Navy rings alarm
on abuse, sex cases

The Pacific commander orders
officers to bring numbers down

By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

The Navy's top leader in the Pacific is alarmed that the number of rapes and sexual assault cases is on the rise and wants his field commanders to bring it under control.

Adm. Archie Clemins, in a memo to admirals and commanding officers in his command, which includes the West Coast, Hawaii, Japan and South Korea at 33 shore installations, said the situation is "unsatisfactory and is totally unacceptable."

"Do not hesitate to tackle these tough issues. We must if we are to curb this pernicious and disgraceful behavior."

Clemins, whose Pacific Fleet command includes 255,500 sailors, Marines and civilians, said he was surprised by the statistics.

"We are experiencing these incidents at a greater rate than I had even suspected. I need your help. We have got to find a way to reduce this violence on and by our people."

The April 3 memo, made public by the Washington Times, said that since November the Pacific Fleet had experienced an average seven rapes and 8.5 sexual assaults a month.

"The picture gets worse for spousal and child abuse," said the four-star admiral, noting there were 18 spousal and 6.5 child abuse cases monthly during the same six-month period.

Jon Yoshishige, Pacific Fleet spokesman, acknowledged that rape and sexual assault cases were "slightly on the rise."

"However," Yoshishige said, "the rate for violent crime was down overall for the past few years." Yoshishige added: "There are no definite statistics on the cause in the increase."

Clemins' warnings follow criticism the Navy took over the 1991 Las Vegas Tailhook convention and the rape of an Okinawan school girl by two sailors and a Marine in 1995. Adm. Richard Macke, Pacific Forces commander, lost his job after making what were considered inappropriate remarks after the rape case.

Clemins ordered commanders to begin talking to their sailors and Marines. "There may be some more obvious solutions I've not even thought about. Don't hesitate to work on new ways and methods to help with this problem."