Probe helped curtail Naval Academy head's tenure

AP ^ | Tuesday Jun 29, 2010 | BRIAN WITTE

[JustSurrounded]

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — An investigation that found wide-ranging misuse of money at the U.S. Naval Academy was a factor in curtailing the tenure of its outgoing superintendent, the Navy's chief spokesman said Monday.

The investigative report released Monday found that an improper, off-the-books slush fund was used to pay for tailgate parties, luncheons and other events for senior academy personnel.

Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler is leaving the academy this summer after serving as superintendent for 3 years, the minimum term required by statute for the post.

"The outcome of this investigation was a factor in him not serving longer," said Navy Rear Adm. Denny Moynihan, the Navy's top spokesman.

Moynihan said Fowler didn't benefit financially from any of the spending.

The Office of the Naval Inspector General's 110-page report concluded that the slush fund used by the Naval Academy Business Services Division was "a sham" with little accountability.

[JustSurrounded]

It's everywhere in the government ... just everywhere. We have an enormous job ahead of us.

Good news, somebody caught it.

This story also appears in navytimes ( http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/06/navy_academy_fowler_ig_report_062810/ ).

[dools007]

It doesn’t surprise me it was the Navy again. I have serious concerns about the kind of military officers the Academy is turning out.

I’m USA ret’d. Hope West Point set the ethics bar higher.

[JPG]

C’mon, when confronted with a clear choice between doing the right thing and the wrong thing, is it really that difficult to do the right thing? If it is, enjoy the karma.

[Oldexpat]

I can tell you that us older grads who were held to higher standards are mighty po’d at the Navy and the pols that have turned USNA into a PC-—affirmative action backwater on the Severn. We need a real CIC and a real Secdef and a real Congress.

[WellyP]

Fowler is a “libtard” who has been a disaster for the Academy! He has lowered academic standards to increase “diversity” and promote “equality” in direct opposition to the Academy's long standing demanding for excellence.

[Albion Wilde]

I have serious concerns about the kind of military officers the Academy is turning out.

Like this guy?

[JustSurrounded]

In our 25+ years here in Annapolis we have definitely seen a decline at the Academy ... both military and civilian. This is a failure of leadership, pure and simple.

[paterfamilias]

Correct.

My wife has been a Naval Academy Blue and Gold Officer since 2005, and our son graduated in 2007.

The decline in standards since Fowler (USNA ‘78) has been Supe has been astounding.

His headlong plunge into diversity has resulted in a real double-standard in admissions, the need for remedial courses (can you believe a Naval Academy midshipman needing remedial English?), and an erosion in the Honor Concept that has the midshipmen dispirited.

He personally allowed a pregnant midshipman to graduate, allowed a football player (a minority, of course) guilty of multiple honor violations (including a drug offense) to stay on (he was later cut - for conduct reasons - by the football coach, apparently the only guy in the administration who has a pair), and was responsible for composition of the Honor Guard being changed for more “diversity” when they presented the colors at Yankee Stadium at the World Series. Honor Guard participation is merit-based, and the guy who was “more diverse” was dismayed at the decision and stated that he did not rate the honor over the white male who was removed. Somehow, the midshipmen get it, and the administration does not.

Now, the admissions office will advise Blue and Gold officers to interview certain minorities with SAT scores in the 500 range, but not a white male candidate with similar or better qualifications with SAT’s in the low-mid 600’s.

Surprisingly, since this diversity policy has come into play, they do not publish quartile SAT statistics the way they used to; also, there have never been statistics published on retention rate of USNA minority grads vs. non-minority grads. I guess the class picture is more important than the needs of the service.

They won’t figure it out until men are dying on the battlefield or drowning in the sea: the typical grunt or sailor doesn’t care what color their officers are, as long as they know how to lead.

The saddest part of this is that VADM Fowler still does not think he did anything wrong! What a putz.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Maryland “Freak State” PING!