Fat Leonard Cost the U.S. Navy More Than Money

The whitewash around the flag officers left a real bad taste in peoples mouths. A JO or enlisted person would have been hung for 1/10 the offense.

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Having said that it highlighted that scores of innocent sailors saw their careers slowed or put on hold simply for association with those who were engaged in wrongdoing, with some still waiting for overdue promotions to be approved.

It said these kinds of delays can put a sailor off the career timing required to stay on the “golden path”—the Navy’s colloquial term for the succession of assignments that are required to achieve higher rank.

Those admirals who found themselves under the magnifying glass could not retire, nor could they really do their jobs as their security clearances were suspended, but their successors could not take over either.

FP said this logjam reverberated across the entire Navy, and many individuals who could or should have risen to positions of prominence were unable to do so because their careers were held hostage to the wheels of bureaucracy and a slow-moving investigative process.

The report added that at the end of the day, the Navy’s process seems to have hurt good sailors along with the bad and made scandal look eminently survivable.

It said the most senior officers involved in the scandal were simply put out to pasture after three decades in service, untouched by federal indictment, without reduction in rank, and with healthy taxpayer-funded retirements intact—a strongly worded letter their harshest punishment."

That was one hot mess. Sounds like little or nothing of value was learned, given the later Tailhook scandal.
The mechanics of "honey pot" traps, and the aftermath of sexual assault should both be taught as part of BT, from lowest to highest ranking SM.