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In total, 119 Navy
and 21 Marine Corps officers were
referred by Pentagon investigators for
possible disciplinary actions. They were
cited for incidents of indecent assault,
indecent exposure, conduct unbecoming an
officer or failure to act in a proper
leadership capacity while at
Tailhook '91. Further, 51
individuals were found to have made false
statements during the investigation. None
of these 140 cases ever went to trial.
Approximately half were dropped for lack
of evidence. Most of the rest of the men
"went to the mast" - an internal,
non-judicial disciplinary procedure
that meted out fines and severe career
penalties. Almost all of these
cases involved unseemly behavior
rather than sexual assault.
With regard to the most celebrated case
in the Tailhook scandal, the Marine Corps
dropped all charges against the Marine
captain charged by Lieutenant Paula Coughlin
with sexual molestation. The Corps decided
there was not enough evidence to proceed with
a court-martial against the captain and
that Coughlin misidentified her assailant.
As time went on, however, the fallout from
Tailhook '91 continued. Ultimately
the careers of fourteen admirals and almost
300 naval aviators were scuttled or damaged
by Tailhook. For example Secretary of the Navy
H. Lawrence Garrett III and CNO
Admiral Frank Kelso were both at
Tailhook '91. Garrett ultimately
resigned and Kelso retired early two
years after the convention.
A Navy-wide policy was implemented in
which any officer who came up for promotion
had to sign a paper asking if he or anyone in
his command had been at Tailhook '91.
If the answer was 'yes' the candidate's
promotion was set aside for special
evaluation.
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