WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Navy officer who commanded the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise when lewd videos were made has had his planned retirement deferred, pending the outcome of an investigation of the matter, the Navy said.
Rear Admiral Lawrence Rice was the commanding officer on the Enterprise when videos that included slurs against homosexuals, simulated masturbation and toilet humor were made and shown to sailors as on-board entertainment.
Rice's retirement, which was planned for February 1, has been deferred pending the outcome of an investigation into the incident.
"The deferment is a necessary and prudent step as the investigation continues," Navy Chief of Information Rear Admiral Dennis Moynihan said on Thursday.
Rice, who had been with the Joint Forces Command, will now report to Fleet Forces Command.
The news of the move comes just over a week after Captain Owen Honors was removed from command of the nuclear-powered Enterprise, one of the Navy's largest ships, over his role in the videos.
Honors had been second in command of the ship when he produced, starred in and circulated the videos, which were made in 2006 and 2007 but surfaced publicly just after the start of this year and shortly before the Enterprise was set to deploy.
As second-in-command, one of Honors' duties was maintaining morale.
In announcing last week that Honors was being relieved, Admiral John Harvey, commander of the Fleet Forces Command, said: "His profound lack of good judgment and professionalism while previously serving as executive officer on Enterprise calls into question his character and completely undermines his credibility to continue to serve effectively in command."
When the videos became public, questions were raised about what Honors' superiors had known about them.
Moynihan declined to put a timetable on the investigation. "It is ongoing and proceeding in what we consider a thorough and expeditious manner," he said.
(Reporting by Wendell Marsh; Editing by Jerry Norton)
