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Privacy and Off-Duty
From April 1993 Proceedings Magazine
By CDR John M. Yunker, U.S. Navy (Retired)
Time and again the armed services have been affirmed by federal courts in their authority over the continuum of duty. The military has a definite interest in off-duty conduct. The oaths of commission and enlistment do not refer only to certain times of day. It is as simple as that. While there are on-duty and off-duty periods, law, policy, and standards are not suspended during the off-duty period. The routine, benign disinterest exercised by the armed services in off-duty conduct ceases when conduct is either criminal or detrimental to good order and discipline. The latter can and has included inappropriate heterosexual behavior and fraternization misconduct, among many other activities. Certainly it includes homosexual behavior since sodomy is specifically prohibited under Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
That gay advocacy groups are endeavoring to distinguish homosexual practices from other types of aberrant sexual behavior is revealing. It highlights a remarkable contrast with Department of Defense initiatives associated with the family—clearly an off-duty aspect of military life—especially dysfunctionality or domestic violence. Remedies for these problems are sought through Family Service Center support programs and/or sanctions under the military justice system. Policy extends even to the service member's financial support obligation to his or her family, which is explicitly defined in the Navy's Military Personnel Manual.
Paradoxically, the Tailhook gathering was an off-duty event, yet the Navy as a whole is criticized for its lack of control over its members during that time. Similarly, the death of Navy Seaman Allen R. Schindler—who served on board the USS Belleau Wood (LHA-3)—is being investigated as a murder with "hate crime" overtones because of his alleged homosexuality. He died in an off-duty environment. No one has disputed the jurisdiction of the Navy in either instance.
Our abhorrence of assault and murder, regardless of the circumstance, is consonant with abhorrence of a lifestyle that condones aberrant physical behavior.
