Barbara Spyridon Pope (born November 10, 1951) [1] was United States Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) from 1989 to 1993. She came to prominence during the Tailhook scandal for her opposition to the initial investigation conducted by Rear Admiral Duvall M. Williams, Jr., which she felt was a whitewash.
Barbara Lee Spyridon was born in Pittsburgh on November 10, 1951. She attended Wesleyan College 1969-71 and Vanderbilt University 1971–73, graduating with a B.A. in psychology in May 1973. She attended George Washington University 1978–80, [1] and worked as an administrative assistant in the Small Business Administration's Office of General Counsel 1979–80. She was an employee development specialist in the Small Business Administration's Office of Personnel 1980–82, and then served as Special Assistant to the Administrator of the Small Business Administration 1982–86.
In 1986, Pope became Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Family Support, Education, and Safety) in the United States Department of Defense.
On August 19, 1989, President of the United States George H. W. Bush nominated Pope as Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), and, after ratification by the United States Senate, Pope served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) from November 1989 until January 1993.
When the Tailhook scandal broke in 1991, Pope became concerned that the United States Department of the Navy was not conducting a proper investigation into allegations that United States Navy personnel had sexually harassed women at the 1991 meeting of the Tailhook Association in Las Vegas. She was particularly concerned because the officer heading the investigation, Rear Admiral Duvall M. Williams, Jr., head of the Naval Investigative Service, made sexist remarks in Pope's presence, most notably a comment that he believed that "a lot of female Navy pilots are go-go dancers, topless dancers or hookers". [2] When Admiral Williams issued his final report, finding that no senior Navy officials bore responsibility for what occurred in Las Vegas, Pope went to United States Secretary of the Navy Henry L. Garrett III and told him that she would resign if the United States Department of the Navy did not "do another report and look at what we needed to do about accountability and responsibility and the larger issues at hand." [3] Garrett agreed with Pope, and a further investigation was conducted, headed by Derek J. Vander Schaaf, the Inspector General of the United States Department of Defense, that ultimately resulted in the resignation of Admiral Williams, and a second admiral, Rear Adm. John E. Gordon, for their failure to conduct a thorough investigation into the Tailhook allegations. [2] In the wake of Vander Schaaf's report, the Naval Investigative Service was reorganized as the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
In the wake of the Tailhook scandal, Pope chaired an ad hoc committee to study the role of women in the military. In the course of this study, she said that "As we looked at assimilation and integration of women, combat exclusions and how we do business, it was clear women had been made to feel like second-class citizens." [4] This committee played a role in United States Secretary of Defense Les Aspin's 1993 order ending the ban against female combat pilots and his decision to ask the United States Congress to allow women to serve on American navy ships. [4]
Pope later became Assistant Secretary of State for Civil Rights under United States Secretary of State Colin Powell. Powell tasked Pope with moving to combat discrimination in the United States Armed Forces. [5]
Her husband is James Selkirk "Jay" Pope, and together, they have two children, Jim and Kacey. [1] [6] Kacey is Autistic. [6] Upon leaving government service, Pope joined Sunrise Senior Living as Director of Special Needs Assisted Living and in this capacity oversees Sunrise Senior Living's expansion into creating facilities for assisted living for special needs individuals over the age of 21.
In the 1995 television movie She Stood Alone: The Tailhook Scandal, Pope was played by actress Bess Armstrong. [7]
The Tailhook Association is a U.S.-based non-profit fraternal organization supporting the interests of sea-based aviation, with emphasis on aircraft carriers. The word tailhook refers to the hook underneath the tail of the aircraft that catches the arresting wire suspended across the flight deck in order to stop the landing plane quickly.
The United States Department of the Air Force (DAF) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. The Department of the Air Force was formed on September 18, 1947, per the National Security Act of 1947 and it is the military department within which the United States Air Force and the United States Space Force are organized.
The United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is the primary law enforcement agency of the U.S. Department of the Navy. Its primary function is to investigate criminal activities involving the Navy and Marine Corps, though its broad mandate includes national security, counterintelligence, counterterrorism, cyberwarfare, and the protection of U.S. naval assets worldwide. NCIS is the successor organization to the former Naval Investigative Service (NIS), which was established by the Office of Naval Intelligence after the Second World War. It is also known as the Naval Criminally Incompetent Service for its numerous failures in high profile investigations, including the Iowa turret explosion, the Tailhook scandal, the GDMA investigation, and the murder case pursued against Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher.
Frank Benton Kelso II was an admiral of the United States Navy, who served as Chief of Naval Operations from 1990 to 1994.
The Tailhook scandal was a military scandal in which United States (U.S.) Navy and U.S. Marine Corps aviation officers were alleged to have sexually assaulted up to 83 women and seven men, or otherwise engaged in "improper and indecent" conduct at the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada. The events took place at the 35th Annual Tailhook Association Symposium from September 5 to 8, 1991. The event was subsequently abbreviated as "Tailhook '91" in media accounts.
