Captain Owen Honors, the former
commander of the USS Enterprise, won't be joining the aircraft
carrier's crew as it deploys, the AP reported.
Honors was relieved from his post for
producing and screening lewd videos aboard the carrier. The
49-year-old officer has been reassigned to a post on Naval Base
Norfolk.
In announcing the decision, Admiral
John Harvey said Honors had shown “exceptionally poor judgment.”
Honors starred in the videos as the
aircraft carrier simultaneously supported two wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007. At the time, he served as the
Enterprise's executive officer, or XO, and he featured the videos as
part of “XO Movie Night.”
In
one skit, Honors refers to a Navy surface officer, or SWO – also
played by Honors – as “fag SWO boy,” and says, “I got a great
idea. Let's go ask the deck mates about being gay. Oh, that's not a
very good idea, is it?” in another. Sailors of the same sex –
men and women – are seen in two videos showering together.
The Navy has said its investigation
will look into whether other senior officers were aware of the
videos.
The USS Enterprise will deploy to
support troops in Afghanistan as scheduled with a new commander at
its helm, Captain Dee L. Mewbourne.