Naval Academy Looking at Cruise Behavior

Zaphod

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Aw, crap. Here we go again! :bang:

Link to article.

Naval Academy Looking at Cruise Behavior
Mar 27, 2:44 PM (ET)

By BRIAN WITTE

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - The Naval Academy said Tuesday it is investigating allegations of lewd behavior and heavy drinking by a group of midshipmen on a spring break Caribbean cruise.

One passenger wrote that she and other women were groped, and that some of the midshipmen offered alcohol to teenage girls on the cruise.

The allegations hit as the academy has been trying to stop alcohol abuse and sexual impropriety following two sexual misconduct cases allegedly involving academy football players.

"The Naval Academy is reviewing allegations of possible misconduct involving midshipmen aboard a cruise ship during spring break," March 10-18, the academy said Tuesday in a statement.

"Typically, midshipmen are in a leave status during this time and are expected to abide by the academy's clear standards regarding appropriate behavior both in and out of uniform," the statement said.

The investigation began after a woman on the Carnival Cruise Lines ship Glory complained in an e-mail to the academy that a group of eight to 10 male midshipmen were acting in a "lewd" manner, The (Baltimore) Sun reported Tuesday.

"I was 'felt up' by one of the very drunk men and I was given the misfortune of watching them grab and disrespect every woman they could get close to as well as seeing them offer underage (15 and 17 year old) girls at our table alcohol," the woman wrote.

In a March 18 posting on cruisecritics.com, another passenger described "a group of boys from the Naval academy" who were "being very loose with their hands when talking with the ladies."

The academy has suffered bad publicity since star quarterback Lamar Owens Jr. was charged with raping a female midshipman in January 2006.

A jury found Owens not guilty of rape but convicted him of conduct unbecoming an officer and disobeying a lawful order. Vice Adm. Rodney Rempt, the academy's superintendent, recommended Owens be dismissed despite his acquittal. Owens is appealing.

Another former football player, Kenny Ray Morrison, faces a general court-martial Monday on two counts of indecent assault and two counts of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman for allegedly assaulting two female midshipmen during separate incidents last year.

The academy earlier this month outlined plans to have its 4,000 midshipmen take classes this fall to raise awareness about sexual harassment and its consequences. Women make up about 19 percent of the academy's student body.

This is starting to PISS ME OFF!! Can't these IDIOTS get it through their damned skulls to stay sober and keep their fracking hands to themselves? :mad: :mad: :mad:
 
Classic case of a few morons ruining the reputation of the whole. Now we'll get to sit through some more classes that the majority of the Brigade doesn't need/have time for.

Personally, I think they should be separated. We got so many lectures from outside speakers/faculty/upper class leading up to SB that this clearly shows a lack of ability to follow advice...not to mention orders.
 
Something about this just doesn't smell right.

Why did the accusor wait over a week after the end of the cruise to do anything? After spending 12 years at sea in the Navy, I do not go on cruises for fun so I am not familiar with the organization of a cruise liner. Is there not some sort of security? Isn't there ample opportunity for distraught passengers to voice their displeasures? How could the ship's staff have been unaware of this? There is also the post of the individual who said they did not misbehave.

I certainly hope there is another side to this story other than that published by the muckraking BS. If not, I agree with DMeix. They should be separated.
 
Something about this just doesn't smell right.

It never does. The Media never gets it entirely right, and the wrong stuff is invariably sensationalist and makes the issue look far worse than it is.

However, I'm at my wit's end. If some Mids got drunk and stupid, get rid of them. ENOUGH. :unhappy:
 
However, I'm at my wit's end. If some Mids got drunk and stupid, get rid of them.

The alcohol picture painted by the Lamar Owens case totally baffles me. Mids out in town during a weeknight getting drunk? Alcohol has become too much of a lifestyle at the Academy. My understanding is that Adm Rempt has/is putting in place a zero tolerance alcohol policy in that mids are subject to random alcohol testing. Someone please correct me but I think it is zero alcohol for those under 21 and a 2 drink equivalent blood alcohol level for those over 21 and only then, if it is a time that drinking is permitted. That is a start.

