Homophobic Racist Videos Created Onboard USS Enterprise By Capitan Owen P. Honors Jr. Surfaces

The Virginian-Pilot reports on a series of videos it obtained produced aboard the Norfolk, West Virginia-based aircraft carrier the Enterprise in 2006 and 2007 and broadcast to its nearly 6,000 Marines and sailors starring Capitan Owen P. Honors Jr. that are sophomorically homophobic and racist, and that underline a troubling thought: how it is possible that the man responsible for the creation and distribution of the disgusting videos allowed to command? The videos were shot and edited with government equipment, many of them while the Enterprise was deployed, supporting the wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq. On camera, Honors suggests he is trying to entertain the troops, sailors saying that they were shown roughly once a week on closed-circuit television, those same sailors requesting anonymity for fear of retribution. The videos were allegedly a part of what the 49 year old Honors came to call XO Movie Night, one sailor saying “They were the XO’s project. He was the one coming up with scripts and the jokes. He was the one planning it.” Among the jokes, sailors in drag saying anti-gay slurs, simulating masturbation, and a fake rectal exam. Another scene suggests that two female Navy sailors standing in a shower stall, pretending to wash each other, while another hints that an officer is engaging in acts of bestiality. It is not clear why the video are only now surfacing although it is reported that at least one copy remains on a shipboard computer. Honors, a native of Syracuse, New York, who graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1983, could not be reached for comment. Friday, the Navy released a written statement, the content of which is belied by the videos, that reads in part “The videos created onboard USS Enterprise in 2006-2007 were not created with the intent to offend anyone. The videos were intended to be humours skits focusing this crew’s attentions on specific issues such as port visits, safety, water conservation, ship cleanliness, etc,” and adds that when carrier strike group leaders became aware of the inappropriate content in late 2007, production of the videos was halted.