USS Bremerton sub commander relieved for hiring prostitutes Josh Farley, Kitsap Sun Published 4:34 p.m. PT Jan. 11, 2019 | Updated 4:56 p.m. PT Jan. 11, 2019
Capt. Travis Zettel was relieved as commanding officer of the USS Bremerton in August following a loss of confidence in his ability to command, according to the Navy. (Photo: MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN)
BREMERTON — The commander of the USS Bremerton was relieved of duty last summer after admitting to Navy investigators he paid for “female accompaniment” while the boat was in port in the Philippines.
Capt. Travis Zettel was relieved of duty in August following a loss of confidence in his ability to command the Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine, which is now tied up in Bremerton for decommissioning.
The incident occurred March 1 while the sub was ported in Subic Bay, according to documents released to the Kitsap Sun under a federal Freedom of Information Act request. NCIS agents interviewed a tipster to the Department of Defense Inspector General’s hotline that Zettel had told him and another sailor at a hotel pool that Zettel had “requested/ordered ten girls to arrive at the hotel.” Later, at dinner, the sailor saw Zettel with around 10 “provocatively dressed females outside the front door of the hotel.”
Another sailor, whose name was redacted in the documents released to the Kitsap Sun, was spotted with three “local females holding onto his arm as he was wandering around” greeting sailors from his command.
A criminal probe was launched in May, about a month after the submarine arrived in Bremerton for decommissioning. Zettel was confronted by NCIS with the allegations and “admitted culpability in the payment of female accompaniment,” the documents said. The other sailor was also interviewed but said he “did not participate in prostitution.” He then asked for a lawyer. That sailor was not “pursued for disciplinary action.”
Zettel was reprimanded and was relieved of his command in August. He was administratively reassigned to the staff of Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor-based Submarine Squadron 19, Navy officials said.
The Bremerton, while on active duty, was the oldest submarine in the Navy fleet at 37 years of service.
Favoring female companionship is now enough to cause a man to lose a Naval command?
Seriously,...Those women were selling a service,...the man was willing to buy it.
Why does that make him unfit to command?
Men need to get laid. Being out on a 6 month cruise can make that complicated. It really doesn't seem to me that purchasing the service of a LBFM during those times would indicate that a man was unfit to command.
Favoring female companionship is now enough to cause a man to lose a Naval command?
Seriously,...Those women were selling a service,...the man was willing to buy it.
Why does that make him unfit to command?
Men need to get laid. Being out on a 6 month cruise can make that complicated. It really doesn't seem to me that purchasing the service of a LBFM during those times would indicate that a man was unfit to command.
Seems that straight sex is out and Rump Riding is in...............
Sounds like there has to be more to this . Hopefully the pricks that dropped a dime on him will get theirs . Probally a couple of [bleep] he pissed off . Kenneth
Favoring female companionship is now enough to cause a man to lose a Naval command?
Seriously,...Those women were selling a service,...the man was willing to buy it.
Why does that make him unfit to command?
Men need to get laid. Being out on a 6 month cruise can make that complicated. It really doesn't seem to me that purchasing the service of a LBFM during those times would indicate that a man was unfit to command.
Quote
Capt. Travis Zettel was relieved as commanding officer of the USS Bremerton in August following a loss of confidence in his ability to command, according to the Navy.
Toxic masculinity here. If it had been male prostitutes that would have gotten a pass.
Sounds like there has to be more to this . Hopefully the pricks that dropped a dime on him will get theirs . Probally a couple of [bleep] he pissed off . Kenneth
It was a female,.....count on it.
Sailors have been picking up prostitutes since the first sail was unfurled. The docks would stay crowded with prostitutes waiting for the British Navy to come in back in the 1700's.
They were allowed to come on board because it was easier to keep track of the sailors if they allowed the prostitutes to come on board than it was to turn the sailors out and then go chase them down.
I won't defend it as a "wholesome" endeavor,...but it's a reality when men are sequestered together for long periods of time then set loose.