But anytime you mix alcohol and the sexes, especially those hormone-induced college age ones, it is a powder keg. One is not going to solve the sexual abuse until they solve the alcohol problem.
 
The current alcohol policy is 0-0-1-3.

0 if you are underage per the law in that jurisdiction (0 for Plebes during plebe year. period.)

0 if you will be driving

1 drink per hour at a function

3 drinks per function

The letter to the parents explaining also talked about learning to drink responsibly. (Correct me if I am wrong but did not the "Cocktail Hour" really take hold in the Military many decades ago?)

I personally have issues with the 21 year old drinking age and how it has lead to binge drinking...but that is another topic for another time.

My plebe has thought that since this policy went into effect that he has seen less drinking by the upperclass on liberty nights.

I asked him last night about this topic, rumors are flying as to who did what
Second class thinks it was the Plebes on a Cruise, Plebes think it was some youngsters...firsties...or maybe even second class...you now the rumor mill. Bottom line is officially he has heard nothing to the validity of this report. I too think something smells bad here in that this women and family that were harrassed, saw mids harrassing...whatever...and never reported this while on the cruise ship but waited a week after returning and then "E-MAILED" a complaint to USNA. I also find it interesting that in the second page of the report was comments from other vacationers about how polite and repectful these young men were - of course it was near the end of the article

The Cruise Lines have a problem in general with underage "cruisers." In our area it is normal for both high school seniors and college groups to have parental blessing to go on cruises because "they can safely drink" again another topic for another place.

We were visiting our Mid in Feb, took the three roomates to brunch. One of the roomates was saying that next year they needed to do a cruise for spring break. The other two boys laughed and said "Dude, for the next nine years we will have all the cruising we want...why would we possibly want to pay for one! Smart answer and hope they stick to that line of reasoning!


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/loc...-local-arundel


Nate Brady of Lawrence, Kan., who wrote about the cruise on his blog, said in an interview that one young man with the group of midshipmen attempted to pull down the shirt of their female friend, but was quickly reprimanded by other Naval Academy students, who also apologized on his behalf. The young man told them that he had been expelled from the academy.

As for the other midshipmen in the group, Nate and his wife, Tobey Brady, said they were courteous to women and did not drink to excess, even giving up their seats to stranded travelers after a cave-tubing expedition.

"People thought they were very respectful," Brady said. "We saw those guys on a lot of occasions, and we didn't see anything inappropriate."

A spokeswoman for Carnival Cruise Lines said yesterday that she was unaware of any allegations of impropriety...
 
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Our local paper covered it in an article by the Associated Press -

"Carnival spokeswoman Jennifer De La Cruz said in an e-mail Tuesday that “it does appear that there were some guest complaints during the voyage in question” and that “a variety of actions were taken by ship’s security to address the matter.”

Anyway, Good character is not something you turn on and turn off. Either you have it or you don't.
 
Hell, I'm still scratching my head at a group of Mids on a Carnival Cruise. Did they miss their Navy one? :confused:
 
I do certainly hope that Carnival Cruise lines makes up their minds - coordinates their stories - on whether or not they had complaints on this cruise as in one report they indicate that they were aware of complaints yet in another news report they stated that they were unaware of complaints...
 
Well, just remember this is the Drive-By Media, here. Nothing they say can be taken at face value anymore.

I reckon we'll know soon enough... :frown:
 
I will not believe any of it until I hear it from my Mid...I learned that as a College student in the late 70's/early 80's while attending a Midwestern University that previously had a reputation for being somewhat the "Berkeley of the Midwest" - (bombs in Physics building should identify it)

My mother would call almost on a weekly basis… "We heard there was a riot on campus...it was in the MJournal or on the TV" ... Normal response "There was? oh you must mean the X, usually in the single digits, students with blow horns on Bascom Hill"

Perception? For all we know this may have been one misguided Mid or even possible exMid and suddenly it is 10 Midshipmen...no wait the entire Brigade on the cruise!
 
