Pacific Fleet Boss threatens UCMJ hammer for sailors nabbed in nude photo scandal

https://www.navytimes.com/articles/pacific-fleet-boss-online-bullies-will-be-punished

Pacific Fleet Boss threatens UCMJ hammer for sailors nabbed in nude photo scandal

By: David B. Larter, March 15, 2017

Sailors caught degrading their female shipmates online will be punished, said the four-star head of all Navy forces in the Pacific in a scathing message to his troops released overnight.

"Those who have until now thought they could behave this way with anonymity or without consequence will find out they are flat wrong," said Adm. Scott Swift. "Make no mistake, this is a war fighting issue and I intend to take full advantage of the opportunities provided to us by the [Uniform Code of Military Justice] to pursue these cases to a greater extent than may be possible in civil venues."

The message comes after a Navy Times investigation found that specific female sailors from more than a dozen commands had been targeted by online users seeking naked pictures of them on various message boards in dark corners of the internet. After Navy Times shared its findings, along with links to the posts, with the service, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson issued a directive to his commanders to stamp out the behavior in the fleet.

Within hours, Swift released his message, strongly condemning the behavior and said it damaged the fleet. "I see this behavior as 'insider threat' to our fleet's ability to be an effective fighting force," Swift said. "This is not who we are. If any sailor thinks that this behavior is somehow acceptable or excusable, they do not belong in our Navy. It goes beyond selfish or immature behavior — it's destructive to our fleet."
(snip)