Video Sex at Sea: Male and Female Sailors Punished

A male and a female sailor on the aircraft carrier Eisenhower were disciplined last week after they videotaped themselves having sex aboard the ship and were discovered after the man showed the tape to other sailors, Navy officials said Saturday.

“The U.S. Navy has an unambiguous policy. Sexual misconduct will not be tolerated,” said Cmdr. Kevin Wensing, a Navy spokesman.

The Eisenhower is the first combat carrier to integrate men and women. It was recently reported that 14 female crew members had become pregnant since the vessel left on its current assignment last October, although Navy officials said there is no indication they became pregnant on board.

Wensing said the male seaman apprentice and the female seaman recruit, both in their early 20s and married to other people, admitted in an informal hearing last week that they had engaged in consensual sex in an isolated part of the ship. The man videotaped the activity with his personal camera. He was turned in to authorities by an enlisted member of the crew who was at the man’s work station when the video was played for his co-workers, Wensing said.

Both the man and the woman pleaded guilty to adultery and willfully disobeying orders, Wensing said. They were both restricted for 45 days and given another 45 days’ extra duty. The male was reduced in rank and both forfeited one-half of two months’ pay, about $850.

A third crew member, a chief warrant officer who viewed part of the video, was also disciplined for failing to report the incident, said Wensing. He was restricted for 30 days and given a punitive letter of reprimand.

There are 415 women and 4,552 men aboard the Eisenhower, Wensing said.