Capt. Owen Honors Says There Was "Affirmative And Tacit
Approval" For His Controversial Vids
In a statement spanning 15 pages, Capt. Owen Honors defends the
practice of producing and showing a series of videos some have
described as "vulgar" and "profane". Capt. Honors produced the
videos while he was the XO of the aircraft carrier U.S.S.
Enterprise, and the controversy around them cost him his command of
that ship.
Capt. Owen Honors
In the statement, which was obtained by and posted on the
website of The Navy Times, Capt. Honors says the 2-5 minute "skits"
started out as a way to introduce the weekly movies shown on board
the ship, but later evolved into a way to address issues concerning
the crew, such as a reading program, responsible alcohol
consumption, and foreign port protocols, among others. The videos,
he said, were never intended to be viewed by anyone other than "the
mature audience of the Enterprise's active duty warfighters." He
says that the vignettes were very well received, and in fact missed
when they were not shown on the ship's closed-circuit television
system. He also said that much of the "comedy" used in the video
required the context of "existing shipboard circumstances."
Capt. Honors said all the way up the chain of command, which
included himself as XO and ran through the Command Master Chief,
Navy Inspector General Hotline, Chaplains, and others, there had
never been a "single formal complaint" about the videos. Also on
board at the time were two senior flag officers, two embarked
Carrier Strike Group Admirals, and several other senior military
and civilian personnel who often discussed the skits at breakfast
on Sunday mornings. He says that his discussions with those senior
officers shows their knowledge of the videos, and their content,
and that they gave "consistent and encouraging feedback" which he
interpreted as approval for the vignettes. In fact, Honors said
when he returned to the Enterprise as CO, he was asked by some of
those who remembered the skits if there was going to be a "CO Movie
Night" in which he'd reprise the effort.
U.S.S. Enterprise
In his statement, Honors insisted that the skits were entirely
"PG-13," and not nearly so racy as the "R" rated
professionally-produced movies shown on the system. He said that
the videos which were released to the Virgina Pilot newspaper were
"selectively edited" and comprised of "the most sensational
scenes." He said the editing was intended to "maximize
misrepresentation" of the videos and presented them completely out
of context. He does admit in a footnote that there had been one
instance in which the Enterprise CO at the time, Capt. Larry Rice,
had noticed what he described as a "personal attack" in the videos.
Honors says he immediately stopped using any personal comments and
restricted his efforts to making fun of himself.
U.S. Navy Image
Capt. Honors contends in his statement that thinks he knows who
released the videos to the local media, and says if he is correct
it is someone against whom he had initiated disciplinary action
which could result in a court-martial. He said he believes that
person took those actions in an effort to have him (Honors) removed
from command "in furtherance of a personal agenda."
Honors received perfect fitness reports during his time as XO of
the Enterprise, and was considered a "future flag officer."