Submarine XO in the brig for illicit recordings
The Navy Times reports that the former second-in-command of the submarine USS Alaska has been convicted of using a cellphone to secretly record others before broadcasting the footage.
Lt. Cmdr. Bryan P. Watson was fired as the blue crew executive officer of the King’s Bay, Georgia-based boat in July 2017, for what officials said at the time were the preliminary results of a Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation.
As part of a pre-trial deal, Watson pleaded guilty to indecent visual recording and broadcasting of an indecent visual recording charges on May 1.
Watson was sentenced to 15 months in the brig and a dismissal, according to the Navy.
Officer dismissal is equivalent to a dishonorable discharge.
A redacted charge sheet provided to Navy Times does not state where or when the offenses occurred, but notes that the infractions happened on several occasions in private areas where the victim “had a reasonable expectation of privacy.”
Navy officials declined to say how Watson disseminated the footage and said only the information on the charge sheet was releasable.
Watson was transferred to the Navy’s brig at Charleston, South Carolina, in June and could not be reached for comment.
“They’re not entitled to talk to the media,” the brig’s administrative officer, James Greenway, said Tuesday.
The nuke officer was commissioned in 2003 and had stints on the submarines New Hampshire, Louisiana and Michigan before reporting to the Alaska in March 2017, according to Navy Personnel Command records.
He also worked at the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations from 2013 to 2016, according to the records.
Navy Judge Advocate General Corps officials said personnel issues prevented Watson’s May conviction from being posted online until recently.
USS Alaska is a Boomer, or ballistic missile boat. These were trial boats for co-ed crews, because their larger relative size to Fast Attack boats could accommodate separate berthing spaces, showers, etc. I’ll bet the former LCDR Watson was recording the female crewmembers in these spaces, violating what little privacy there was to be had. It’s going to be a long 15 months for him; he’s going to be Number 1 Chew Toy for the Brig’s MAs and Marine guards.
Category: Blue Falcons, Legal
Does the Navy still issue Camera cards to crew members whom have cameras on board.???
I have heard anyone with a govvie CAC (Common Access Card) can take photos, but certainly not in classified areas, or for creepy voyeur purposes.
AW1Ed wrote:
“I’ll bet the former LCDR Watson was recording the female crewmembers in these spaces…”
Do you think there is a possibilty that he was recording..oh, never mind…
Commissioned in ’03, would seem to have him right smack in the zone for selection to O-5.
God, what a dumbass!
You all are always bitchin that the officers get off with a free retirement package. Not true as that Field Grade went down in flames hard.
Oh and Dumbass.
23 years in. Retiring in 88 days. It seems like it was really easy to not hit the legal skyline in all that time just by not being a creep/being creepy or being a crook. When I F-ed up from time to time, it was in the course of trying to get stuff done and my command had my back (after the requisite talking to). And why? Because I wasn’t being creepy or shady. It’s not rocket surgery, folks.
When I was being creepy I had the brains to not record it. 😀
“I’ll bet the former LCDR Watson was recording the female crewmembers in these spaces”… I’d have to guess this is accurate.. if it was recordings of male members, he’d prolly get Navy version of an ARCOM… then again, Zero isn’t in charge anymore, soo…..
Well, remember now. This isn’t the previous regime where King Barry made special rules for anyone indicating LGBTQLMAOWTFOMG….
Having enlisted women on this type of boat is pretty new. The prospect for boinky-boinky was a concern back in 2014. “In the lower ranks, the concern will be inappropriate relationships between younger male and female sailors.“ They should have added, “In the upper ranks, the concern will be clandestine videotaping of the women and the sharing of the video with others.”
Even putting male and female troops together in a combat zone causes sex to occur, often and regularly. Putting them in an even smaller and more confined space is going to probably exacerbate that, while some will take the opportunity to do this kind of stupid shit.
Well, that was more than just stupid.
