Navy Commander Under Fire for Raunchy Videos Shown to Crew

CNN:

The Navy has opened an investigation into how a series of raunchy videos, full of sexual innuendo and anti-gay remarks, were produced and shown to the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise while on deployment supporting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Navy spokesman Cmdr. Chris Sims said the videos, which were shown to the crew in 2006 and 2007, are "inappropriate."

Excerpts from the videos and descriptions of their content were first published Saturday by The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk, Virginia.

The videos on the paper's website, reviewed by CNN, feature a man identified by two Navy officials and The Virginian-Pilot as Capt. Owen Honors, who at the time was the executive officer, or second-in-command, of the Enterprise.

He recently took command of the carrier, winning one of the most coveted assignments in the U.S. Navy, which has only 11 aircraft carriers.

Honors is shown cursing along with other members of his staff in an attempt to demonstrate humor, according to videos.

There are also anti-gay slurs, simulated sex acts, and what appear to be two female sailors in a shower together.

Here are excerpts from the videos (content warning applies):

The Virginian-Pilot:

The videos were part of what Honors, 49, called "XO Movie Night."

"They were the XO's project," said one former Enterprise sailor, a ship video-grapher who on one occasion was asked to help in the filming. "He was the one coming up with scripts and the jokes. He was the one planning it."

The Enterprise, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is set to deploy overseas this month. The videos raise serious questions about Honors' judgment, especially while the carrier is under way, said another sailor, an officer aboard the Enterprise who was also there when the videos were being shown.

"When the ship pulls away from that pier, he's it," the officer said. "To me, that's scary."

It's unclear why the videos recently resurfaced, although one sailor who spoke to the newspaper said they remain on at least one shipboard computer.