SECTION Ill INDECENT EXPOSURE During our investigation, we received numerous reports of public nudity and indecent exposure in the third floor hallway, in the hospitality suites and outside on the pool patio. This behavior falls into three general categories of "streaking," "mooning," and "ballwalking." A. Streaking One form of indecent exposure that occurred at Tailhook 91 involved "streaking," a term used by most witnesses to describe the actions of males who removed their clothing and walked or ran nude past onlookers. Several streaking instances occurred during Tailhook 91. In each of the reported instances, males were seen running nude either through the suites or on the hotel pool patio. Some incidents involved a single streaker whereas others were reported to include as many as 10 individuals. Those instances occurred in the evening hours of Friday and Saturday or in the early morning hours Sunday. Witnesses included numerous male and female naval officers, a Hilton Hotel security officer and civilians. Witnesses were able to provide information leading to the identification of six naval officers as streakers. Two of those officers are Navy flight surgeons. Streakers were sometimes pursued by Hilton security officers. In those instances, other naval officers sought to delay or otherwise impede the security officers thus allowing the streakers to escape into the squadron hospitality suites. Several of the reported streaking incidents centered around the VAQ-129 and VS-41 suites. Witnesses, including officers assigned to VAQ-129, reported to us that they observed streakers in the VAQ-129 suite on numerous occasions. Witnesses told us that both men and women observed the streakers. Other streaking incidents include a group of four or five males streaking across the patio early Sunday morning while being chased by security officers. These streakers were described as being naked except for their Rhino horn headgear (worn by many members of the former Marine "Rhino" squadron). A second instance involved a group of about 10 naked males who were seen winding their way through the patio crowd as they held hands. In yet another instance, a male aviator related that on Friday evening he entered the VS-41 suite and observed three males walking around the room naked despite the fact there were other male and female guests in the suite. A second officer stated that on Saturday night he observed six or seven streakers exit the VS-41 suite and run across the patio. The witness also noted that a group of fully dressed women preceded the men and appeared to be carrying the men's clothing. Witnesses, including then Tailhook President, CAPT Ludwig, and the Executive Director acknowledged that streaking had been a persistent problem at Tailhook conferences. When interviewed, CAPT Ludwig stated that he saw five streakers run across the pool patio. CAPT Ludwig described the subsequent encounter as follows: "And so I immediately go after them. And I get in a suite, look around and I'm--you know, I am absolutely astounded that these characters have disappeared. They are nowhere to be seen. The bathroom door is closed, so--you know, it is locked. I finally bang, and here is five guys huddled up, looking pretty sheepish in the bathroom...And so I chew the shit out of them, and tell them, 'Get some towels on you, get your asses out of here and get yourselves dressed and don't ever let me see you again."' CAPT Ludwig stated that he did not inquire as to the officers names or specific unit but did note that the incident occurred in the VAQ-129 squadron suite. Our investigation identified the men involved in the incident. All were found to be Navy aviators. No other action is known to have been taken either by the Navy or the Association in that or any of the other reported streaking incidents. B. Mooning Another form of indecent exposure, referred to as "mooning," involved individuals baring their buttocks within view of other attendees. An overwhelming number of attendees, including male and female military officers, Tailhook Association officers, civilians, contractor employees and hotel security staff acknowledged witnessing such instances. Mooning incidents occurred on every day and night of Tailhook 91 and were seen in various suites, in the third floor hallway, on the pool patio and from the patio level while looking up at windows on many floors of the hotel. Evidence indicated that mooning was a common practice among naval aviators at Tailhook 91 and at previous Tailhook conventions. Although most occurrences involved only males, some incidents involved only females while others included both males and females. Although a few male officers acknowledged or were reported by others to have participated in that activity, in most cases our investigation failed to identify individuals involved in specific mooning incidents. Male officers, in some instances, posed for photographs while mooning at the request of female civilian attendees. Certain of those photographs were obtained as evidence during the course of our investigation. In the HS-I suite (room 315), a few officers recorded over combat footage in a video