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."

FMI: www.navy.mil