Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus censured Cmdr Liam Bruen, the recently retired Navy fighter squadron commander, over the naming ceremony of an administrative officer who took offense.

In a slap at the fading and officially out-of-favor tradition of racy, sarcastic and irreverent aviation call signs, a just-retired Navy fighter squadron commanding officer was censured by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus Wednesday for failing to halt and subsequently condoning the hazing of a junior officer at a 2009 call sign review board where assembled officers voted to call the officer “Romo’s Bitch” the Navy announced…

The Navy also counseled the unit’s second in command, Cmdr Damien Christopher, who had gone on to command, for violations of the Navy’s “policies on hazing and Equal Opportunity.”  However, Christopher was praised for his subsequent performance and remains in command.

The Navy Times article also indicated “at least some” of the other officers who were present were also punished.

The officer who complained, now-LTjg Steve Crowston, used an interestingly worded victory dance:

After 18 long months, the substantiated findings of sexual harassment and hazing are a victory for the gay, lesbian, and bisexual members serving in the Navy and throughout the Armed Forces…

His wording is somewhat odd, because as others have noted, the “derogatory” names he saw in his Naming are amazingly common.  In other words, he seems to have thought he was being criticized for being homosexual, while in fact he was being treated just like every other newly-named officer.

Not to leave any doubt, in an email to the Navy Times Crowston went whole-hog:

“Today is a day to celebrate!” he wrote. “We can all celebrate again on 20 September after the 60-day waiting period and again when the Defense of Marriage Act is finally buried.”

Well then.