Navy Officer Apologizes to Schroeder for Vulgar Skit

Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.) had a “cordial” meeting with a Navy officer who apologized for his role in a skit at the Miramar Naval Air Station Officers’ Club that included offensive sexual references to Schroeder, an aide to the congresswoman said Thursday.

Schroeder’s meeting in her Washington office with Cmdr. Robert H. Clement was “short but cordial,” said Andrea Camp, the aide. Clement, former commander of VF 111, a Miramar fighter squadron, “apologized for what happened (and) explained his side of the story,” Camp said.

In a brief telephone interview Thursday, Clement said he requested the meeting with Schroeder “not to ask for her help in my case but to tell her who I am and what the skit” at the Tomcat Follies was all about.

“It would have been totally inappropriate for me to ask her for help, or to ask what she planned to do after our meeting,” said Clement. “I’m grateful that she agreed to meet with me.”

He said he requested the meeting because he wants “to clear my name.” The Navy brass stripped him of his command last month, in effect putting an end to his military career. He said that he does not expect to be promoted to captain and will serve three more years before retiring.

Clement, 44, a 17-year-veteran, was one of five Miramar officers relieved of command last month for their roles in a June 18 show at the Officers’ Club that featured what Clement and others have called a political statement against Schroeder.

Schroeder, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, has been a vocal critic of the Navy’s investigation of the 1991 Tailhook Assn. sex scandal at a hotel in Las Vegas.

The offensive skit included two sexual references to Schroeder, including a message on a banner.

In a previous interview, Clement said the skit was intended as a political statement to attack Schroeder for her criticism of the Navy’s Tailhook investigation.

Camp, Schroeder’s spokeswoman, declined to say whether Schroeder accepted Clement’s apology or his explanation that the offensive skit was nothing more than a political statement by a group of Navy pilots dissatisfied with Schroeder.

“She didn’t indicate either way whether she believed him or not,” said Camp. “She agreed to meet with him as a courtesy. This (Tomcat Follies) isn’t about (Schroeder). It’s about a Navy rule (against sexual harassment) being enforced.”

Schroeder had already received one apology from the Navy. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Frank Kelso apologized to Schroeder when the Navy began an investigation of the Tomcat Follies in June.

Kelso ordered the investigation after receiving a complaint from a retired female Navy captain who saw the banner with the message about Schroeder.

According to Camp, Schroeder and Clement met “for about five minutes,” but Clement’s meeting with Schroeder’s staff lasted for about an hour.

On Thursday, Clement also met with Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.). Warner is a former secretary of the Navy. He also met with Rep. Beverly B. Byron (D-Md.), who is a member of the House Armed Services Committee.