USS Enterprise Video Scandal: Navy Commander Revealed As Mastermind Behind Raunchy Videos

UPDATED: This story has been updated to include the full statement released by the U.S. Navy on matters addressed in the story below.

Owen Honors, Captain of the Norfolk-based USS Enterprise, was revealed as the producer of a series of "raunchy" videos made aboard the Navy carrier several years ago in a report released by the Virginian-Pilot on Saturday.

Filmed in 2006 and 2007 when Honors was the Enterprises's executive officer, the clips were reportedly shown to 6,000 sailors and U.S. Marines on the ship as part of what was called "XO Movie Night."

The Pilot reports:

In one scene, two female Navy sailors stand in a shower stall aboard the aircraft carrier, pretending to wash each other. They joke about how they should get six minutes under the water instead of the mandated three.

In other skits, sailors parade in drag, use anti-gay slurs, and simulate masturbation and a rectal exam. Another scene implies that an officer is having sex in his stateroom with a donkey.

According to the Virginia-based outlet, the videos were made with government equipment. Some were reportedly produced at times when the ship was actively deployed to help the country's war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sailors, who declined to be identified by name, indicated to the Pilot that the footage in question was broadcast on a weekly basis aboard the ship.

Honors, who is expected to deploy in upcoming weeks, suggests in the videos that his intent in generating the content was for entertainment purposes. The Pilot reports that the clips drew complaints from female sailors aboard the carrier who found the material offensive.

The Navy issued a statement (full text below) on the matter appearing to downplay any hint of controversy.

"The videos were intended to be humorous skits focusing the crew's attention on specific issues such as port visits, traffic safety, water conservation, ship cleanliness, etc," said a written statement, according to the Pilot.

Honors himself acknowledges in one clip the controversial nature of the videos. "Over the years I've gotten several complaints about inappropriate materials in these videos," he says. "Never to me personally but, gutlessly, through other channels."

Here's full text of the statement released by the Navy in response to the initial story published by the Virginian-Pilot:

The videos created onboard USS Enterprise in 2006-2007 and written about in The Virginian-Pilot article on Saturday, January 1, 2011, are clearly inappropriate. Production of videos, like the ones produced four to five years ago on USS Enterprise and now being written about in The Virginian-Pilot, were not acceptable then and are not acceptable in today's Navy. The Navy does not endorse or condone these kinds of actions. Those in command, Commanding Officers, Executive Officers, and Command Master Chiefs (the command triad) are charged to lead by example and are held accountable for setting the proper tone and upholding the standards of honor, courage and commitment that we expect Sailors to exemplify. U.S. Fleet Forces Command has initiated an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the production of these videos.

WATCH:

Comments

[gabeizrad]

04:28 PM on 01/06/2011

Dumb, maybe? Silly? Definitely! Worthy of the huge amount of outrage and press coverage? Nope. I have a sneaking suspicion that most of the outraged out there have not even watched the entire video...just the snippets that your favorite news channel can play to ensure you'll stick around long enough to watch the ads.

[David John Toth]

12:59 PM on 01/06/2011

Surprise. Not everyone in the military is a hero, a highly trained professional capable of performing astounding feats of bravery using complex technology as they defend truth, justice, freedom, and the American way. Many are just average people who make mistakes and sometimes do stupid things. Ever been in the service? Ever been on an aircraft carrier? I would to describe it as hours of housekeeping interspersed with boredom. I personally spent much of my naval career setting water traps in the engine rooms of nuclear submarines and defending the free world. Should we fire this guy for making lewd videos and can his superiors, too? If it makes you happy, but if this were the Navy I remember, they would bust those sailors who watched the video instead.

[bryanzth]

09:47 AM on 01/06/2011

One word. Honor.

BZ.

[bryanzth]

09:45 AM on 01/06/2011

As I am watching, this is completely out of hand. AS IF the bullies in the schoolyard are running that ship.

And they do not represent at all what they are fighting for.

BZ.

[MrColdheart]

09:15 AM on 01/06/2011

I already know a lot of people wont agree with me but...

Two friends calling each other F ag as a term of endearment is NOT the same as one person calling another person F ag as an insult out of anger.

[theshortladders]

09:09 AM on 01/06/2011

Lame videos. Aside from the bigger issues already talked about a question I have is why did this guy have this much time to put these together? I produce videos and know that these took time for him or someone to edit and produce.

[OlongapoEd]

12:44 PM on 01/06/2011

Excellent point...Having been in the military for more than a few years, I'm sure he had more important things to do with his time.

[Kate Zeiss]

08:39 AM on 01/06/2011

Ever notice how homophobes just love to dress up in drag?

