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- THE WEEK, Page 17NATIONChoppy Waters
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- The Navy's chief resigns over the Tailhook sex-abuse scandal
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- As much as the U.S. Navy may want the scandal to sink to
- the bottom of public consciousness, Tailhook keeps resurfacing.
- The now infamous convention last September of the Tailhook
- Association, an organization of Navy and Marine aviators, where
- at least 26 women were sexually molested by servicemen, bobbed
- up again last week. After months of criticism, Navy Secretary H.
- Lawrence Garrett III finally resigned, accepting "full
- responsibility" for management of the Tailhook incident.
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- Garrett's announcement came two days after Navy Lieut. Paula
- Coughlin, a veteran helicopter pilot, publicly described her
- experience at the gathering. Coughlin came forward because she
- was frustrated by her superiors' foot-dragging response after
- they'd been told of the assault. Two internal Navy
- investigations and 1,500 interviews turned up only two
- suspected culprits. Not until two weeks ago did Garrett ask the
- Pentagon's inspector general to investigate the case.
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- The Senate Armed Services Committee has pushed the issue
- ahead by delaying the promotions of more than 4,000 officers,
- including the commander of the U.S. Sixth Fleet, insisting that
- the Pentagon clarify whether any were involved in the affair.
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