camcorder to memorialize their mooning activities. They left the videotape in the camcorder to the later surprise of the squadron CO who owned the equipment. -52 C. " Ballwalking The third form of indecent exposure engaged in by naval aviators at Tailhook 91 involved publicly exposing their testicles, commonly referred to in the naval aviation community as "ballwalking." Eighty individuals reported to us that they witnessed ballwalking at Tailhook 91. Insufficient evidence was found to state with certainty exactly how many ballwalking incidents occurred at Tailhook 91. We identified 14 military officers who ballwalked during the convention. Where and how the practice of ballwalking started is unclear, but several accounts serve to indicate how widespread the practice is within the Navy. Four officers told us that they observed ballwalking by naval officers in either Korea or the Philippines. One officer stated that he was first introduced to the practice of ballwalking at a squadron golf game. Those golfers who failed to reach the point of the women's tee, when teeing off, were required to play the remainder of the hole while ballwalking. The same officer stated he had observed ballwalking at various naval officers' clubs. Another officer, who told us he declined an invitation by other officers to ballwalk at Tailhook 91, stated that ballwalking was commonplace at parties held by training squadrons at the NAS Meridian, Mississippi. The individual readily admitted to seeing and participating in ballwalking during those squadron parties. Still another officer, who was identified as a ballwalker at Tailhook 91, stated he had seen ballwalking at "wingings" when naval aviators are awarded their pilot's wings. He added that other male aviators had been caught ballwalking at the Officers' Club at NAS Kingsville, Texas, and that "nothing adverse happened to them." One instance of ballwalking was reported to have occurred at the United States Naval Academy. An officer told us that while he was an Academy cadet, a senior cadet demonstrated ballwalking to him. After the demonstration, the senior cadet wanted the younger cadet to ballwalk in front of a female cadet. The cadet refused. All but one of the reported instances of ballwalking took place on either the third floor or the pool patio deck area of the hotel on Friday and Saturday or very early Sunday morning. The exception involved two naval officers who, after leaving the Hilton early Sunday morning, ballwalked down the streets of Las Vegas. The ballwalkers were observed by a third officer and they even attempted to get him to ballwalk by stating, "It's a tradition, you've got to do this." The third officer refused to participate and distanced himself from them. The third officer added that, although it was early in the morning, there were people on the streets. The incidents occurred primarily in three areas. The first area, the outside pool patio deck, was very large and could accommodate crowds with more ease than the other two. For that reason, many attendees preferred to spend time on the pool patio deck area, especially those who wanted to avoid the crowded hallway. There were 27 reported ballwalking sightings on the pool patio deck area. The second area where ballwalking occurred was in individual suites. Specific suites in which ballwalking is known to have occurred include CNATRA, VT-24, VF-124, VA-128 and Naval Strike Warfare Center. Ballwalking apparently occurred in other suites but, in some instances, witnesses could not identify specific suites with certainty. One such incident involved either the VMFAT or the MAWTS suite (rooms 355 and 356) while another involved the VAQ-129, VAW-110 or the VS-41 suite (rooms 302, 303, 304). In short, ballwalking was not limited to a particular suite or otherwise confined in any one area. The third area in which ballwalking incidents occurred was the hallway where the gauntlet took place. Thirteen people reported they observed ballwalking in the hallway. At least four specific incidents involved ballwalkers who went from the hallway into individual suites. Ballwalking was practiced by individual officers, in pairs and in groups of three or more with about equal frequency. A few aviators provided reasons why they ballwalked. One aviator described ballwalking as a "manly thing" to do with the guys. Another officer speculated that males do it for one-upmanship, "trying to be more rude and wild than the next person." The attitude of a ballwalker may best be illustrated by a T-shirt worn by a ballwalker at Tailhook 90. The T-shirt, which was sold at the convention, read, "HANG EM IF YOU GOT EM." Finally, a ballwalker at Tailhook 91 stated ballwalking is done as an " Act of Defiance. " We are aware of only three individuals who took corrective action with respect to ballwalking. In the first instance, a Naval Reserve commander told us that on Saturday night he saw a young white male whom he believed to be a naval officer on the pool patio deck area near the VR-57 suite. The commander noted that the individual was ballwalking and told him that ballwalking was not appreciated in his area. He told the officer to