Women at USNA

The Rise And Fall Of A Female Captain Bligh

By Mark Thompson, Washington

Women are so common in the upper ranks of the U.S. military these days that it's no longer news when they break through another barrier. Unfortunately, the latest benchmark isn't one to brag about: being booted as captain of a billion-dollar warship for "cruelty and maltreatment" of her 400-member crew. According to the Navy Inspector General's report that triggered her removal - and the accounts of officers who served with her - Captain Holly Graf was the closest thing the U.S. Navy has to a female Capt. Bligh.

A Navy admiral stripped Graf of her command of the Japan-based guided missile cruiser U.S.S. Cowpens in January. The just-released IG report concludes that Graf "repeatedly verbally abused her crew and committed assault," and accuses her of using her position as commander of the Cowpens "for personal gain." But old Navy hands tell TIME that those charges, substantiated in the IG report, came about because of the poisonous atmosphere she created aboard her ship.

The case has attracted wide notice inside the Navy and on Navy blogs, where her removal has generated cheers from those who served with her since she graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1985. While many denounced Graf, even greater anger seems directed at the Navy brass for promoting such an officer to positions of ever-increasing responsibility. The Navy declined to make Graf available for an interview.

While in command at sea - where a captain's word is law and she or he has the power to make or break careers - Graf swore like, well, a sailor. She "creates an environment of fear and hostility [and] frequently humiliates and belittles watch standers by screaming at them with profanities in front of the Combat Information Center and bridge watch teams," one crew member told the IG. According to 29 of 36 members of the crew questioned for the Navy's report, Graf repeatedly dropped F-bombs on them. "Take your ******* attitude and shove it up your f------ ass and leave it there," she allegedly told an officer during a stressful maneuver aboard the 567-foot, 10,000-ton vessel.

Junior officers seeking her guidance were rebuffed. "This is one of the reasons I hate you," she allegedly told one seeking her help. When another officer visited her quarters to discuss an earlier heated discussion, her response was terse: "Get the f--- out of my stateroom." She allegedly told a male officer: "The only words I want to hear our of your mouth are 'Yes ma'am,' or 'You're correct ma'am.'" She put a "well-respected Master Chief" in "time out" - standing in the ship's key control room doing nothing - "in front of other watch standers of all ranks."

While most witness statements contained in the IG report didn't specify whether the person testifying was male or female, the IG asked at least two women officers whether or not they viewed Graf as a role model. One younger woman recalled going to Graf to seek her help. "Don't come to me with your problems," she said Graf responded. "You're a f------ Department Head." The officer also said that Graf once told her: "I can't express how mad you make me without getting violent."

A second female officer told the IG that Graf "is a terrible role model for women in the Navy," alleging that Graf had once told her and a fellow officer on the bridge: "You two are f------ unbelievable. I would fire you if I could but I can't."

The IG investigation, triggered last June by three anonymous complaints, noted that while conducting interviews into Graf's conduct at the Yokosuka Navy base outside Tokyo, four crew members provided "unsolicited written statements concerning what they perceived as abuse." While curses are not uncommon aboard Navy vessels, to have them repeatedly brandished like clubs against subordinates - especially in front of more junior crew members - is unusual. TIME obtained a copy of the IG report, from which names names had been deleted, under the Freedom of Information Act.

Graf told the IG she had "no recollection" of making such comments and "appeared incredulous at the accusations." She "repeatedly" emphasized her "very high standards for my crew" and "repeatedly" spoke of a "groupthink mentality" aboard her vessel. Graf said that "a small group of disgruntled officers in Cowpens wardroom were spreading rumors throughout the crew and convincing others that the command climate and [her] demeanor were far worse than they actually were." But she followed up with an e-mail. "Many times I raised my tone (and used swear words) to ensure they knew this times, it was no kidding," she wrote. "I also did it on other occasions to intentionally pressurize the situation."