[Am-Expat]

05:17 AM on 01/06/2011

The military converted to a professional model a long time ago but a lot of people seem to think it is a private club, filled with sacrafice, honor and "serving the country". No, now is is a job, the vast majority of job holders never see any risk. Some do, most never do. With bases in 173 countries, most of which, the last time anyone looked, we were not at war with...yet. When there was a draft or a citizen army, there was real sacrifice, interrupted educations, careers, families, and many never recovered. Now, it is a job, with moderate pay and tremendous benefits and very low work effort required. Since it out of the public eye for the most part, it has turned into a club house for frat boys who think they are not part of the overall population, somehow privileged to do as they please. How many in civilian jobs have the never ending benefits, and security and such low requirements for productivity? I was drafted out of university, getting out, I saw many who could not adjust to civilian life. Some claimed it was the horrors of VN, but in reality was facing the hard realities of insecurity, and lack of services joining the general population again, where one really does have to work, or starve. Washington was right, there is a major threat to the wellbeing of the country if a professional full time army is created, it means perpetual war.

[Gabriel Peterson]

03:34 AM on 01/06/2011

Pretty much any group of males together are going to reinforce their worst qualities in a race to the bottom.
They should be punished in accordance with the Navy rules they signed on to obey.
My indignation fatigue has me spread too thin to care much.

sincerely, a hetero male.

[Pennrest]

02:24 AM on 01/06/2011

I am recently retired from the Navy and I agree with JJ, but what people fail to see is that when senior leaders do these types of things then it does two things. First, it takes away their power to lead because juniors do not respect them, and second thing is that it empowers the junior sailors to possibly come up with similar ideas thinking that it is ok. One thing that really makes me angry is that if a group of junior sailors made a video like that then they would be in alot of trouble and not just the main person. I feel that everyone involved in the making of this video should be held accountable because either they enjoyed making it or they did not have the courage to make a stand and say something. They do not deserve to be leaders.

[OlongapoEd]

12:46 PM on 01/06/2011

Yes, one of the things that Honors' apologists refuse to recognize is that the principle "Familiarity breeds contempt" is very important in the military. Yes, I was in the military.

[serendipindi]

12:48 AM on 01/06/2011

I really wish this whole "officer and a gentleman" myth would disappear. Here's your Navy. Enough with the faux outrage - these people have an impossible job and blow off steam in ways unbecoming of most civilian sensibilities. Get over it and let them get on with their jobs.

[CheapTrick]

02:05 AM on 01/06/2011

If we can't expect them to act with a little professional decorum in private... do we really want them representing us to the rest of the world? To many in the third world... the only Americans they ever see are THESE people. Who apparently are a bunch of rowdy fratboys who like to use both F-words. And people wonder why we're not liked much in the rest of the world.

[serendipindi]

01:12 AM on 01/07/2011

What they do in private, is, well, private. This is the ultimate catch 22 - NO privacy, little down time, the 24/7 pressure of wartime deployment...grueling mind bending boredom and monotony for month's on end while being expected to maintain hyper-vigilance to possible threat to the massive government asset they are deployed upon.
WHY do we demand they behave like perfect ladies and gentlemen when they have trained to survive and function flawlessly in impossible circumstances? These people are trained to leap in to action in defense of our nation at a moment's notice and generally speaking are highly skilled at what they do.
It's not a game, and that's the catch. Without some serious venting of aggression and frustration, a ship is a human powder keg of misdirected aggression and frustration. Why do I know this? Because I was a Marine. I was never deployed on a ship, but understand the need for outrageous letting off of steam. Without that, there is the potential for serious abuse directed towards your fellow service member.
The US needs to get over this self-written mythology of gleaming, golden gods in shining armor nobly defending our national honor. That's not reality, not be a country mile. It takes a very distinct kind of person to be able to endure deployment and I grant them their frat-ish behavior in the face of constant danger alternating with constant tedium and exhaustion.

[toti]

12:35 AM on 01/06/2011

seems to me that the officer involved is not sure about the validity of his actions otherwise the repeated disclaimers that the captain and the admiral had no part at all in making the video would have not been necessary.

[carnitine]

12:35 AM on 01/06/2011

I bet the farm had he not made fun of the gays this would not be news. My friend who was in the service talked about how people goofed around like this. Gays need to grow thicker skin

[CheapTrick]

02:07 AM on 01/06/2011

Oddly enough, most gay people have kinda rolled their eyes at this. Most of them see it as a "much ado about not that much."

Go read TowleRoad.com and see for yourself.

[CheapTrick]

02:09 AM on 01/06/2011

Alternate Answer: Yeah... because gay people have such a long history of being able to tell the military what to do.

[freddychef]

11:44 PM on 01/05/2011

people here supporting this poor example of a professional military member are in for an even bigger disapointment.
this is just the begining, not the end.
he has brought disgrace upon everyone, past and present, that chose to serve.
the fallout has just started, and all his superiors that enabeled his conduct are being looked at.

stand by for even bigger names to drop.

[profco]

11:40 PM on 01/05/2011

So THAT's why they don't want gays in the military! Too embarrassing when they mock and harrass them.