put his testicles back into his pants and act like an adult. The young man got very red in the face, followed the instructions and then left the area. The second action was also taken by a naval commander who observed two lieutenants ballwalking on the patio pool deck area. The commander said that it was the "most disgusting thing" he had ever seen and he immediately went over to the men and chastised them. He specifically told the ballwalkers to zip up their pants and that he did not want to see anything like that again. The commander stated that, in his view, he "handled the situation." The only other individual we know to have taken corrective action was a hotel security officer who observed a male whose testicles were visible below the legs of his "short-shorts." The security officer told him to change into other clothes. Ballwalking incidents reported at Tailhook 91 all occurred in the presence of male and female attendees. In at least one instance, a Navy captain was present and took no action. The civilian woman who related the events stated that she and a female Navy lieutenant were talking to a Navy captain when the civilian woman accidentally brushed up against a guy who was standing with his testicles exposed. When the captain informed the woman that the practice was called "ballwalking," she responded, "Oh, my God!" According to the woman, her shocked reaction caused the men, including the captain, to laugh. The captain then told her to ignore the activity. During our interview, the woman stated that she could not recall the identity of the ballwalker because she "was too embarrassed to look at his face." She did clearly recall there was more than one ballwalker and the captain took no action. One admitted ballwalker stated to us that he ballwalked with five other aviators on a "dare." Initially the five aviators, after agreeing to ballwalk, stood in a corner of a crowded suite facing away from the other men and women. Subsequently, they began to mingle with the crowded, individually introducing themselves to women in the room in an effort to see whether women would notice the ballwalking. The officer expressed to us his surprise that most of the people did not even notice that the men had their testicles exposed. Another interviewee described a similar scene from an observer's viewpoint. He stated he looked into the VF-124 suite and was shocked to notice that about 10 of the men were exposing their genitals. The individuals were milling around the area as if nothing unusual was happening. There were numerous women in the suite at the time who were not paying any attention to the men exposing themselves. The witness stated he could not believe what the men were doing and was appalled at their behavior. A Navy captain told us he witnessed male officers exposing their genitals while in the Philippines and Korea. He went on to say that "this activity is OK for officers to do as long as there are not enlisted or outsiders present." When questioned as to whether he thought the activity was appropriate for officers, he said "yes" under the above circumstances. He added "If done in public, then it would not be appropriate." There were several instances in which individual aviators exposed their penises as well as their testicles at Tailhook 91. Those instances did not differ significantly from the ballwalking incidents except on one occasion. In that instance, three female university students entered a suite close to the elevator (either room 302, 303 or 304). A male exposed himself to the women while he was standing against a wall talking to two other males. When the women entered the suite, one of the males reached down and grabbed his friend's exposed genitals, shook them as he looked toward the women, and said, "Hey, ladies have you ever seen anything like this before?" One of the women stated she was shocked and could not believe what she had just seen and heard. She and her friends quickly left the suite. We determined that that type of exposure also occurred at Tailhook 90. One witness told us that during Tailhook 90 she saw a man in the patio area with his penis exposed and a "smiley face" drawn on his penis in red ink. In several other instances, the investigators obtained photographs showing aviators posing for the cameras while they ballwalked. One female witness told us that her girlfriend coaxed several aviators to expose themselves so the girlfriend could get a picture. Later, the woman compiled a photograph album of Tailhook 91. There was also an instance where an officer asked to borrow a woman's camera. When the woman later had the film developed, she discovered a photograph of a penis among the pictures. Notes 52. One mooning instance resulted in minor injuries and could conceivably have resulted in more serious injuries. Late Saturday evening, an unspecified number of individuals mooned the patio crowd from a window on the eighth floor of the Hilton Hotel. That apparently caused a large plate glass window to break and crash down onto the patio area, which at the time was crowded with guests. At least two individuals were cut by falling glass and required medical treatment.