I am going to add to Zap's assessment and state that any mid who goes on a ship "for fun" when he knows he is going to be cruising the rest of his life, deserves to have his head examined.

Profmom, using a mid to squelch a rumor is akin to using gasoline to put out a fire.
 
And that folks, is why I had two Mids over spring break. Son's sea partner's parents wanted to take him on a cruise & he said, "Are you nuts!" so I kept him on dry land except for the canoe in the lake thing.
 
And that folks, is why I had two Mids over spring break. Son's sea partner's parents wanted to take him on a cruise & he said, "Are you nuts!" so I kept him on dry land except for the canoe in the lake thing.

Did he properly follow the Rules of the Road for inland navigation? :yllol:
 
I am going to add to Zap's assessment and state that any mid who goes on a ship "for fun" when he knows he is going to be cruising the rest of his life, deserves to have his head examined.

Yes but are Navy cruise ships full of alcohol and women?

Wait - nevermind.
 
Did he properly follow the Rules of the Road for inland navigation? :yllol:

Hasn't had that class yet apparently. The boy took the ship's duty van out & about & ended up going through that tunnel to Newport six times. Nope, I am not blowing the story up either. Six times. How can a kid navigate a ship across the vast ocean & not get out of a tunnel? I fear for our country. :rolleyes:
 
using a mid to squelch a rumor is akin to using gasoline to put out a fire.

Certainly is a better source than the newspaper or TV! Talk about those who add fuel to the fire!

I happen to have one who is not afraid to tell us most everything in its un-sanitized glory. There have been times I have stopped him in his tracks with...There are certain things you need not tell your mother! I also have always operated on the fact that at least 50% of what your child tells you is BS no matter how perfect you think your kid is!

The rumor mill on the yard is rampant with this story...everyone thinks they know who is involved. Mine said last night until he hears it from the Administration he was not going to be a party to the rumors.

So until I hear the story from My Mid I will stand by my original thought:
For all we know this may have been one misguided Mid or even possible exMid and suddenly it is 10 Midshipmen...no wait the entire Brigade on the cruise!
 
The rumor mill on the yard is rampant with this story...everyone thinks they know who is involved. Mine said last night until he hears it from the Administration he was not going to be a party to the rumors.

Looks to me like he already has. This is the gasoline:


I asked him last night about this topic, rumors are flying as to who did what
Second class thinks it was the Plebes on a Cruise, Plebes think it was some youngsters...firsties...or maybe even second class...you now the rumor mill.

He passed the rumors. You posted them.

The only thing I can think of that compares to the rumor mill of Bancroft Hall is the mess decks of a carrier.
 
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To get an idea of how out-of-hand this has gotten, instead of having the "Other Platforms" pro-topic for this week (consisting of knowledge of Russian and Chinese weapons and platforms), the topic is the Brigade Character Program. It's pretty much just all the same stuff that we've sat through at countless ADEO (alcohol and drug education officer), SAVI (sexual-assault vicitm intervention), and CMEO (command managed equal opportunity) briefs.

We were all excited to be studying these cool enemy platforms and stuff, then Monday night the brigade training officer springs this upon us. Everyone was/is pissed, and the upperclass think it's the most worthless idea to try to make something like that a Pro-topic.

But...whatever...I'm not in charge....yet.

ETA: I would have liked to attach the pro-topic file, but I lack that ability. I might email it to Z once I finish my Western Civ paper...
 
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How can a kid navigate a ship across the vast ocean & not get out of a tunnel? I fear for our country. :rolleyes:

Well, the tunnel is a restricted manuvering channel. The ocean isn't. :thumb:

Second class thinks it was the Plebes on a Cruise, Plebes think it was some youngsters...firsties...or maybe even second class...

It won't be a World-Class Rumor until it includes the Supe and the Dant. :yllol:
 
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