The alternative is for them to start knocking up all of those women that the Navy has started allowing on ships.
Sounds like there has to be more to this . Hopefully the pricks that dropped a dime on him will get theirs . Probally a couple of [bleep] he pissed off . Kenneth
It was a female,.....count on it.
Sailors have been picking up prostitutes since the first sail was unfurled. The docks would stay crowded with prostitutes waiting for the British Navy to come in back in the 1700's.
They were allowed to come on board because it was easier to keep track of the sailors if they allowed the prostitutes to come on board than it was to turn the sailors out and then go chase them down.
I won't defend it as a "wholesome" endeavor,...but it's a reality when men are sequestered together for long periods of time then set loose.
The alternative is for them to start knocking up all of those women that the Navy has started allowing on ships.
Where are you seeing they were brought aboard the boat?
THAT will absolutely result in a loss of command. Getting hookers to a room, not so much.
Sounds like there has to be more to this . Hopefully the pricks that dropped a dime on him will get theirs . Probally a couple of [bleep] he pissed off . Kenneth
It was a female,.....count on it.
Sailors have been picking up prostitutes since the first sail was unfurled. The docks would stay crowded with prostitutes waiting for the British Navy to come in back in the 1700's.
They were allowed to come on board because it was easier to keep track of the sailors if they allowed the prostitutes to come on board than it was to turn the sailors out and then go chase them down.
I won't defend it as a "wholesome" endeavor,...but it's a reality when men are sequestered together for long periods of time then set loose.
The alternative is for them to start knocking up all of those women that the Navy has started allowing on ships.
Where are you seeing they were brought aboard the boat?
THAT will absolutely result in a loss of command. Getting hookers to a room, not so much.
I was talking about the British navy of the 18th century. Their ships would be flooded with prostitutes when they were in port.
I’d read this the other day and just shook my head. The dirtbag that ratted should get a blanket party and I hope the guy that just pissed his career away has a good explanation for his wife and kids.
I’m really shocked that sailors, soldiers, airmen and Marines would seek the company of females. Shocked I tell ya.
I'm waiting for the navy guys to chime in on this.
First off, is Capt. Zettel married, and was his wife aware of these activities? 10 prostitutes in port ain't some sort of developing romance with a co-worker. What level of integrity do we expect from a man in his position?
How much classified info would Captain Zettel have had access to?
Would hiring prostitutes put him at risk for blackmail?
Does nobody watch these guys in port, what are the odds that one or more of the prostitutes may have been a foreign agent?
This is the stuff _I_ would think about if I had successfully risen all the way in rank to be given my own friggin' submarine.
But what do I know?
Well, on the bright side, since he is prob'ly going to be unemployed before too long, and since he is likely to soon be single if he weren't already, he can now move to the Phillipines and hire all the prostitutes he cares to.
I'm waiting for the navy guys to chime in on this.
First off, is Capt. Zettel married, and was his wife aware of these activities? 10 prostitutes in port ain't some sort of developing romance with a co-worker. What level of integrity do we expect from a man in his position?
How much classified info would Captain Zettel have had access to?
Would hiring prostitutes put him at risk for blackmail?
Does nobody watch these guys in port, what are the odds that one of the prostitutes may have been a foreign agent?
This is the stuff _I_ would think about if I had successfully risen all the way in rank to be given my own friggin' submarine.
But what do I know?
Well, on the bright side, since he is prob'ly going to be unemployed before too long, and since he is likely to soon be single if he weren't already, he can now move to the Phillipines and hire all the prostitutes he cares to.
I'm waiting for the navy guys to chime in on this.
First off, is Capt. Zettel married, and was his wife aware of these activities? 10 prostitutes in port ain't some sort of developing romance with a co-worker. What level of integrity do we expect from a man in his position?
How much classified info would Captain Zettel have had access to?
Would hiring prostitutes put him at risk for blackmail?
