Tailhook scandal The Tailhook scandal refers to a series of incidents where more than 100 U . S . Navy and United States Marine Corps aviation officers were alleged to have sexually assaulted at least 83 women and 7 men , or otherwise engaged in " improper and indecent " conduct at the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas , Nevada . The events took place at the 35th Annual Tailhook Association Symposium from September 8 to 12 , 1991 . The term can also refer to the resulting investigations conducted by the Department of the Navy and the Inspector General of the Department of Defense . As a result of the subsequent investigations , a number of officers were formally disciplined or refused advancement in rank . Controversially , military officers and observers have alleged that flag officer s attending the symposium were not held accountable for knowingly allowing the behavior in question to occur . Military critics claimed that the scandal highlighted a hostile attitude in US military culture towards women in the areas of sexual harassment , sexual assault , and equal treatment of women in career advancement and opportunity . Lieutenant Gary Mandich , who was one of the many attendees and alleged participants in the lewd activities , told media , " Everyone needs to seriously lighten up . What do they expect ? This is Vegas baby ! They call this symposium " Tail " hook for a reason ! " His statement led to a wave of public outcry which sparked numerous protests and demonstrations at the gates of naval bases across the U . S . Various Women ' s advocacy groups such as the National Woman ' s Party ( NWP ) were among some of the most vocal demonstrators . Incident . In September 1991 , the 35th annual symposium in Las Vegas featured a two - day debrief on U . S . Navy and Marine Corps aviation in Operation Desert Storm . It was the largest such meeting yet held , with some 4 , 000 attendees : active , reserve , and retired personnel . After his return to the USS " Midway " , in port in Seattle for Seafair , then Tailhook president Captain Rick Ludwig pulled all air wing commanding officer s , staff , and flag staff officers and debriefed them on initial reports of misbehavior and incidents of fisticuffs in the hallways and on the patio by the pool . According to a Department of Defense ( DoD ) report , 83 women and seven men stated that they had been victims of sexual assault and harassment during the meeting . Several participants later stated that a number of flag officers attending the meetings were aware of the sexual assaults , but did nothing to stop them . On October 29 , 1991 , the Department of the Navy terminated all ties to the Tailhook Association . Ties were not restored until January 19 , 1999 . The issues were never quite settled , and as late as 2002 , the Tailhook chairman spoke of " the alleged misconduct that occurred in 1991 " . For several years after Tailhook ' 91 promotion board results were delayed while a special review was conducted to ensure that any person with an adverse connection to Tailhook ' 91 was not promoted . Investigation and aftermath . In response to media reports about the Las Vegas Tailhook Association meetings , the United States Department of the Navy launched an investigation , led by the formerly Naval Investigative Service under the command of Rear Admiral Duvall M . Williams , Jr . This group initially released a report which concluded that the incident was mainly the fault of low - ranked enlisted men behaving poorly . Assistant Secretary of the Navy ( Manpower and Reserve Affairs ) Barbara S . Pope refused to accept the results of this investigation , especially after Rear Admiral Williams made sexist remarks in Pope ' s presence , most notably a comment that he believed that " a lot of female navy pilots are go - go dancers , topless dancer s or hookers " . When RDML Williams issued his final report , finding that no senior navy officials bore responsibility for what occurred in Las Vegas , Pope went to United States Secretary of the Navy Henry L . Garrett III and told him that she would resign if the United States Department of the Navy did not " do another report and look at what we needed to do about accountability and responsibility and the larger issues at hand . " Garrett agreed with Pope , and a further investigation was conducted , headed by Derek J . Vander Schaaf , the Inspector General of the United States Department of Defense . Vander Schaaf ' s report was ultimately released in September 1992 by Acting Secretary of the Navy Sean O ' Keefe . The release of the report led to the resignation of Rear Admiral Williams , and his superior , Rear Admiral John E . Gordon , the Judge Advocate General of the Navy , for their failure to conduct a thorough investigation into the Tailhook allegations . Frontline on PBS reported : Ultimately the careers of fourteen admirals and almost 300 naval aviators were scuttled or damaged by Tailhook . For example Secretary of the Navy H . Lawrence Garrett III and CNO Admiral Frank Kelso were both at Tailhook ' 91 . Garrett ultimately resigned and Kelso retired early two years after the convention . Vice Admiral Richard Dunleavy , Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air Warfare , was demoted to a two - star Admiral ( from a three - star Admiral ) and retired because of the scandal . Rear Admiral Wilson Flagg , censured for failing to prevent the Tailhook conference scandal . Flagg later died in the crash of American Airlines flight 77 in the September 11 , 2001 attacks . In the wake of Vander Schaaf ' s report , the Naval Investigative Service was reorganized as the Naval Criminal Investigative Service . Author Jean Zimmerman developed the thesis that the scandal underscored the shifting status of women in the military and particularly the role of women in combat . The controversy was dramatized in the 1995 TV film " She Stood Alone : The Tailhook Scandal " . Criticism . The aftermath of the scandal was not without controversy . Many conservatives and retired officers alleged that in ending the careers of over 300 officers , the Clinton administration had gone far beyond punishing wrongdoers and had used the scandal as a pretext for carrying out a purge of the officer corps . Former Navy Secretary Jim Webb , speaking at the Naval Academy said , " When the Tailhook investigation began , and certain political elements used the incident to bring discredit on naval aviation as a whole , and then on the Navy writ large , one is entitled to ask . . . Who fought this ? Who condemned it ? When a whole generation of officers is asked to accept . . . the destruction of the careers of some of the finest aviators in the Navy based on hearsay , unsubstantiated allegations , in some cases after a full repudiation of anonymous charges that resemble the worst elements of McCarthyism . . . what admiral has had the courage to risk his own career by putting his stars on the table , and defending the integrity of the process and of its people ? " Another former Secretary of the Navy , John Lehman , " condemned the Clinton White House for imposing policies of ' political correctness ' on the navy and the Senate Armed Services Committee for impeding the career advancements of officers linked to the 1991 Tailhook sexual assault scandal . It is ' terribly damaging to the very fiber of the Navy as an institution , this continuing attack from so many quarters ' . . . Officers were victims of media ' character assassination . ' Following what should have been a minor story , he said , ' 14 admirals have been cashiered , 300 naval aviators have been driven out of the Navy or their careers terminated . ' " Writing in " Reason " , Jack Kammer said " This is not to deny that some unsuspecting women were caught in activities they understandably found offensive . But after Lieutenant Paula Coughlin captured the media with her unquestioned , though questionable , claim that she was among the truly unsuspecting and offended ones , women ' s activists began to spin Tailhook like a top . Following their success with the Dreyer incident , they insisted that the drunken aviators in Las Vegas represented a widespread culture of oppression and hostility toward military women . How did the Navy defend itself ? By hoisting a white flag . " Many officers raised the case of decorated Blue Angels commanding officer Bob Stumpf , who was denied promotion and retired simply for having gone to Tailhook ' 91 to receive an award . Stumpf himself has decried the post - Tailhook climate and its effect on morale and readiness : " [ T ] he essence of that warrior culture has been severely diluted in this decade . Politically inspired social edicts enforced since Tailhook ' 91 have rendered a ready room atmosphere so different now that it is nearly unrecognizable . . . Pilots are hampered in their ability to train as warriors by the policies of their senior leaders . They are faced with social experimentation and double standards in training . Experienced pilots are forced to qualify certain trainees who may or may not demonstrate established quality standards . This leads to distrust and resentment , two powerfully harmful factors in terms of unit morale , and thus military effectiveness . " John Lehman , in 2011 , lamented what he considered to be a negative legacy from Tailhook on the navy ' s aviation culture . Lehman felt that the scandal had removed the necessary swagger and confidence from the navy ' s aviation culture and replaced it with a focus on integrating women and , more recently , homosexuality . " " Of course there are many journalists , armchair strategists and think - tankers who applaud the victory of those like Rep . Pat Schroeder who vowed to “ break the culture ” after Tailhook ’ 91 . " " from http : / / www . utsandiego . com / news / 2013 / jul / 07 / tp - zero - tolerance - policies - lead - to - a - risk - averse /