Tailhook Association

The Tailhook Association is a U.S. based, fraternal, non-profit organization, supporting the interests of sea-based aviation, with emphasis on aircraft carriers. The word tailhook refers to the hook underneath the tail of the aircraft that catches the arresting wire suspended across the flight deck in order to stop the landing plane quickly.

The association was formed by active-duty naval aviators in 1956, eventually growing into a national organization headquartered in San Diego, California. During the Vietnam War the annual Tailhook reunion and symposium also served to provide opportunities for aircrews from the Pacific and Atlantic Fleets to exchange information about events in Southeast Asia. After the war, when military retention sagged dramatically, the U.S. Navy used "Tailhook" as a recruiting and retention tool, with some successFact|date=September 2008.

Among the Tailhook programs are publication of the quarterly journal "The Hook", addressing historical and current events coverage; college scholarships via the Tailhook Educational Foundation; and local/regional "ready rooms" for those active and retired members who support fleet activities.

The Tailhook scandal

In September 1991, the 35th annual symposium in Las Vegas featured a two-day debrief on 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.

According to a Department of Defense report, 83 women and 7 men stated that they had been victims of assault and sexual harassment during the meeting.

On October 29, 1991, possibly responding to political pressure, and well before completion of any investigations, the Department of the Navy terminated all ties to the association.Fact|date=July 2008 Although the association cooperated fully in the ensuing investigations and had never held authority over military personnel, ties were not restored with the Navy until January 19, 1999.Fact|date=July 2008

A series of official investigations was conducted, but all were widely criticized, involving official cover-ups by senior Navy and civilian officials, and denial of due process to hundreds of individuals, most of whom were not accused of any wrongdoing.Fact|date=July 2008Aviators spoke of a "witch hunt" mentality in the George H. W. Bush Administration, even though President George H.W. Bush had been a Navy pilot.Fact|date=July 2008

Indeed, most of the 4000 male military attendees were interviewed several times, many as much as five times or more.Fact|date=July 2008 Initial investigations by the former NIS (Naval Investigative Service) were often botched applications of techniques such as the use of a single bright lamp in a dark room and asking the pilots questions such as "When was the last time you masturbated?" in an effort to apply psychological pressure.Fact|date=July 2008 The tactic backfired: the pilots were not intimidated and threatened legal action in return for the "guilty until proven innocent" atmosphere they were forced to endure.Fact|date=July 2008 The investigation evolved into such a disaster the NIS was dissolved and eventually replaced by the NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service). DoD investigators officially declared the Tailhook 1991 investigation closed.

The issues were never quite settled, and as late as 2002, the Tailhook chairman spoke of "the alleged misconduct that occurred in 1991". [cite web
url=http://www.tailhook.org/ChairFa02.htm
title=From the Chairman: Tailhook Association At Your Service
author=RADM Frederick L. Lewis, USN(Ret)
publisher=The Tailhook Association
accessdate=2007-08-13]

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. [cite web
url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/navy/tailhook/disc.html
title=Post Tailhook Punishment
publisher=Frontline, PBS
accessdate=2007-08-13]

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. [cite book
last = Zimmerman
first = Jean
authorlink = Jean Zimmerman
title = Tailspin: women at war in the wake of Tailhook
year = 1995
publisher = Doubleday
location = New York
isbn = 0-385-47789-9
oclc = 31607961 ] As such, Tailhook can be seen as part of the evolution of the armed forces that continued through the losses of female soldiers in Iraq.

Cultural use

The scandal was satirized on two episodes of The Simpsons, in which a character, Waylon Smithers, confessed that:

"He feels about as low as Madonna when she found out she had missed Tailhook."

and an admiral that would have thrown the book at Homer in Simpson Tide did nothing because he was indicted in the Tailhook Scandal.

In an episode of "The X-Files" ("Detour"), Dana Scully visits her FBI partner Fox Mulder in his hotel room and reminds him that they are violating the FBI policy of male and female agents consorting in the same hotel room. Mulder jokingly warns her not to "try any of that Tailhook crap" on him.

The scandal was also referenced in "The West Wing", during a debate about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". When arguing with a Congressman about the issue, Sam Seaborn says:

"There's something I'd always wanted to ask you. Why does being gay mean you can't keep your hands to yourself? Over what kind of gentlemanly pride are the Armed Forces willing to lay claim the restraint in that area? You want me to get the file on sexual harassment on the D.O.D.? Do you want me to ask these guys about Tailhook?"

The scandal was also referenced in "JAG" on numerous occasions, usually in a negative comparison with comments along the lines of the season 1 episode "Black Ops" when said "This will ruin more careers than Tailhook."

References

* cite web
url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/navy/tailhook/
title=the navy blues: Tailhook '91
publisher=Frontline, PBS
accessdate=2007-08-13

External links

* [http://www.tailhook.org/ The Tailhook Association] official website
* cite web
url=http://www.greatdreams.com/tailhook.htm
title=TAILHOOK (BOTHSIDES) The Dream and the Reality
date=2001-07-18
publisher=compilation by Dee Finney
accessdate=2007-08-13