E-8 accused of hazing faces retirement board - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

E-8 accused of hazing faces retirement board

A senior chief who ran a military working dog kennel in Bahrain and allegedly permitted hazing, hookers and other misconduct will face a retirement board Thursday, Navy officials said.

The Navy is forcing Senior Chief Master-at-Arms Michael Toussaint, 38, into retirement. The board convening at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., will determine the rank he’ll retire with and the size of the pension he’ll receive.

The board is expected to last two days.

Toussaint’s retirement comes after Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead last year ordered a fresh review of the 2007 command investigation that confirmed widespread misconduct in the Bahrain security unit Toussaint led but did not result in significant disciplinary actions.

The original command investigation found one sailor was ordered to simulate homosexual sex acts, tied up and locked in a dog cage, and forced to eat dog biscuits. Gambling, fraternization and socializing with prostitutes were also commonplace among some of the unit’s sailors, investigators found.

In 2006, Toussaint was promoted to senior chief and transferred to the joint military working dog school to serve as an instructor. He was recently removed from his post with a SEAL unit in Virginia.

Toussaint enlisted Jan. 23, 1990, Navy records show, so allowing him to remain on active duty until this week ensures that he receives retirement benefits.

A retirement board will make a recommendation to Mabus after reviewing Toussaint’s file and considering the “highest grade” in which he “served on active duty satisfactorily,” according to regulations.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus plans to review Toussaint’s case again in a “retirement paygrade determination” that “has the potential to significantly impact Senior Chief Toussaint’s retirement pay,” Smith said.

Under the 2009 retirement pay schedule, Toussaint would be eligible for about $2,032 in monthly retirement pay as a senior chief. If Mabus opted to reduce him one rank, to E-7, he would receive about $1,850 each month under the 2009 figures; if reduced to E-1, a retired sailor would receive $664 monthly.

The case drew attention after several sailors began to speak publicly about the troubled unit. Rep. Joe Sestak, a Pennsylvania Democrat and former three-star admiral, fired off a letter to Navy officials in September asking about the case.

Allegations that a gay sailor was targeted for uniquely severe hazing came at a time of renewed national debate about the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

The gay sailor, Joseph Rocha, said he was trying to adhere to the policy while he was on active duty. He chose to leave the Navy in 2007 when he told senior officials that he is a homosexual. He received an honorable discharge.

Toussaint has declined repeated requests for an interview.

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