WASHINGTON INSIGHT

SHORE DUTY: The Navy’s already-thin ranks of senior female officers are about to shrink even more as the service’s top-ranking woman, Rear Adm. Roberta L. Hazard, retires next month. . . . Hazard’s departure as the service’s--indeed the world’s--most senior military woman brings the number of active-duty female admirals from three to two, out of a total of 249. Her retirement comes as the Navy deals with the aftershocks of alleged sexual assaults at the 1991 Tailhook Convention. As assistant chief of naval personnel, Hazard had been overseeing new training programs to eradicate sexual harassment. . . . Her replacement: Rear Adm. Paul E. Tobin.