Stories of fallen aviator Captain OP Honor have dominated the airways and print media this week. Captain Honors, arguably a top-notch pilot, fell from grace when videos that he wrote and starred in surfaced over the weekend.
Up until then Capt. Honors had been a star in the Navy’s chain of command. He graduated from the Naval Academy, wore the Top Gun patch, flew as a test pilot, and commanded a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. This was no “B” player. This Top Gun was top drawer by any measure.
Except one.
Here’s what I wish I had been able to tell Capt. Honors:
- It takes only one sniper with one bullet to bring you down. Don’t arm this person. Judging from the thousands of Facebook entries supporting Honors, many on board the Enterprise considered him a good leader and would gladly serve under him again. At least one person, however, disagreed. That person put together a “greatest hits” of the videos he or she found offensive and gave them to The Virginian Pilot Newspaper. At least one person in your chain of command doesn’t like you too or would like for you not to succeed. If you give this person ammunition, you too could be taken down.
- When senior leaders consistently make good decisions, little else matters; when they make bad decisions, nothing else matters. Over his nearly thirty-year career, Honors made countless good decisions, yet he has gained infamy for this one bad one—or series of bad ones related to the videos.
- Any joke that demeans a group can backfire. Even if people don’t represent a group, they often take offense at jokes. Straight people object to gay bashing humor as others react to racist humor.
- Humor can be a powerful tool for lifting morale and building cohesion. If that humor is unfair to any group, it becomes aggressive and dividing.
- The option to be “one of the gang” ceases as soon as you have one direct report. Those in your chain of command have a right to expect fairness from you but not necessarily camaraderie. They’d rather respect you than like you.
- Time often separates actions and consequences. Honors made these videos four years ago and moved from the executive officer to the captain during that interim. It took a while, but the piper showed up for payment.
- Scores of options exist for recording mistakes. First try not to make them, but then make sure there’s no record of them.
This week Capt. Honors lost his career and passion. The tax payers lost an expert in whom we have invested millions of dollars. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who devote their talent and adult lives to service of their country. I just wish this story had a happy ending.
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Captain Honors made a mistake, but with the wellbeing of ships compliment and crew in mind. But the greater mistake was made by flag leadership in taking him down. This was an internal matter that was addressed early on but allowed to rise again at a higher level when a local Norfolk newspaper was out trying to peddle their wares. Captain Honors was four years away from this “morale boosting activity” at the time it went public. As is true with any news story, it lasted only a few days. The U.S. Navy should have made a strong public statement that the issue had been properly addressed at the point it occurred, that the acticity had ended, that confidence in Captain Honors continued at a high enough level to send him on to cammand the USS Enterprise, and that ends the story. That did not happen, so the United States of America has lost one of its best just when we need him most.