Navy Secretary-Designate Vows ‘Firm, Fair’ Handling of Tailhook

WASHINGTON — John Dalton, President Clinton’s choice for secretary of the Navy, promised Wednesday to be “firm, fair and sensitive” in handling reports of sexual harassment at the 1991 Tailhook convention.

Dalton, 51, is a Naval Academy graduate, a San Antonio banker, a Democratic fund-raiser and a longtime Clinton supporter. Clinton, who announced his selection of Dalton on Wednesday, has yet to name the secretaries of the Army and Air Force.

“Tailhook is definitely something I’m going to have to deal with, and it is a challenge I will face early on,” Dalton said in a phone interview from San Antonio.

Dozens of women, more than half of them naval officers, say that they were pawed and otherwise abused by drunken Navy and Marine Corps aviators at the annual convention of the Tailhook Assn. in Las Vegas.

Pentagon sources have said that the Tailhook report, which is expected to be released Friday, will recommend that 140 to 150 people be considered for disciplinary action.

Dalton, who must be confirmed by the Senate, said he has not read the report, but understands from news reports that, “It’s not a pretty picture.”

He spoke with Clinton by telephone on Tuesday.

“He just talked about the fact that there’s an awful lot of fine people in the Navy that he felt had nothing to do with this issue and he hated to see the whole Navy get a black eye as a result of . . . poor decisions or poor judgments on the part of a relatively limited number of people,” Dalton said.

Clinton said he wanted as secretary “someone who understands the Navy, had a Navy background, someone who knew the culture of the Navy and could make sure that the entire Navy did not have an adverse reaction” to how the Tailhook investigation is handled, Dalton said.