Women Accuse Navy Pilots of Harassment : Military: Naval Investigative Service probes allegations of sexual abuse. Navy secretary expresses “absolute outrage” over incident.

A reported incident of sexual abuse of women by Navy pilots during a symposium on naval aviation led Navy Secretary H. Lawrence Garrett III on Tuesday to express his “absolute outrage” and sever all ties to the San Diego-based naval aviation group that sponsored the conference.

In a letter to the Tailhook Assn. and its president, Capt. F.G. Ludwig Jr., Garrett deplored the “personal abuses, behavioral excesses and quite possibly criminal conduct” of some Navy officers who attended the three-day symposium in Las Vegas in early September.

Ludwig publicized the alleged incidents in an Oct. 11 letter sent to various Navy air wing commanders. Ludwig, who commands an air wing based at Miramar Naval Air Station, is on sea duty aboard the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk and could not be reached for comment.

Ludwig’s letter listed complaints from five women, including an admiral’s aide, who said they were subjected to verbal and physical abuse, had drinks thrown on them, and were sexually molested when they were forced to run a gauntlet of male officers in a hotel hallway.

The officers were attending a symposium on Navy aviation sponsored by the Tailhook Assn., a nonprofit organization that promotes naval aviation. The association, which has its national headquarters office at Miramar, was founded in 1957. Its 16,000 members include both active and retired Navy pilots. The organization is named after the device that snags the arresting cable as a plane lands on an aircraft carrier.

According to Ludwig’s letter, the alleged sexual abuse occurred Sept. 8, the last night of the conference. Afterward, five women reported that they had been abused. Some of the victims “had nothing to do with Tailhook,” said Ludwig’s letter. However, it is not known how many of the five were civilians.

The letter also alleged that “an underage young lady” who was very drunk was stripped by a “gauntlet” of Navy officers who lined a corridor of the Las Vegas Hilton. Ludwig also said that Tailhook members caused several thousand dollars damage to the hotel.

The hotel’s management refused Tuesday to comment on the incident.

However, a retired Navy official familiar with the incident said the damage included cigarette burns and alcohol stains to the hotel’s carpets.

The revelry got particularly unruly when one Navy officer “pressed ham” by pressing his naked bottom so hard against an upper-story window that he pushed out the glass, which fell to the ground, a source told The Times.

Navy Secretary Garrett’s letter to Ludwig and the association made clear his disgust over the incident in no uncertain terms.

This “is a gross example of exactly what cannot be permitted by the civilian or uniformed leadership of the Navy, at any level,” Garrett’s letter stated. “No man who holds a commission in this Navy will ever subject a woman to the kind of abuse in evidence at Tailhook 91 with impunity. And no organization which makes possible this behavior is in any way worthy of a naval leadership or advisory role.”

Garrett reminded Ludwig of Navy regulations prohibiting sexual harassment and an advisory that he sent to the fleet in April reiterating that position.

“I said then that I would reinforce a position of zero tolerance of sexual harassment, and I meant it,” the letter said. “That policy was not new in April, nor when I became secretary. . . . Each of you, from the most junior sailor to the most senior officer, has a responsibility to build working and living spaces free from unprofessional conduct, fear and prejudice. The Tailhook Assn. most certainly did not live up to that responsibility.”

Both Garrett and Adm. Frank Kelso, chief of naval operations, attended the Las Vegas conference. However, Garrett’s letter makes no mention of whether they were aware of the allegations of sexual harassment until they were outlined in Ludwig’s letter to other Navy commanders.

Garrett also informed Ludwig that he had ordered the immediate termination of all Navy support for the association. A Tailhook Assn. official who requested anonymity said that Garrett’s order means the group will lose its office space at Miramar.

Cmdr. Sheila Graham, a Navy spokeswoman in San Diego, said the group does not pay rent at Miramar but is required to pay for utilities.

A probe of the incident is under way by the Naval Investigative Service personnel from across the country, Michael G. Bourke, assistant NIS regional director in San Diego, said Tuesday. He declined to comment further.

However, the Tailhook official said that he had been interviewed by NIS investigators, and that he was left with the impression that investigators are still trying to learn the identities of the pilots involved in the incident.

“They’re interested in finding out who done it. But as of now, they don’t appear to have a clue,” the official said.

“This alleged incident doesn’t mean that Miramar pilots were involved. I have no personal knowledge of this incident happening,” he continued. “There’s no reason for us to cover up anything. In fact, it would be more detrimental to us. I can assure you that, if I or anybody else here knew anything about this, we would be more than willing to tell the NIS. We’re not going to cover up for any Navy officer.”

But a retired Navy official who talked to The Times on the condition that he not be identified said excessive drinking and outrageous conduct are typical of Tailhook Assn. gatherings.

“This is not an isolated incident. There’s always something at the Tailhook, and there’s always a ‘boys-will-be-boys’ attitude, but these are not boys--they’re Navy pilots who are supposed to be officers and gentlemen,” he said.

The retired Navy official, like others, thought the incident reflected the Navy’s sexist attitude toward women.

It also shows that the Navy brass takes a more permissive view of offensive behavior by officers than it does that of enlisted men, he said.

“If you had a Navy-sanctioned event, and 3,000 enlisted men did those sorts of things, there would be some court-martials,” he said. “They call this the ‘gathering of eagles.’

“I’d call it the ‘gathering of turkeys.’ ”

Times staff writer Nora Zamichow contributed to this story.