The lone witness supporting Graf in the 50-page report was an "unsolicited e-mail" from a Navy colleague who had spent two weeks aboard Cowpens and said Graf may be "blunt, but clearly [her] intent is readiness." But the IG came down firmly on the side of her crew. "The evidence shows" that Graf violated Navy regulations "by demeaning, humiliating, publicly belittling and verbally assaulting... subordinates while in command of Cowpens," the report concluded. Her actions "exceeded the firm methods needed to succeed or even thrive" and her "harsh language and profanity were rarely followed with any instruction." Her repeated criticism of her officers, often in front of lower-ranking crew members, humiliated subordinates and corroded morale, "contrary to the best interests of the ship and the Navy." The IG also found she had failed to adequately train younger officers.

The report claims she grabbed several junior officers or sailors to get their attention or move them elsewhere - usually while in a heated discussion - and threw a wadded up piece of paper at one. It also says she asked junior officers to play piano at her personal Christmas party and to walk her dogs. These minor infractions might have been overlooked if committed by a more even-keeled commander, but in Graf's case they were used to substantiate the charges of "assault" and the use of her "office for personal gain" that led to her removal.

On one popular Navy blog there are 190 posts on Graf, nearly all negative and most from those who served with her. There were only four supportive posts, none apparently from anyone who had served with her at sea. "The only way that Capt. Graf could have failed at being CO of the Cowpens was to try to please all her sailors," one backer wrote. "Leadership is lonely and not for the faint-hearted."

But many officers who served with Graf over the years were not surprised by the IG's findings. Paul Coco, a 2002 Naval Academy graduate, served as a the gunnery officer under Graf aboard the destroyer U.S.S. Winston S. Churchill from 2002 to 2004. "She would throw coffee cups at officers - ceramic not foam," he recalls, "spit in one officer's face, throw binders and paperwork at people, slam doors." The hostile work environment led to a gallows humor among the crew. "We all would joke that after Bush liberated Iraq, he would next liberate Churchill," he says. That day finally came in January 2004, when Cmdr. Todd Leavitt arrived to replace Graf. "As soon as Cmdr. Leavitt said 'I relieve you' to Cmdr. Graf, the whole ship, at attention, roared in cheers."

"I'm more upset that the Navy let this go on so long," says Kirk Benson, who retired from the Navy as a commander three years ago after a 20-year career. Many complaints up the chain fell on "deaf ears," he says. "When I think of Holly Graf, even 12 years later, I shake," he says of serving under her when she was second-in-command on the destroyer U.S.S. Curtis Wilbur in 1997-98. "She was so intimidating even to me, a 6-foot-4 guy."

Nicole Waybright served as a junior officer for five years before leaving the Navy in 2001, including a year with Graf on the Wilbur in 1997-98. "She was a terrible ship handler," Waybright recalls. "I was 23 years old and I wanted to show, just by my actions, that women could do it, and just blend in like the gray doors with the rest of the gray ship," she said. "But she betrayed our gender." Waybright felt the Navy pushed women into command too quickly at that time, but said Graf's "sadistic cruelty" didn't help.

Shawn Smith is a retired Navy captain who, along with her husband, also a retired Navy captain, applauded their daughter's decision to join the Navy in 2007 after graduating from Notre Dame on a Navy ROTC scholarship. Erin Smith was "seriously considering" making the Navy a career, like her parents, until she was assigned to the Cowpens. "Her experiences with Capt. Graf definitely helped form her decision to do her time and leave the Navy," her mother says. "I was appalled that this happened, guilty - I think she went into the Navy because of us - and angry, because these kids did not deserve this kind of leadership."

Even though Graf comes from a Navy family - her sister and brother-in-law are both admirals, and her father was a captain - there appears to have been no "godfather" shielding her and greasing the skids for her promotion, Navy officers say. Prior to the IG probe's release, the Navy had tapped Graf for a top job at the Pentagon following her Cowpens command. Now she's being shuffled off to a Navy weapons lab outside the capital. "Her career," one admiral says, "is over."
 
