Officer Reprimanded; Lived With Female Aide

A court-martial on Saturday reprimanded a Navy commander convicted of living with a female subordinate officer and deceiving his superior about their relationship.

Cmdr. James Wyatt III, a 19-year veteran found guilty of what a prosecutor called “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman,” had faced a maximum penalty of 16 months in prison and dismissal from the service.

The government prosecutor had recommended that Wyatt be dismissed from the Navy but not imprisoned.

The court-martial stemmed from his involvement with Lt. (j.g.) Etteinne Boatwright, 23, an intelligence officer in his squadron.

Couple Met in 1983

Wyatt was legally separated but still married at the time he met Boatwright in 1983, when both were stationed at Moffett Field in Mountain View. Later, while stationed at the remote Indian Ocean outpost of Diego Garcia in January, 1984, they announced their engagement and began living together in Wyatt’s trailer.

Boatwright told the board that she no longer loves Wyatt and wants to get on with her job. Wyatt said that regardless of the outcome, his career is ruined.

After the verdict, Wyatt said: “I am pleased. I am relieved that I am still in the U.S. Navy.” The reprimand calls for Wyatt to forfeit $250 a month for 10 months, but the tribunal recommended that the monetary penalty be suspended.

Defense attorney Robert Bryan said that he would appeal Wyatt’s convictions.

‘Open and Honest’

He said he believed that the Navy was making an example of Wyatt, whose biggest mistake, he said, was being “open and honest” about his affair. Bryan told reporters that other witnesses had been prepared to testify that the Navy tolerates illicit affairs and “whoring” by its officers as long as they “sneak around.”

“When the Navy starts going after and destroying a fine officer like this one, it should clean out some of its other dirty linen,” Bryan said.

“The Navy is not against love; we’re for love,” said Cmdr. Frederick Gorell, a Navy spokesman. “This is not a question of the Navy being interested in the private sexual affairs of its officers. It’s a question of a commanding officer and a subordinate one.”