In the end, Tailhook may have started the downhill slide that killed our military once and for all.
I agree. Tailhook was a formative event in the Navy. It changed the whole culture. There's "pre-Tailhook" and "post-Tailhook" Navy. This single event back in 1991 changed everything.
In today's Navy, you can go to mast for having more than three beers in port. You can get court-martialed for screwing a prostitute. A DUI is a career-ender. Tacking on a crow is hazing. Foul language is inappropriate leadership.
There aren't a whole lot of guys left who belonged to the pre-Tailhook Navy. The stories they told of the old days. I hear them all the time. Today, they'd be in Leavenworth.