Patricia Ann Tracey is a retired United States naval officer and the first woman to be promoted to the rank of vice admiral in the United States Navy. She held the positions of chief of naval education and training (CNET) (1996–98), Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Personnel Policy (1998–2001), and director of navy staff from 2001 until the time of her retirement on October 1, 2004. At that time, she was also the all-time senior-ranking female officer in the United States military.
Kathleen Mae Bruyere was a captain in the United States Navy. She was one of the twelve women named by Time magazine as Time Person of the Year in 1975, representing American women. In May 1975, she became the first female officer in the Navy to serve as the flag secretary to an admiral commanding an operational staff. In 1977, Byerly was one of six officers who sued the United States Secretary of the Navy and the United States Secretary of Defense over their being restricted from serving on combat aircraft and ships. This led to the 1948 Women's Armed Services Integration Act being struck down as unconstitutional.
Rear Admiral Roberta L. Hazard was the third female line officer to be promoted to the rank of rear admiral in the United States Navy, and at the time, the highest-ranking woman in the U.S. military. She was the first woman to command a United States Naval Training Command.
Admiral Richard Michael Dunleavy is a retired US naval officer. He retired as a two-star rear admiral in 1992 after being demoted from the rank of three-star vice admiral as a result of the Tailhook scandal.
The United States Navy dog handler hazing scandal was a pattern of misconduct engaged in by members of the United States Navy at Naval Support Activity Bahrain between 2004 and 2006. Naval investigators documented nearly 100 incidents of abuse committed against several members of a Military Working Dog (MWD) unit stationed at the United States military base at Juffair. Documented incidents of abuse include racial intimidation, sexual harassment, physical abuse and anti-gay harassment. One sailor, Master-At-Arms 3rd Class Joseph Rocha, suffered post-traumatic stress disorder because of his abuse at the hands of fellow sailors, and he alleges that another sailor committed suicide because of her treatment. The Navy investigated the allegations in 2007 and documented the abuse, but took little substantive action. However, Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Sestak, a former Vice Admiral, demanded a new examination of the report's findings which led to the disciplining of Rocha's former superior, Chief Petty Officer Michael Toussaint. The scandal came to widespread public attention as United States President Barack Obama faced increased pressure to repeal the military's gay-exclusionary policy known as "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT).
James Daniel Howard was Special Assistant to President of the United States Ronald Reagan from July 1986 to February 1988, United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs from February 1988 to May 1989 and Under Secretary of the Navy from 1989 to 1993.
Anita Katherine Blair was one of the co-founders of the Independent Women's Forum and served as United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 2001 to 2006 and as acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 2008.
Bernard Daniel Rostker was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 1977 to 1979; Director of the United States Selective Service System from 1979 to 1981; Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 1994 to 1998; Under Secretary of the Army from 1998 to 2000; and Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness in 2000-2001. From 1996 to 2001, he also served as Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense for Gulf War Illnesses.
Steven S. Honigman was an American lawyer who served as General Counsel of the Navy from 1993 to 1998.
John Edward "Ted" Gordon is a retired United States Navy rear admiral who served as Judge Advocate General of the Navy from 1990 until 1992.
Paula Coughlin is a former lieutenant and naval aviator in the United States Navy. She is a whistleblower who played a role in opening investigations into what was known as the Tailhook scandal.
The Office of Naval Inspector General for the United States Department of the Navy was established during World War II to make investigations as directed by the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations. The current mission of the Naval Inspector General is "to inspect, investigate, or inquire into matters of importance to the Department of the Navy and maintain the highest level of public confidence".
Duvall McClellan "Mac" Williams, Jr. is a retired rear admiral of the United States Navy who was a commander of the United States Naval Investigative Service. His tenure included the time of the Tailhook scandal; he and Rear Admiral John E. Gordon were tasked with conducting the investigation. After their report was subject to harsh criticism by the Pentagon in 1992, Williams and Gordon resigned.
There have been women in the United States Marine Corps since 1918, and women continue to serve in the Corps today. As of 2020, women make up 8.9% of total active duty Marines. The Marine Corps has the lowest percent of female service members of all of the U.S military branches. Women's presence in the Marine Corps first emerged in 1918 when they were permitted to do administrative work in an attempt to fill the spots of male Marines fighting overseas. It was not until 1948 that women were able to become a permanent part of the Corps with the passing of the Women's Armed Services Integration Act. However, even with the Integration Act, women were still banned from certain military occupation specialties. It was not until 2016 that Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that all military occupations would be open to women without exception. As of 2018, there were 18 women serving in the Marine Corps combat arms. In December 2020, the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego agreed to join the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in accepting female recruits, with 60 female recruits starting their boot camp training at the San Diego depot in February 2021. 53 of these recruits would successfully graduate from boot camp in April 2021 and become Marines.
