Command Master Chief (SW/AW/IDW) James Shumate had an off-color style.
At Strike Fighter Squadron 86, Shumate had a habit of kissing, touching and inviting women of all ranks to go home with him — especially his own junior sailors at the Lemoore, California-based F/A-18E squadron.
When confronted about this, Shumate said he was disappointed that his chief's mess hadn't done more — to stop him.
"And just, for the record, I'm kind of disappointed in my mess, for this, in Fallon, that they didn't do anything to stop me," Shumate said, according to a newly released command report.
Shumate, 45, was fired from his leadership post with the "Sidewinders" in June, after he was found guilty at captain's mast for two counts of disobeying a lawful order.
He was transferred to a staff job at Strike Fighter Wing Pacific pending detachment-for-cause proceedings, Naval Air Forces spokeswoman Lt. Reagan Lauritzen confirmed Oct. 23.
Shumate did not respond to emails or phone calls, despite repeated attempts, and an SFWP spokesperson was unable to make him available for comment by press time Oct. 24.
Lack of self-control
The first report of Shumate's irregular behavior emerged in March from a female enlisted sailor not in his command, according to the May 27 command report, which Navy Times obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request.
Shumate was informally counseled, but didn't clean up his act, the report said. Two months later, he harassed five more women — two from his command — while at a training trip to Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada.
"Shumate has a history of repeatedly asking women to go home with him regardless of rank, command, or marital/relationship status," the investigating officer wrote in the report.
Interviews with others in Shumate's command turned up a pattern of "repeated, deliberate comments of suggesting sexual ownership as well as repeated comments suggesting sexual acts to junior enlisted sailors."
When the investigator interviewed Shumate in late May, he confirmed having made crude comments and propositioning his sailors. But, he said, his chiefs had failed to rein him in.
Apparently, the investigator wrote, Shumate didn't have the willpower or self-control to follow the rules, and needed his mess to keep him in line.
The incidents have brought Shumate's 27-year career to an end, an abrupt turnaround for a sailor who has earned numerous achievement, commendation and meritorious service medals through service at more than a dozen commands.
Multiple incidents
The trouble started March 14, when Shumate was in San Diego on business. He met a junior sailor there and multiple times throughout that trip, according to his nonjudicial punishment charges, he requested that the she kiss him and go home with him.
"CMDCM Shumate also asked [redacted] to 'have a kid with him,' an intent which was made well after [redacted] had introduced herself as an [redacted] and told him that she was his kid's age," the report said.
Two months later, on the squadron trip to Fallon, Shumate's behavior got out of control. According to the report, he propositioned multiple sailors, including two in his own command.
"Based on interviews conducted, it is apparent that CDMCM Shumate continued his attempts with different junior personnel throughout the night, even after being counseled by one of his chiefs after the first attempt failed," said the report; officials removed information in the report detailing Shumate's actions in each incident.
During the Fallon trip, Shumate kissed on the cheek and put his arm around multiple female sailors, repeatedly asking them to come home with him and making other sexually suggestive comments, according to the NJP charges. There are five redacted names on the charge.
The sailors also accused Shumate of repeatedly making sexually possessive comments about them. In his interview, Shumate admitted "to telling people that 'they belong to him' multiple times, in multiple locations, over many months."
He claimed he had only vague recollections of the incidents, the report said. He had better memory of what happened with the women in his own command, particularly one whose husband confronted Shumate in a rage.
Carrier Strike Group 9 declined to release the full text of Shumate's statement to the investigator, citing privacy concerns, but his testimony is excerpted in the report.
In a statement to Navy Times, VFA-86 commanding officer Cmdr. Ian Burgoon said that the sexual assault prevention and response procedures in place in his command were sufficient to prevent an incident like this from happening again.
In his endorsement of the investigation's finding, he wrote that the victims' willingness to come forward was a testament to the command's willingness to investigate SAPR issues.
Still, he acknowledged, the command dropped the ball in with Shumate's case.
"I don't believe my command properly identified a problem sailor and provided him the tools we have available to correct or alter his issues," Burgoon wrote.
Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members.
