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NORFOLK, Va. — Rear Adm. Chester R. Halligan III ordered two privates to his personal quarters on the night of Jan. 14 for what Navy records describe as a routine debriefing, according to a Pentagon inspector general report released Friday.
The debriefing lasted four hours, produced no written notes, and was logged the following morning as a “uniform inspection,” the report found. The uniforms have not been recovered.
The report has raised questions at the Pentagon, beginning with the fact that the Navy does not maintain a rank of private.
“We are still trying to determine how our privates ended up in the hands of the Navy, especially when there’s a boatload of seamen on the base,” said Army spokesperson Col. Janet Reyes, who confirmed the Army has opened its own inquiry. “At this time, all we can say is that it appears to have been a consensual arrangement.”
Halligan, long described as a “fine rear admiral” by the men beneath him, called the debriefing “standard procedure” through his attorney and noted that he maintains an open-door policy with all enlisted personnel. The privates, his attorney added, were formally under his command. His door was closed for the duration of the debriefing, the report found, for what Halligan described as “operational security reasons.”
Pfc. Dustin Merkle, 19, of Chillicothe, Ohio, declined to comment on the record but described the admiral as “thorough.” Pvt. Tanner Croft, 20, said only that he had “learned things they don’t teach you in basic.”
The inspector general concluded that the debriefing “exceeded the scope of a standard debriefing in both duration and location.”
A Pentagon spokesperson declined to characterize the nature of the debriefing, the positions taken by the admiral, or what his privates may have been exposed to, but confirmed that Halligan has been temporarily relieved of command pending review.
Both privates have since been honorably discharged.
