Ok, much as I usually get a kick out of the quirky diversions here into salty head humor, the original post documented something that is pretty darn invasive and infuriating. Why would anyone do that, knowingly invade and possibly exploit privacy by sharing it, to their shipmates?
All these steps forward, and trust and feeling part of a team can be shattered in an instant. I put up with a lot of crap way back when, and here we are in the 21st century, and it’s still going on. Much, much, much, much less, I grant you. And it’s usually just a few boneheads. And the right things usually happen now.
Just a few years ago, a USNA sponsor daughter called, shaken and upset. This happened to her on her afloat unit (I’m being deliberately vague). Her sailors, that she worked hard to support, who she thought worked together as a mutually trust-worthy team, who had won praise from the CO and XO, who she enjoyed being around, and treated with respect and appreciation - some of her sailors had rigged a remote feed in the shower. Her images were shared. Most of them knew about it, even if not active participants. It was discovered when one of her sailors went to another unit, felt guilty, and went to the NCIS. She continued to work in the same unit while the investigation was active. Her XO noted “well, it’s not like you were sexually assaulted.” Her CO said “Just forget about it and put it behind you.” Some of her peers kidded her about being a “movie star.”
She was heart-broken by both the event, the aftermath, and some people’s reactions. She called us before she called her parents, nearly speechless with grief and rage, because she knew we had heard just about everything over the years. It broke my heart to hear her, and some of the same feelings flooded back to me from stuff during my career. I had to hand the phone to DH, who handled it with his usual calm and compassion. She continued to serve with distinction, achieving many firsts in her field, but has left the Navy. Too deep a scar.
