had acknowledged earlier that Stumpf was on a list of commanders eligible for selection by the board.
Stumpf's career has been a hot potato for the Pentagon and the Senate since last year, when the Senate Armed Services Committee asked the Navy to remove his name from a list of officers the Senate already had confirmed. Navy Secretary John H. Dalton, who says he believes Stumpf should be promoted, went along with the request.
The committee acted after receiving a report, initially withheld by the Navy in an apparent oversight, of Stumpf's involvement in activities at the notorious 1991 Tailhook Association convention of naval aviators in Las Vegas.
Stumpf was cleared by a Navy board of inquiry of any wrongdoing at Tailhook, where other airmen sexually assaulted dozens of Navy and civilian women. The board also absolved him of allegations that he violated regulations by flying an F/A-18 Hornet to California, then renting a car and driving to Las Vegas; other attendees traveled to the convention on a C-9 transport or civilian aircraft.
Those allegations are the only ones to be detailed publicly, but Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn suggested last week that the committee has other evidence that would cast Stumpf in a less favorable light. The committee has refused to release that material, citing privacy considerations, and the Navy has said it cannot disclose its full file unless Stumpf authorizes its release in writing.
Stumpf went to Tailhook to receive an award for his flying during the Persian Gulf War. He was the Navy's most decorated pilot in that conflict and took command of the Blue Angels precision flying team after his return home.
The committee's refusal to detail its objections to Stumpf has outraged veterans groups and conservative activists, who have waged an aggressive public relations campaign on his behalf. Stumpf's supporters on the committee last week got the panel to reconsider its stand, only to have it issue a statement reaffirming its opposition to him.
The new selection board's recommendation poses a dilemma for Dalton, who while publicly supporting Stumpf has been unwilling to risk offending the committee by promoting him over its objection. By sending Stumpf's name back to Capitol Hill for a new confirmation review, the secretary would dump the controversy back in the Senate's lap just as it also is weighing the Navy's 1997 budget request.
KEYWORDS: TAILHOOK U.S. NAVY by CNB