Navy promotes
McVeigh to highest
enlisted rank

Media are barred from the ceremony
for the allegedly gay submariner

By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

The Navy, fighting to discharge a Pearl Harbor submariner on charges he is gay, today refused to allow the news media to attend his promotion ceremony.

Senior Chief Petty Officer Timothy R. McVeigh was "frocked" this morning at the Pearl Harbor's Submarine Training Center and promoted to master chief petty officer, the highest enlisted rank in the Navy.

But the Navy decided to move the ceremony behind the closed doors of McVeigh's commanding officer, Capt. Rob Dunn, and bar the news media from covering what is normally a routine event.

McVeigh, who is not related to the Oklahoma City bomber, last night said he "was very disappointed."

"Normally, the Navy celebrates such an occasion because it's a chance to show off the best it has.

"The ceremony is normally held outside in front of the entire command."

Cmdr. Kevin Wensing, Navy spokesman, blamed McVeigh and Lt. Cmdr. Dereck Cole, McVeigh's military lawyer, for failing to follow proper procedure by not informing either his commanding officer or Cmdr. Betsy Bird, Pacific Fleet Submarine Force spokeswoman, that the news media were invited.

Wensing brushed off suggestions that the Navy was embarrassed by the McVeigh incident or that there were directions from higher Navy officials to keep the media away.

Wensing said McVeigh was accompanied by his mother, Terry, and family friends.

McVeigh, dressed in khakis, was given the insignias of a master chief - an anchor with two stars - by Dunn. As an enlisted sailor with 18 years of service, McVeigh's basic pay will climb from $2,648 a month to $3,037.

McVeigh said that since the results of the promotion board were released on Friday, "the only negative reaction I got was from the Navy's public-affairs officers."

Cole explained that Navy policy allows McVeigh to be "frocked" and wear the rank of master chief, although he won't draw the pay until his orders are posted.

The Navy has said that, depending on the needs of the service and McVeigh's seniority, that will be sometime next year.

McVeigh is one of 16 electronics technicians in submarines who were elected for promotion out of a worldwide pool of 168.

The decision to promote McVeigh was made solely on his record by a Navy promotion board, which was not given any information involving his legal problems.

Cole said McVeigh, 36, still has a pending June 1 court date, set after a federal judge told the Navy to give McVeigh his old job as chief of a nuclear submarine.

McVeigh was forced out of his position as senior enlisted man on the nuclear submarine USS Chicago in November when the Navy tried to discharge him on allegations that he is homosexual.

McVeigh, who has never commented on his sexual orientation, sued to keep his job, and U.S. District Judge Stanley Sporkin ruled on Jan. 29 that the Navy overstepped its bounds in its investigation. The Navy has said that it intends to appeal.

McVeigh is now in charge of coordinating the Pacific Fleet's submarine training program.

Sporkin said the Navy violated the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays when it linked McVeigh to an anonymous America Online Inc. computer profile page.

The Navy also violated the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act by obtaining confidential information about McVeigh from AOL without a warrant or court order.