Female Sailors Accuse Navy of Retribution

Three female sailors who filed sexual harassment complaints against supervisors at the naval air station here now say the Navy is punishing them for coming forward.

The women have faced allegations themselves after sparking investigations in April into the Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 9 detachment at Point Mugu.

Sailor Kimberly Bowles accused supervisors of grabbing her buttocks and making lewd comments. None of those accused were charged with offenses, but she faces charges of leaving the base without permission, refusing to sign a report and unauthorized use of a telephone calling card.

Sailor Jennifer Buhler complained about being groped by two supervisors, who she said also made numerous lewd comments. No action was taken against the men for inappropriate behavior, but Buhler was discharged after a diagnosis of a personality disorder.

Sailor Debbie Clark brought sexual harassment allegations against a supervisor in the squadron, again resulting in no formal charges. But court-martial proceedings against her began Monday on charges of assaulting an investigating officer and leaving the base without permission.

A fourth woman, sailor Amy Porretta, surfaced at Monday’s court-martial, testifying under oath that one officer warned her about making harassment allegations against a supervisor. She quoted him as saying, “I want you to know that if you come together as a group, we are going to knock you down, one by one, and you will not have a case.”

Although Porretta’s supervisor has since retired without any disciplinary action, Porretta was found guilty last week of falling asleep on watch, Navy officials said. Her punishment was to be knocked down a pay grade, but the squadron suspended her sentence provided she has no other infractions in the next six months.

A military women’s rights advocate said the cases are typical of what happens when Navy women dare to complain about being groped or assaulted.

“It’s the crazy-lady theory,” said attorney Susan Barnes, president of Women Active in Our Nation’s Defense. “If you make the allegation, you are labeled a crazy lady.”

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Capt. Craig Weideman, commanding officer of the squadron known as VX-9, acknowledged that the actions taken against the women look “like retribution. But it doesn’t have a . . . thing to do with the sexual harassment thing. . . . They broke the law. I’m a believer in holding everybody accountable for their actions.”

Weideman said he would have pursued sexual harassment allegations if they had proved to be true. But he said neither the Naval Criminal Investigative Service nor two other fact-finding teams came back to him with proof.

“It was all hearsay, and it came down to who are you going to believe,” he said. He sided with the senior chiefs and petty officers who had long Navy records, rather than their young accusers, whom he described as having trouble adjusting to Navy life.

The Navy has been struggling with sexual harassment since the scandal involving attacks on women by a gantlet of aviators at the infamous 1991 Tailhook Assn. convention. Point Mugu, like other bases, holds regular workshops on what constitutes proper and improper behavior in the workplace.

Yet women’s advocates say the message has not fully sunk in to parts of Navy culture or changed the behavior of some sailors, particularly among the enlisted ranks.

Buhler joined the Navy after high school so she could serve her country, learn leadership skills and earn subsidies for a college education.

After boot camp, she was assigned to the Point Mugu detachment of VX-9, a place known for its hotshot Navy pilots and, before the Tailhook scandal, the Playboy bunny painted on the tail of its lead jet.

Buhler said she soon discovered a locker-room mentality in the 200-member detachment, where men outnumber women about 4 to 1.

The harassment began, she said, with phone calls from would-be suitors at 2 a.m. “I was a virgin,” she said. “There was a bet going around the squadron who could get Buhler in bed first.”

Particularly disturbing, she said, was the behavior of her supervisors.

“One of them would say, ‘You have a very nice body, you are very well endowed,’ ” she said. “Another said, ‘Will you marry me and have my kids?’ Both of them grabbed my butt and touched me.”

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Buhler said she at first was reluctant to complain formally. Unknown to her, three other women were raising similar allegations. All four were sent to Naval investigators, who launched a formal inquiry.

Marilyn G. Hourican, special agent in charge of the local Naval Criminal Investigative Service, said agents had trouble finding witnesses inside the squadron to corroborate the women’s stories--even though she believes some harassment took place.

“There were more people, to be quite frank, who severely questioned the credibility of the women,” Hourican said. “It didn’t help a thing when the women would tell different people different things.”

The investigation became entangled in controversy when two agents re-interviewed Clark about her allegations and ended up in a scuffle.

“They were telling me that I was crazy. They were down-talking me,” Clark said. She said she got up to leave and investigators tried to restrain her. During the row, she broke a bone in the foot of an investigator, Navy officials said, and now faces an assault charge.

“They were embarrassed because of the harassment complaints,” said Clark, who faces up to six months in prison if convicted. “Now they want to punish me and the other girls because we let the cat out of the bag.”