In a sort of perverse way the above article from Time Magazine shows todays females how far they can go based on thier own drive, ambition and talent. As little as 2-3 generations ago a female Captain of a man of war vessel would have been impossible. Graduates from the classes of 2010 & 2011 will be the first females to serve on submarines. The barriers for females are down and it's up to hem how far each of them wants to go.

On the flip side a bad captain male or female is a bad captain and will suffer the consequences of bad leadership or bad luck when it befalls them.
 
Monday, January 25, 2010
1985 USNA GRAD WAS 2006 VADM STOCKDALE INSPIRATIONAL LEADERSHIP AWARD NOMINEE
Captain Babette Bolivar is a 1985 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. In sharp contrast to those traits demonstrated by her classmate Captain Holly A. Graf (former CO of USS COWPENS), Captain Bolivar was recognized in 2006 as the CNO’s Pacific Fleet Finalist for the VADM James Bond Stockdale Inspirational Leadership Award. To date, she has been the only woman nominee. VADM James Bond Stockdale Inspirational Leadership Award candidates are peer nominated, meaning her fellow Commanding Officers recognized in her those traits which best represent the five roles of leadership that VADM Stockdale exhibited himself.

Those roles are:

Moralist
Commitment to a personal code of conduct which emphasizes strong moral ethics, courage, resolve, and humility as demonstrated by personal and professional service to members of the Naval service.

Jurist
Ability to establish policy, which can be implemented and obeyed, and to make those hard decisions, based on the policy, in those difficult situations, which portend endless complications.

Teacher
Example of self-discipline, sensitivity to others, and ability to place the major issues in proper prospective while creating the motivational command climate essential for job satisfaction and organizational pride.

Steward
Example of competence, proper regard for the rights of others, and personal commitment to the development and maintenance of accepted standards, unit loyalty, and esprit de corps.

Philosopher
Ability to reason, understand and explain the essence of reality and recognize the need for forethought in dealing with uncertainties.

Story about the VADM J.B. Stockdale Award winners here. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen was a winner when he was a Commander.

She is the CO of Naval Weapons Station Yorktown. Her biography is here. She is a member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame.
 
Two good examples of both ends of the leadership spectrum, something that is gender nuetral.
 
Folks, if you want to debate the merits of women in the USN, please take it to the Military News board. It is not directly relevant to USNA, given that these women are 25 yrs removed from the Academy.

Thanks,
Your friendly mod
 
I served with H.A.G. for 18 months and experienced events as described in the article (literally).

Nicole Waybright, who is mentioned in the article, wrote a fantastic book. I would recommend it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ah Bolivar was your classmate eh?

Graf, Bolivar, and USNA1985 are my MY Classmates. The Graf story is unfortunate, and to some degree I suspect it was sensationalized and turned into a gender issue, as I have heard plenty of stories about male CO's in the SWO community that were as bad, or worse. (Frankly, I don't know why it was posted here-- it is not responsive to the question at all). I didn't realize it and admittedly didn't think about it much at the time, but these women were really pioneers at USNA. I have heard a number of stories about their experience since then, and have to recognize that they had it harder, at least in some ways, than the guys.

When I saw this thread and the first couple responses, the first thing that came to my mind was the importance of finding the balance between maintaining femininity at being one of the guys .... USNA1985 hit it on the head and beat me to the line, but I was interested to see that she came to the same conclusion that I did long ago. You can be a great leader and woman, and those that recognized that did very well at USNA. Most of the problems that I saw were those that tried to hard to be one of the guys, or tried to use their gender to get ahead. As a Grad and a BGO, I have had a number of opportunities to observe the Brigade and the young women attending USNA today, and do believe that the woman are truly treated as equals.

On a final note, this thread evolved into a discussion of physical fitness requirements--one bit of advice for all prospective Midshipmen ,and it applies equally to men and women. Be in shape when you report to USNA --- Plebe summer includes both mental and physical stressors . If you are in shape and can take the physical issue off the table, then the mental game is easier.
 
Back
Top