Navy Not Biased Against Women Fliers, Report Finds

The Navy neither discriminated against nor gave preferential treatment to the first group of women aviators to fly combat planes, according to a report released Tuesday by the Navy’s inspector general.

But the report also concluded that some male senior officers were guilty of maladroit leadership that irritated the women and angered their male colleagues by appearing to either show favoritism or a paternalistic condescension.

The 24-page report criticizes the commanding officer of a carrier air wing based at Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego for holding “women-only” meetings, ordering women to undergo pregnancy tests, giving women more spacious berths at sea, and telling the women he viewed them as his daughters and sisters.

Still, the report concluded that the commander, Capt. Dennis Gillespie, was a demanding but fair-minded leader who was trying faithfully to comply with the Navy’s new “gender-neutral” policy, but finding himself in an untenable position where “the most innocuous statement . . . could be perceived as an inappropriate slight or insult. . . .”

The investigators said Gillespie “had a paternalistic attitude toward women [but] it also appears that he did not let that attitude interfere with the way he handed out assignments.” As evidence of his paternalism, the report noted that Gillespie would not swear in front of women aviators and once referred to them as good dance partners.

Gillespie was not available for comment. Naval officials declined to discuss the report.

The inspector general recommended that the Navy keep the media from doing stories highlighting women in the military because it caused morale problems. The investigators suggested providing more “diversity and gender difference training,” as well as schooling flight surgeons to do a better job spotting stress or psychological breakdowns.

The report, ordered by the secretary of the Navy, deals predominantly with Carrier Air Wing 11 at Miramar NAS and incidents aboard the carrier Abraham Lincoln in the Pacific and the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Atlantic. The Lincoln and the Eisenhower were the first carriers to go to sea with women combat aviators after the ban on women in combat was lifted in 1993.

The report portrayed a tradition-bound military service struggling to fully integrate women into its combat ranks and with commanders like Gillespie being unsure which way to turn.

One dilemma cited in the report was whether the women could be given additional instruction or additional chances to make carrier landings or whether that violated the “gender neutral” policy. Appeals by commanders to higher-ups for clarification were fruitless.

“It’s very frustrating for us because we could get no guidance from higher authority,” according to one unnamed senior officer quoted. “If I needed to ask a question about the integration of women at sea, I could call--I would have to call four or five agencies . . . everybody was apprehensive about getting involved.”

The report found that “the fallout from Tailhook ’91 made it more difficult” for some male aviators to accept women into combat units because they felt the Navy’s senior leadership had abandoned them during the investigation into assaults upon women at the association’s convention in Las Vegas.

“The leadership’s apparent acquiescence to Congress’ increased scrutiny of the promotions of officers who had attended Tailhook led some aviators to believe their community was being unfairly punished for political effect,” according to the report.

The Navy’s first female F-14A Tomcat pilot, Lt. Kara Hultgreen, was assigned to Miramar, as was F-14 pilot Carey Lohrenz. The report said media attention paid to Hultgreen, Lohrenz and the other women aviators angered the men.

Hultgreen was killed Oct. 25, 1994, while attempting a daylight landing aboard the Lincoln. Lohrenz was later grounded for poor flying.

The inspector general’s inquiry was prompted by Lohrenz’s allegations of discrimination against Gillespie that investigators concluded were unsubstantiated. Lohrenz has since regained flight status but not for the supersonic F-14 or F-18.