Not so fast.
Seems he is getting an awful lot of support from both his current and former crew. Including at least one female.
"A Facebook page supporting Honors had more than 6,000 followers this morning. And a female sailor who served on the Enterprise from 2007 until September also praised him.
Former Petty Officer Phillip Ciesla, who served on the Enterprise under Honors, said stripping the captain of his command would be an unfit punishment.
"I don't believe it's the right course of action," he said on CBS' "The Early Show." "He didn't do it out of malice or cruelty. He did it to entertain his crew and boost our morale."
He said the videos were taken out of context because they weren't made for the public. They were intended to humor the sailors, who work long hours, halfway around the world, for months at a time, he said.
"They were meant for the crew only," he sad. "For our entertainment, lighthearted laughter. None of it was ever meant to be taken seriously."
"Capt. Honors is a very professional person, but he knew when to have fun," Jessica Zabawa told The Associated Press by e-mail. "Capt. Honors knows when to be serious and when it's time to unwind."
Another former sailor, Pete Clarke, also said the videos were made for sailors and were something that civilians could not understand. He said relieving Honors of duty would be unfair.
He noted that at first, the Navy downplayed the videos, but then condemned them.
"Which Navy are we talking about?" Clarke, a family friend of Honors, said on NBC's "Today" show. "I think the political correctness at the Pentagon needs to be checked on this."
"It's a shame that videos from four years ago are going to affect a heroic person." I concur. And had this come to light 4 years ago instead of today after the overturning of dont ask dont tell. I doubt this would have gotten as much press.
And considering these videos were made 4 years ago and are only now coming to light is a clear indication of just how little of a big deal was to the crew and how few people considered it offensive or worthy to complain about.. Particularly in this day and age where everyone seems to feel the need to have their butts kissed and the world bend over backwards for them because they find something offensive.
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01/04/uss-enterprise-capt-owen-honors-navy-video/There is also an opinion piece worth reading that sums it up pretty good written by J.D. Gordon - a communications consultant to four Washington, D.C., think tanks and a retired Navy commander who served in the office of the secretary of defense as the Pentagon spokesman for the Western Hemisphere. He also served as a public affairs officer for the Atlantic Fleet during the 1993 Tailhook trial.
Now I havent been locked up on a ship for months on end but I do know that when running work crews on long and sometimes tedious jobs for long periods of time Keeping morale up is every bit as important as professionalism and sometimes you have to sacrifice a bit of one to achieve the other. And sometimes leadership itself needs to be the one to do something goofy just to break the tension and loosen things up because someone of lower rank or position simply wont have the same effect. Even Spit N polish blood and guts Patton himself knew that.
If as a commander or leader, Your tough as nails deadly serious all the time. You make yourself and everyone around, and under you miserable.
The fact that current and former crew are coming out to support him is telling in itself as to how good and fit a commander he is.
He will probobly get nailed for this. but only because at this year in this time. It will be politically correct for the Navy to do so.
