Academy Superintendent

The Defense Department is conducting a formal inquiry into whether the superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy interfered in three investigations of high-profile midshipmen crimes.Prompted by a complaint from a disgruntled Navy investigator, the Defense Department's Inspector General is examining whether Adm. Charles R. Larson exerted influence to limit the investigations and minimize publicity from student LSD use, a Mid-run car-theft ring, and a student accused of child molestation.The most serious accusations involve complaints that Larson or senior members of his staff may have pressured a lower-ranking officer not to press charges against a midshipman accused of sexually molesting his 4-year-old son.As a result, Annapolis police say, local charges were never filed against the former Mid, now in a Texas prison for a separate case of child abuse.

He commanded a nuclear submarine on some of the most daring spy missions of the Cold War. He directed U.S. fleets from the Mediterranean to the Sea of Japan. He honed his political skills in the White House and in the Pentagon's inner circles. As a four-star admiral, he held the world's largest military command.Then, after nearly 40 years matching wits with Soviet, Chinese and North Korean armed forces, he took on an adversary still more treacherous: the conduct of 4,000 young Americans at the Naval Academy.

CREATION OF AN outside panel to conduct a broad assessment of the U.S. Naval Academy is a welcome development. Buffeted by a number of scandals -- including drug use, sexual misconduct and car thefts -- the academy's reputation is in need of rehabilitation. A thorough review is an excellent start.As envisioned by the academy's Board of Visitors, military and civilian experts will explore all aspects of academy life, from admissions policies to the treatment of female midshipmen. The assessment should be able to pinpoint problems that need addressing, as well as put to rest misconceptions that the officers' training school has been overrun with irresponsible youth.

The admiral who was in charge of the Naval Academy during the largest cheating scandal in the school's history will retire in November, without a promotion or the command of a fleet."

Bringing Adm. Charles R. Larson back to the U.S. Naval Academy is turning out to be the smartest decision the Navy has made regarding this hallowed but recently troubled institution.Admiral Larson, academy superintendent from 1983 to 1986, was sent back one year ago to clean up a cheating scandal and address the moral deficiencies that caused it -- to make the Naval Academy as truly honorable as it has always purported to be. He quickly put his finger on the problem -- a too lenient atmosphere and lack of emphasis on character development -- and unhesitatingly began cracking down.

James Hill, 75, a British film director whose movies included "Born Free" and a remake of "Black Beauty," died yesterday. The cause was not immediately known. Mr. Hill's best-known film was "Born Free," the story of a game warden in Kenya, George Adamson, and his wife, Joy, who reared three lion cubs. Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers starred in the 1966 release. Other films included "A Study in Terror" in 1965 and the 1971 version of "Black Beauty."William Renwick Smedberg III, 92, a retired vice admiral and former Naval Academy superintendent, died of congestive heart failure Wednesday in Falls Church, Va. Admiral Smedberg, who retired in 1964, was academy superintendent from 1956 to 1958.

The Navy reserves its Distinguished Service Medal, the fourth-highest prize it offers, for "exceptional performance of duty, clearly above that normally expected."One has to wonder what it considers "exceptional performance of duty." This week it gave the prize to Rear Adm. Thomas C. Lynch, whose watch as Naval Academy superintendent was marred by the biggest cheating scandal in academy history and criticism over the half-hearted way he handled it.The Navy's behavior makes no sense.On the one hand, Navy top brass have sent unmistakable signals that they are not impressed with Admiral Lynch.

Rear Adm. Thomas C. Lynch, whose fast rise in the Navy stalled when he presided over the Naval Academy during its largest cheating scandal, has been assigned to a new Pentagon post that will chart the future of the Navy and Marine Corps.The 52-year-old academy superintendent yesterday received his orders to become director of the Navy's roles and missions study group, under the chief of naval operations.The admiral will oversee a staff of 10 that will study will review the types of military operations that may be required in the post Cold War era."

A cheating scandal that has harmed the reputation of the U.S. Naval Academy now appears to be threatening the career of its superintendent, Rear Adm. Thomas C. Lynch.The two-star admiral -- who admitted "failure" in not aggressively pursuing the largest scandal in academy history -- is now being offered two-star assignments rather than the three-star promotion he had hoped to achieve, Navy and Pentagon sources said.Admiral Lynch, 52, a 1964 academy graduate and former Navy football captain, was yearning for a fleet command and is now deciding whether to accept a deputy post or retire from the Navy, sources said.

A Navy panel recommended yesterday that 29 senior midshipmen be expelled for their part in the largest cheating scandal in the 149-year history of the U.S. Naval Academy.Forty-two others were recommended for punishments short of expulsion, while another 35 were exonerated of violating the academy's strict honor concept, which states: "Midshipmen are persons of integrity: They do not lie, cheat or steal."In a related move, the Pentagon will recommend today that the White House appoint Adm. Charles R. Larson, commander in chief of U.S. Pacific Forces and a former academy superintendent, as the next superintendent, replacing Rear Adm. Thomas C. Lynch, who is to complete his tour of duty this summer, a Defense Department source said.