Does nobody watch these guys in port, what are the odds that one of the prostitutes may have been a foreign agent?
This is the stuff _I_ would think about if I had successfully risen all the way in rank to be given my own friggin' submarine.
But what do I know?
Well, on the bright side, since he is prob'ly going to be unemployed before too long, and since he is likely to soon be single if he weren't already, he can now move to the Phillipines and hire all the prostitutes he cares to.
The Peace Corps hath spoken.
Indeed. Truthfully I might add.
Anyhoo... in the Peace Corps nobody cares who you sleep with, unless you get them pregnant, in which case you're legally liable for the welfare of the child, same as you would be in the US.
One April 1st, bored out of my skull in my village as usual, I did write a long and serious letter to that effect to my parents. Said she didn't speak English or read and write but that she was a real nice girl and I was gonna try to make it work. The letter arrived home in June........ long after April. Still, I woulda thought the date on the letter was a dead giveaway...
I'm waiting for the navy guys to chime in on this.
First off, is Capt. Zettel married, and was his wife aware of these activities? 10 prostitutes in port ain't some sort of developing romance with a co-worker. What level of integrity do we expect from a man in his position?
How much classified info would Captain Zettel have had access to?
Would hiring prostitutes put him at risk for blackmail?
Does nobody watch these guys in port, what are the odds that one or more of the prostitutes may have been a foreign agent?
This is the stuff _I_ would think about if I had successfully risen all the way in rank to be given my own friggin' submarine.
But what do I know?
Well, on the bright side, since he is prob'ly going to be unemployed before too long, and since he is likely to soon be single if he weren't already, he can now move to the Phillipines and hire all the prostitutes he cares to.
C'mon, man,.....just because you won't own up to hittin' that poontang during those two years that you spent as a young man in Ghana doesn't give you the right to judge a man who has been at sea for six months and decides to engage the affections of a Pinay.
There ain't no Filipina women who are gathering information for the red hoard.
The Bolsheviks tried to squeeze 'em for information a few times,....but the only information they could provide was, "He say, 'who your daddy?!".
After paying Pinay prostitutes $10,000 to learn that American sailors are fond of hollerin' out "Who ya daddy?!",.....they spent their money elsewhere.
,..okay,...3 years,...and you want people here to believe that you fought off multiple Ghana women who had their legs wrapped around your face for the ability to go back to your mud hut and spank Bobo?
Don't try to bullshit everybody who was once young,....and we *all* were once young.
,....I bet there's at least 14 coffee colored Birdwatchers over in Ghana,.....talking leftist schitt and dressed up like Davy fuggin' Crockett,....thinkin',....."Why don't he write?"
Birdwatcher: The residents of Ghana are wonderful people,...just like us,..and the women there love white men and want nothing more than to have a passel of light skinned babies,....yes,....just like us,...no doubt about it,....wonderful people,...wonderful women,...
The Assemblage: So how many of the local women did ya hose?
I was friends with a young Marine years ago that was single and temporarily stationed in the Philippines, he said that he had an absolute blast. He had 2 young women that were his “housekeepers”. He said that he’d get home to a clean beach house with dinner made and waiting for him. His shoes were spit shine polished as was his nob....morning and night. He said that at the time it cost him around $20 per day for both his live in “maids” and he thought it was a good value for the services provided and I believed him. 😉
My Dad was a trigger puller in the Philippines during WW2. Back when the riots over there were going on over Ferdinand Marcos,....and it was being broadcast on TV,..he asked me as we watched the news,...."You see anybody in that crowd that looks like me?
I said, "What?"
He told me that I had a half brother over there somewhere,....if he was still alive.
Zettel had “requested/ordered ten girls to arrive at the hotel.” Later, at dinner, the sailor saw Zettel with around 10 “provocatively dressed females outside the front door of the hotel.” .
