THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9502020349
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
Wednesday was supposed to be his first day in retirement, but the Navy's second-in-command spent the day in familiar surroundings - at work in the Pentagon.
Adm. Stanley R. Arthur, the vice chief of naval operations, has agreed to stay on the job until his successor is selected, a Navy spokesman said.
Vice Adm. Joseph W. Prueher, currently commander of the 6th Fleet, is considered the leading candidate to replace Arthur. His appointment would carry a promotion to admiral and would cap a three-year comeback from problems growing out of his tenure in the 1980s as commandant of the Naval Academy. Selected in 1992 to take command of the 3rd Fleet, based in San Diego, Prueher saw his nomination withdrawn and a promotion to vice admiral delayed as the Navy ducked a prolonged Senate confirmation battle. His problems stemmed from complaints about his response as commandant in 1989 to allegations that male midshipmen had handcuffed a female midshipman to a urinal.
Arthur's now-delayed retirement was precipitated last year by similar complaints about his handling of a sexual harassment case. Arthur was to become commander of American forces in the Pacific, but agreed to withdraw rather than have the job sit vacant while the Senate considered allegations that he mishandled the case of Lt. j.g. Rebecca Hansen. Arthur had dismissed Hansen's charge that instructors flunked her out of helicopter pilot training in retaliation for a sexual harassment complaint she had filed. by CNB