Chief Of Naval

Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr., who as chief of naval operations in the early 1970s ordered the Navy to end racial discrimination and demeaning restrictions on sailors, then faced a haunting personal tragedy that he linked to ordering the use of the defoliant Agent Orange in Vietnam, died yesterday at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. He was 79 and lived in McLean, Va. The cause was complications from surgery for a cancerous chest tumor. In July 1970, when Admiral Zumwalt, then 49, became the youngest man to serve as the Navy's top-ranking uniformed officer, re-enlistments were plunging in the face of an unpopular war in Vietnam.

Black social club to honor outgoing Annapolis police chief A predominantly African-American social club will honor outgoing Annapolis police Chief Joseph Johnson on Friday. Hundreds of people, including Maryland Court of Appeals Judge Clayton Greene Jr., County Councilman Daryl Jones, Maryland NAACP President Gerald Stansbury, former County Executive Janet S. Owens, Mayor Ellen O. Moyer and Maryland House of Delegates Speaker Michael E. Busch, are expected to attend the event at the Peerless Rens club, 403 Chester Ave. Johnson, who is stepping down in June after nearly 14 years at his post, is the only African-American ever to lead the Annapolis Police Department.

WASHINGTON -- In a surprising reversal, the Navy is no longer trying to persuade a sexually harassed officer to remain in the service and is moving to discharge her.The decision to end the career of Lt. Rebecca Hansen, 28, who failed pilot training, was made after she declined other Navy job offers and made three demands -- an apology from Navy Secretary John Dalton, the upgrading of her low performance ratings to "outstanding" and a return to flight school.Lieutenant...

At the behest of U.S. Sen. John McCain, 22 fellow former prisoners of war walked onto the stage at the cavernous Naval Academy chapel yesterday to honor a fallen comrade: Vice Adm. William Porter Lawrence. They fell into a formation of sorts behind McCain, some limping and struggling to stand while they made two lines and faced the 1,000 people who had also come to pay their respects to Lawrence, who died in his sleep Dec. 2 at his Crownsville home at age 75. As one of the highest-ranking officers in the notorious "Hanoi Hilton" during the Vietnam War, Lawrence had acted as commander and adviser to many of the men, helping them to resist the constant torture and cruelty they faced for years in the prison.

The Navy has fired a veteran fighter pilot from one of the top jobs in naval aviation because he did not respond quickly to a complaint from an aide that she was sexually harassed at a convention of Navy fliers in September.Rear Adm. John W. Snyder Jr. was removed as commander of the Patuxent River Naval Air Test Center in Lexington Park on Tuesday and transferred to an unspecified job at the Naval Air Systems Command in Crystal City, Va., by Adm. Frank B. Kelso II, chief of naval operations.

Retired Rear Adm. Edward Aberle Ruckner, 81, died Thursday at Anne Arundel Medical Center of heart failure.Funeral services were being held today in St. Andrew's Chapel at the Naval Academy.Admiral Ruckner had lived in Annapolis for 20 years since retiring from the Navy.Born in Jersey City, N.J., he attended Rutgers University before entering the Naval Academy and graduating in 1932. He also earned a master's degree in electrical engineering in 1941 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Navy's top officers have lost their "moral courage," abandoning their battle-tested comrades to Tailhook and "political correctness" and standing silently by while the fleet has been shrunk, former Navy Secretary James H. Webb charged yesterday.In a speech before the U.S. Naval Institute in Annapolis that provoked an angry exchange and a tug of war over the microphone with a former Navy undersecretary, Mr. Webb drew a scathing portrait of Navy leadership.Some admirals -- including the current and former chiefs of naval operations -- would rather preserve or promote their careers and curry favor with politicians than support the service, he said.

Adm. David L. McDonald, 91, a former chief of naval operations credited with building the Navy combat air force that flew in Vietnam, died Tuesday of kidney failure at Baptist Medical Center-Beaches, said his daughter, Mary Lou Thornton, of Atlantic Beach, Fla.A native of Maysville, Ga., and a Naval Academy graduate, he became a naval aviator in 1931 and rose to the rank of four-star admiral by April 1, 1963. He was the nation's 17th chief of naval operations serving from 1963 to 1967.Catherine McDonald, his wife of 67 years, died in November.

At the U.S. Naval Academy, somber officers and midshipmen paused yesterday afternoon to grieve the death of their leader.Even though he was the first enlisted sailor to rise through the ranks to become the Navy's commander, Adm. Jeremy "Mike" Boorda had a deep affection for the academy and was a regular visitor to Annapolis.Boorda also was remembered as giving an inspiring speech just last month that cheered the beleaguered school in the wake of several embarrassing cases of student wrongdoing.

WASHINGTON -- Adm. Jay L. Johnson, an understated 1968 Naval Academy graduate and naval aviator, has been selected by President Clinton to lead a Navy still reeling from the suicide of its top officer, White House officials said last night.A four-star admiral for only the past two months, Johnson has been acting chief of naval operations since Adm. Jeremy M. "Mike" Boorda shot himself in the chest last month. Johnson is expected to be officially selected today -- his 50th birthday, officials said.

