WASHINGTON – As the Pentagon falls under increasing pressure to crack down on sex scandals and alleged sexual abuse and harassment within the military, the U.S. Navy is undertaking a “comprehensive visual inspection” of its installations worldwide with the goal of eliminating pornography.
The inspections, which target all public areas from barracks to workspaces to base exchanges (retail stores on base), come complete with orders to confiscate everything from pinup images to men’s magazines and adult movies.
In a June 13 memo, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus ordered all Navy and Marines commanders, commanding officers and officers-in-charge, as well as all civilian directors, to inspect “office buildings, facilities, naval vessels, aircraft, government vehicles, hangars, ready rooms, conference rooms, individual offices, cubicles, storage rooms, tool and equipment rooms, workshops, break rooms, galleys, recreation areas, Navy and Marine Corps Exchanges, and heads [bathrooms].”
Additional locations to be inspected include “all school houses and training facilities including, but not limited to, the U.S. Naval Academy, the Naval Academy Preparatory School, Officer Candidate School, Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps [ROTC] Units, the Basic School, Officer Development School, Recruit Training Command and Marine Corps Recruit Depots.”
The memo also directs commanders to conduct “comprehensive and regular inspections” of all off-base premises, including barracks, which are under contract to the Navy.
“For purposes of this specific inspection, [Department of the Navy] Commanders, Commanding Officers, Officers-in-Charge and civilian directors will not inspect assigned government laptop or desktop computers (with the exception of visible screensavers) assigned individual barracks rooms/living quarters, assigned desk drawers, assigned cabinet drawers, clothing (e.g., coats), assigned lockers, purses, briefcases, backpacks, private automobiles and personal electronic devices (e.g., iPads, iPhones, etc.),” the memo notes.
Otherwise, any materials “that a reasonable person would consider degrading or offensive” are to be documented and immediately either removed by the owner or confiscated, the memo instructs. “Degrading or offensive material includes, but is not limited to, documents, logs, books, pictures, photographs, calendars, posters, magazines, videos, props, displays or other media, including electronic media, that contain inappropriate depictions and are detrimental to a professional working environment.”
Although the memo indicates disciplinary action will not be pursued against service members and civilian employees who remove questionable materials upon request, discipline or administrative penalties may be assessed against those who possess “contraband,” which the memo describes as “materials that are patently lewd, lascivious, obscene or pornographic, as well as supremacist images, publications or materials.”
The memo gives no specific guidance about where to draw the line between “patently lewd, lascivious, obscene or pornographic” materials and items that are merely “degrading or offensive,” which leaves some question as to how commanders, officers-in-charge, et al, will fulfill the memo’s mandate to “provide clear guidance and intent to those members delegated authority to conduct inspections.”
The inspections must be completed by June 28. Detailed reports including “the amount and type of inappropriate material found, the location where discovered (individual workspace, common workspace or electronic media) and how the material was removed” are due to Mabus by July 12.
The memo followed by 10 days a letter [PDF] from religious-conservative organization Morality in Media to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, in which MIM requested that Hagel “stop the plague” of porn by enforcing the Military Honor and Decency Act of 1996. The act prohibits the sale of sexually explicit materials on military bases.
MIM’s letter also requests Hagel “prohibit access to pornography by electronic devices or other means on all military bases and government-owned facilities used by the military worldwide.” In other words, MIM wants Hagel to disconnect military installations from the parts of the internet and broadcast television that contain porn.
So far, the Navy memo is the only one to surface, although it is likely the Army, Air Force and Coast Guard will follow suit.
