A copy of the “Tailhook Underground” story, which Post editors later admitted in writing had come from an unnamed source at the Department of Defense, is published below. It was a primary example of the type of journalism that many news organizations, to their credit, are trying to eliminate in the future. An unedited version of Donnelly’s response, most of which was published as Letter to the Editor on Saturday, July 12, 1997, also appears below.

For more information and background on this controversy, see CMR’s article titled “Did Feminist Bias Distort Washington Post Story on Jessica Lynch,” as posted on our website, www.cmrlink.org, on June 24. (That article and additional questions about the story of Pfc. Lynch can be found under “Issues/Women in Combat.”)

An e-mail message from Ms. Priest, and Elaine Donnelly’s response, can be seen by clicking on the link below.

Additional information about the many falsehoods promulgated by Susan Barnes, attorney for then-Lt. Carey Lohrenz, can be found on the website under “Issues/CMR Lawsuit.”

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Grounded Female Navy Pilot Is Returned to Flight Status

Service Seen Seeking to Make Amends for Treatment

Washington Post June 21, 1997

By Dana Priest

^{Washington Post Staff Writer}

The Navy returned to flight status yesterday the female fighter pilot it grounded two years ago in the midst of a smear campaign by civilian activists and naval aviators opposed to allowing women to fly fighter aircraft

Lt. Carey Lorenz, whose allegations of sex discrimination are the subject of an upcoming Navy inspector general report, has been given back her right to fly land-based Navy aircraft. However, she will not be allowed to return to the cockpit of the F-14 Tomcat or any other carrier-based plane.

The decision was greeted as a victory by Lorenz, and defense sources said the Navy is trying to make amends to her for having been subjected to discriminatory treatment by superiors and colleagues in Carrier Air Wing 11 at Miramar Naval Air Station in California.

“This is an enormous step towards restoration of her reputation,” said Susan Barnes, an attorney representing Lorenz in a pending civil court case against the Navy. “I think the Navy is trying to do the right thing, and I’m satisfied this is the best they can do at this time.” Barnes said that practically speaking, “resistance” among naval aviators “would be too strong against her” if Lorenz were to return as a fighter pilot.

Lorenz and Lt. Kara S. Hultgreen were the Navy’s first two female combat pilots. Hultgreen was killed when the 32-ton plane she was flying plunged into the ocean on a landing approach in 1994. The navy determined that the crash was due to mechanical problems and pilot error.

Hultgreen’s death became a lightning rod for naval aviators and civilian activists who oppose allowing women to fly combat aircraft and who believe the Navy has put political considerations over safety and moral issues. The campaign, which sometimes calls itself “the Tailhook Underground,” after the infamous 1991 Tailhook sex scandal, is spearheaded by Elaine Donnelly, who heads the Center for Military Readiness.

Donnelly in January 1995 began circulating leaked copies of Lorenz’s confidential records in news releases and center reports. At the time, Lorenz was referred to as “Pilot B.”

Donnelly said she could not comment on the decision because she did not know the Navy’s rationale. She said her efforts were not intended to smear Lorenz’s reputation but to raise legitimate safety concerns. “My primary concern is safety and excellence in aviation,” she said. “The theories she has are totally unsupported.”

Lorenz was grounded in May 1995, one month after receiving an outstanding fitness report and many previous laudatory reports. She was described then by her skipper as an “unsafe, undisciplined and unpredictable pilot.” Lorenz alleges the rating was unfair and part of the campaign to oust her. Her commander and others say they had legitimate concerns about her flying abilities.

The restoration of her flight status splits the difference. In it, Vice Adm. D.T. Oliver, chief of naval personnel, effectively upholds the initial wing commanders’ judgment that she was not a good enough pilot to land on aircraft carriers.

But it also recognizes she is capable of flying land-based planes.

Defense Department sources said the Navy is trying to make amends to a second female pilot and to discharge several aviators who they believe stole and leaked Lorenz’s personnel records to Donnelly and treated Lorenz in malicious ways by ostracizing her and trying to intimidate her.

Included in that group would be Lt. Patrick “Pipper” Burns who, in exchange for criminal immunity, allegedly told the Navy he stole the documents. In an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court, Barnes alleges that two other lieutenants, three commanders and a captain helped create the smear campaign.

Navy officials would not comment on Lorenz’s case but Navy spokesman Rear Adm. Kendell Pease said the Navy recognized it had made some mistakes and has corrected them. “That was the first time that air wing went through it.” he said, referring to the integration of women. “We went through it and we learned.”

During the wing’s second tour of duty as a gender-intergrated group, which just ended, its top rookie pilot was a woman, he said.

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Below is Elaine Donnelly’s original letter responding to the Washington Post article. An edited version of this letter was published by the Post on Saturday, July 12, 1997.

Public Letter Box

The Washington Post

1150 15th St. NW

Washington D.C. 20071

June 27, 1997

To the Editor:

Please allow me to comment on the June 21 article by Dana Priest, titled "Grounded Female Navy Pilot Is Returned to Flight Status--Service Seen Seeking to Make Amends for Treatment."

According to Ms. Priest, Vice Admiral D.T. Oliver, Chief of Naval Personnel, has decided after a two-year delay to permit Lt. Carey Lohrenz to fly non-carrier based Navy aircraft, but not the F-14 Tomcat that she was trained to fly along with the late Lt. Kara Hultgreen, who crashed on approach to a carrier in October of 1994.

Priest flatly declared, without supporting evidence, that Lt. Lohrenz was victimized by a "smear" campaign by civilian activists and naval aviators ... which sometimes calls itself ‘the Tailhook Underground,’ after the infamous 1991 Tailhook sex scandal, [and] is spearheaded by Elaine Donnelly, who heads the Center, for Military Readiness." (emphasis added)

If Ms. Priest had asked, I would have told her that I have never heard of a campaign calling itself the "Tailhook Underground," or anything resembling such a campaign. And yet I am specifically named by the Washington Post as the leader of the thing. The unwarranted, unsupported personal attack distracts attention from significant news in the same story.

That would be the news that Adm. Oliver had effectively upheld the initial wing commander's judgment that "she (Lohrenz) was not a good enough pilot to land on aircraft carriers" due to performance described by her skipper that was "unsafe, undisciplined and unpredictable."

The admiral's statement would seem to substantiate the concerns of those who raised legitimate questions about special concessions extended to Lt. Lohrenz in the process of qualifying her for carrier aviation. A 1995 report signed by then-Rear Adm. Lyle Bien, shown to me in 1995 and recently released after repeated freedom of information requests, confirmed a pattern of low scores, major errors, and extraordinary concessions for Lts. Hultgreen and Lohrenz during their F-14 training.

But as CMR reported in March, the Bien Report also continued a pattern of dissembling and deception that began almost immediately after Lt. Hultgreen's tragic death. It omitted crucial information that high officials had a right to know, and condoned special treatment that was costly, dangerous, and demoralizing to all who were aware of it.

Dozens of male and female pilots wash out of carrier aviation every year, and until recently, almost none were re-assigned to land-based aviation. Priest might have asked why the Navy felt compelled to "make amends" by effectively overruling the outcome, but not the rationale, of four previous decisions to ground Lt. Lohrenz. Instead, she promulgated a conspiracy theory that is without foundation and possibly actionable. At the very least, loaded editorializing such as this is out of place in a newspaper that prides itself on solid reporting.

Sincerely,

Elaine Donnelly

President, Center for Military Readiness

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