Our CO wasn't the most popular with the crew when underway but when we got to Subic he let his hair down a bit at one of the clubs in the presence of some EM. I'm told stacks of pesos and cunnilingus were involved. In a chickenseeit move a QM1 took photos and mailed them to the CO's wife and Commodore. Once word got back to the ship things were a bit awkward for the remainder of the deployment.
Birdwatcher: The residents of Ghana are wonderful people,...just like us,..and the women there love white men and want nothing more than to have a passel of light skinned babies,....yes,....just like us,...no doubt about it,....wonderful people,...wonderful women,...
The Assemblage: So how many of the local women did ya hose?
Maybe he was single, last I heard adultery is still frowned upon in the UCMJ, no mention of that charge in the article.
The Peace Corps delivers another gem.
Originally Posted by deflave
Originally Posted by Birdwatcher
Maybe he was single, last I heard adultery is still frowned upon in the UCMJ, no mention of that charge in the article.
The Peace Corps delivers another gem.
What? Adultery is good for your career? Conduct unbecoming and all that.... I got a relative missed a promotion and couldn’t re-up because of it, but she was enlisted, maybe they are held to a different standard.
If they caught him buggering some dude in the butt on the Bridge, he'd still have his job, and they'd have him telling about his brave journey in a training video.
,....I bet there's at least 14 coffee colored Birdwatchers over in Ghana,.....talking leftist schitt and dressed up like Davy fuggin' Crockett,....thinkin',....."Why don't he write?"
,....I bet there's at least 14 coffee colored Birdwatchers over in Ghana,.....talking leftist schitt and dressed up like Davy fuggin' Crockett,....thinkin',....."Why don't he write?"
Yanno back then, with the surety of youth, getting a girl pregnant was like end of the World, a lifetime prison sentence, the end of life as you knew it.
Today, looking back over the decades, I sometimes wouldn’t mind an extra kid or two.
Well, he would have 'lost his command' anyway since the boat was on its way to be decommissioned.. As to the actual charge - it's nothin' but a BS move by the command..
What? Adultery is good for your career? Conduct unbecoming and all that.... I got a relative missed a promotion and couldn’t re-up because of it, but she was enlisted, maybe they are held to a different standard.
I'm waiting for the navy guys to chime in on this.
First off, is Capt. Zettel married, and was his wife aware of these activities? 10 prostitutes in port ain't some sort of developing romance with a co-worker. What level of integrity do we expect from a man in his position?
How much classified info would Captain Zettel have had access to?
Would hiring prostitutes put him at risk for blackmail?
Does nobody watch these guys in port, what are the odds that one or more of the prostitutes may have been a foreign agent?
This is the stuff _I_ would think about if I had successfully risen all the way in rank to be given my own friggin' submarine.
But what do I know?
Well, on the bright side, since he is prob'ly going to be unemployed before too long, and since he is likely to soon be single if he weren't already, he can now move to the Phillipines and hire all the prostitutes he cares to.
I knew several Navy wives that said they didn't care what he did at sea as long as he didn't bring it home.
Maybe it was the lack of discretion and judgement. And of course the adultery bit, if he was married. Services frown on that. Perhaps selectively applied?
,....I bet there's at least 14 coffee colored Birdwatchers over in Ghana,.....talking leftist schitt and dressed up like Davy fuggin' Crockett,....thinkin',....."Why don't he write?"
...and who tha F *ck keeps sending these bikes to us?
Favoring female companionship is now enough to cause a man to lose a Naval command?
Seriously,...Those women were selling a service,...the man was willing to buy it.
Why does that make him unfit to command?
Men need to get laid. Being out on a 6 month cruise can make that complicated. It really doesn't seem to me that purchasing the service of a LBFM during those times would indicate that a man was unfit to command.
He was supporting the local economy. He deserves a medal.
,....I bet there's at least 14 coffee colored Birdwatchers over in Ghana,.....talking leftist schitt and dressed up like Davy fuggin' Crockett,....thinkin',....."Why don't he write?"