Rear Adm. Rodney P. Rempt, the president of the Naval War College and one of the military's top missile-defense experts, is the Navy's choice to lead the Naval Academy, Pentagon and congressional sources said yesterday. The Navy's selection, if it gets the expected nod from Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the Senate, would place a tested educator with proven people skills at the helm of a school whose last superintendent resigned two weeks ago amid sharp criticism of his leadership style.

Navy officials say they will move quickly to find a new superintendent for the Naval Academy, hoping to restore stability to the service's showcase institution after Vice Adm. Richard J. Naughton resigned this week amid charges of improper conduct. The goal, they said, is to have a permanent successor in place by the start of classes Aug. 20. Already, influential alumni are lobbying the Pentagon for favorites, say officials close to the academy. Some want to install a first-ever Marine.

Vice Adm. Richard J. Naughton has resigned as superintendent of the Naval Academy, stung by a Navy investigation that found that he had used "unlawful force" against a school guard and that his imperious leadership style had humiliated and demoralized the faculty and staff. In a report released yesterday, the Naval Inspector General found that Naughton, a three-star admiral who took command a year ago, had grabbed a young Marine who asked for Naughton's ID at a school gate on New Year's Eve. The 65-page report also recounts a dozen encounters in which Naughton "embarrassed and humiliated subordinates through conduct that is inappropriate for a commander."

A Baltimore native who is the Navy's chief recruiting official tops a short list of candidates to replace Vice Adm. John R. Ryan as superintendent of the Naval Academy, Pentagon sources said yesterday. Rear Adm. George E. Voelker, 51, a 1972 academy graduate who heads the Navy's Recruiting Command, is the leading candidate for the top post at the 4,000-student military college, several sources said. The Pentagon is expected to announce its choice in the next couple of weeks. Though 23 three-star admirals and 46 two-star admirals are technically eligible for the superintendent's post, many fewer are close enough to the end of their careers to want - or qualify for - the job. Navy officials have given preference to academy graduates, further shrinking the pool.

A Baltimore native who is the Navy's chief recruiting official tops a short list of candidates to replace Vice Adm. John R. Ryan as superintendent of the Naval Academy, Pentagon sources said yesterday. Rear Adm. George E. Voelker, 51, a 1972 academy graduate who heads the Navy's Recruiting Command, is the leading candidate for the top post at the 4,000-student military college, several sources said. The Pentagon is expected to announce its choice in the next couple of weeks. Though 23 three-star admirals and 46 two-star admirals are technically eligible for the superintendent's post, many fewer are close enough to the end of their careers to want -- or qualify for -- the job. Navy officials have also given preference to academy graduates, further shrinking the pool.

CHICAGO - If a sailor you know has been looking morose, it's not hard to guess why. During last year's campaign, George W. Bush made a solemn vow to upgrade our military readiness, which he accused the Clinton administration of grossly neglecting. But in one of his first major decisions, Mr. Bush ordered the Pentagon to stop using the Puerto Rican island of Vieques for critical training operations. "My attitude is that the Navy ought to find somewhere else to conduct its exercises," he said, causing great dissatisfaction in the Navy.

WASHINGTON -- Adm. Jeremy "Mike" Boorda, the first sailor ever to rise from the ranks to become the Navy's top admiral, apparently killed himself yesterday at his home in the Washington Navy Yard. About two hours earlier he learned that his right to wear two Vietnam-era combat decorations was being questioned.Boorda, named chief of naval operations by President Clinton two years ago, left behind two written messages that officials described as suicide notes. They were sealed by investigators on the scene and not made public yesterday.

Construction worker accidentally shoots self in arm with nail gun A construction worker was in surgery yesterday at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center after shooting himself in the left arm with a high-powered nail gun while assembling pallets at a North County warehouse. The worker, identified as Vince Pettenato, 33, of the 800 block of Jack St. in Brooklyn, was wounded by a three-inch nail after picking up the power tool with his right hand and inadvertently firing it, according to the county Fire Department.

WASHINGTON - The Navy is asking its commanders in the fleet - from four-star admirals to Marine officers and ship's captains - to offer ideas on how to improve security in an effort to prevent deadly terrorist attacks like the one that crippled the USS Cole, officials said yesterday. Last week, Navy Secretary Richard Danzig instructed two senior Navy and Marine officers to head the task force that would provide him with security recommendations in the next several weeks. Hundreds of officers are expected to take part in the effort that is designed to beef up security aboard Navy ships and at Marine installations worldwide, officials said.

Construction worker accidentally shoots self in arm with nail gun A construction worker was in surgery yesterday at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center after shooting himself in the left arm with a high-powered nail gun while assembling pallets at a North County warehouse. The worker, identified as Vince Pettenato, 33, of the 800 block of Jack St. in Brooklyn, was wounded by a three-inch nail after picking up the power tool with his right hand and inadvertently firing it, according to the county Fire Department.