THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 7, 1996 TAG: 9606070003
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 47 lines
A great many people in and out of the Navy will wish smooth sailing for Adm. Jay L. Johnson, President Clinton's choice to follow the deceased Adm. Jeremy ``Mike'' Boorda as chief of naval operations.
Admiral Johnson and the Navy he heads as acting CNO have endured rough seas aplenty since the notorious Tailhook-convention scandal set in motion forces that are still destroying and damaging the careers of able Navy personnel.
Acting CNO since Admiral Boorda's suicide in mid-May, Admiral Johnson is well-qualified for the Navy's top job; his experience in war and peace commend him for the post. Like many other naval aviators, he flew in harm's way during the Vietnam War. He is respected for his leadership qualities, demonstrated at sea and ashore in operational commands and staff positions. He commanded the 2nd Fleet during the Haiti-rescue mission before being tapped as vice chief of naval operations.
As vice CNO and acting CNO he has had an up-close-and-personal look at the peculiar hazards of the job in the post-Tailhook period that ushered Adm. Frank Kelso II into retirement under a cloud and triggered Admiral Boorda's death by his own hand. He could have no illusions about the treacherous waters awaiting the next CNO.
The Navy, as an old-salt saying has it, ain't what it used to be and never was. The push to expand career opportunities for women in the Navy - reflecting a trend throughout the military - has added to commanding officers' personnel-handling burdens (never light) and placed CNOs in the hot seat. Challenges by homosexuals to the half-century-old bar to their serving in the military also adds to the Navy's strains. Revelations of unsavory conduct, including lawbreaking, by some Naval Academy midshipmen and drug-smuggling and rape and murder cases involving some sailors are also among the CNO's headaches.
The next CNO will be constantly scrutinized by those who complained that Admiral Boorda increased the numbers of women in shipboard assignments at the expense of combat readiness and acquiesced in the ruin of personnel linked directly or indirectly with Tailhook or accused of invidious discrimination against females.
Meanwhile, the CNO directs a multibillion-dollar enterprise operated by hundreds of thousands of mainly young people who by and large are the best-prepared and best-trained rank-and-file in the Navy's history. The task before Admiral Johnson - and all hands - is to firmly but fairly jettison the bad actors who discredit the Navy and protect and promote all who do it honor. by CNB