Once he’s out of the brig, and gone from the Navy, can those women sue him under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Title VII? Just askin’.
She/he/they can sue the shit out of him in ordinary tort. The Civil Rights Act? Nah, unless one was going to argue that he illegally videotaped members of one gender and not the other!
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Good damned luck finding a decent job after your brig time, McDonald’s is always hiring and Jim-Bob always needs another busboy or Dishwasher at his bar & Grill!
Why get a job? Why not just open a cheap bar near a military base, offer booze and snacks for cheap prices, and hire busty young women to serve them to sailors and other military traffic?
That way, he’s his own employer and no one needs to know what he stupidly did.
Good luck trying to use his veteran status with a dismissal (DD). No VA benefits, no VA loan, no Veteran Small Business credit, etc etc.
True! Like Ex-PH2 said, he might be able to get the sources to open up a crusty run-down strip tease dive.
yeh ph, except takes money to do that, doubt if he has a pot to spit in after the women get through with him!
After the women get through suing him and removing his savings account…he will probably end up homeless on the street!
what a maroon
So that’s what the big flushing sound was we heard awhile back. Let’s see, nearly 15 years service, free education(?), contacts @ CNO, fast track to promo, decent pay, close to nice pension with double dip potential, did I miss anything? Oh possibly pissed off wife, disappointed children, parents, friends, lost house, vehicles, self respect ect ect ect. Dumbass.
Yeah, he sure did a choice job of shitting all over his Wife and Kids, I wonder if his Missus has already filed for divorce?
Since the deal was struck last year, I’d say the Mrs. and kiddies, if any, are long gone.
Coming soon to a street corner near you: Former boomer XO with a cardboard sign and a tin cup.
One has to question whether he had the judgment to serve as the XO of a nuclear submarine. If the captain of the boat ever was impaired, he would be calling the shots.
He does’t have the judgement to serve as a sea-going bellhop on a cruise liner. These guys are screened to the nth degree in the pipeline to command a SSBN, considering the enormity of the mission. This one squeezed through the cracks somehow, and I’d wager the process is now undergoing a through review.
At least, it had better be.
Why does everyone here spell “moron” ….”maroon”?
Maroon is a color.
See “Bugs Bunny”
Hollywood, 1940s, gangster movies using ‘marone’, changed to ‘maroon’. Probably has to do with Joisey.
There is stupidity, there is weapon’s grade stupidity, and there is. … this guy.
Off topic sort of: I understand the Blue/Gold crew thing on boomers. How does it work in practice? Does the incoming CO sign for a Boomer, 1ea?
I learned the hard way back in the white name tape Army era that, for instance, one does not sign for a radio shelter AN/GRC-46, 1 ea. Well, you do but that includes a shit ton of stuff like telegraph key, damned clock that walks out of every shelter, antenna pole…. Doesn’t seem like much until Supply Sergeant Claw shows up with a report of survey for all those little things that adds up to big things. I was short 6 TS-352 multimeters until we (82nd) invaded Dominican Republic in “Power Pack” and the Dominicans stole them.
So how does the incoming CO sign for the boat?
“So how does the incoming CO sign for the boat?”
Damned good question. I’ll have to ask my Navy son the next time I talk to him, seeing as how he pulled a tour of duty on the Alaska as a Senior Chief.
Me, I’m thinking maybe that kind of stuff (accountability of property) would be handled through the Blue/Gold Crew Chief’s Mess and the Skipper is simply provided a “Thumbs-Up” that everything is where it should be.
Side note- got your e-mail, we are fine and hope the same for you and yours, and the light is always on here at Stately Claw Manor.
Oops, guilty as charged for posting erroneous information. My Navy son had not yet been promoted to Senior Chief when on the Alaska. That didn’t happen until just before reporting for duty on his last boat (the SSGN version of the Ohio) before retirement.
Mea Culpa. I’ll beat my face until it’s unrecognizable./smile