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Hold E-8 accountable

The Navy’s top officer has decided that the senior chief at the center of a hazing and abuse scandal in Bahrain should retire early.

The original investigation into the matter, which occurred in 2005 and 2006 and only recently surfaced publicly, cited 93 instances of hazing, abuse and other improper conduct. Much of it was shocking. The report said members of the dog-handling unit routinely held “hooker parties,” gambled, fraternized and hazed men and women. In one incident, a naked female sailor was handcuffed to a bed and forced to pretend to be a lesbian fighting with another woman. And a female sailor’s report of sexual abuse was not forwarded up the chain of command.

Despite the damning findings of the command investigation, the man in charge of the unit — Chief Master-at-Arms Michael Toussaint — not only avoided accountability for any of his actions or those of unit members, he was advanced to senior chief in 2006. The story made national headlines in September, when the documents became public.

In reviewing the case and considering discipline for Toussaint, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead had a choice: court-martial him and perhaps get him thrown out of Navy, or deny his request to stay in the service through 2012 and immediately retire him when he becomes eligible in January.

Roughead chose the latter course, although Toussaint’s retirement paygrade still must be determined by Navy secretary Ray Mabus.

At first blush, allowing Toussaint to retire without answering for even one specific incident cited in the investigation seems like an outrage. But holding a court-martial would have been a long and drawn-out process — evidence is now years old, memories have faded and witness accounts may not be reliable. Considering that, forced retirement was an understandable choice.

But it cannot be argued that Toussaint served honorably while a chief. Toussaint should be retired at no higher than E-6. And the Navy should discipline others who participated in the shameful conduct outlined in the report, as well as officers who failed to hold sailors accountable.