November 24, 1997

The Honorable John H. Dalton
Secretary of the Navy
1000 Navy Pentagon
20350-1000
1-703-695-3131 (Voice)
1-703-614-3477 (FAX)

Dear Secretary Dalton:

I am bringing the following series of events to your attention because of the outrageous nature of the activities involved and the ongoing attempts by High Level Officers of the United States Navy to act in a manner which appears to illegally abuse their oaths of office. The apparent abuses are attempts at coverups of the nature and details of the matter of Petty Officer James Hills (USN-R). The present abuses appear to include violations of the UCMJ up to and including obstruction of justice.

James (Jim) Hills reported to Naval Recruit Training Center (NRTC) at Orlando Fla. during March 1990. After nearly three months at NRTC Jim was the Recruit Chief Petty Officer, Honor Recruit of his Company, received the Commanding Officers Award for Excellence and was advanced to the Non-Commissioned Officer Rank of Petty Officer 3rd Third Class.

May 10, 1990, was the day before graduation and the various companies were on the way to breakfast at 5:00 A.M. Jim's company was marched into by another company; both Jim and the other company commander, a female, were ordered to the 'hotbox' (a room at Orlando used for illegal punishment of recalcitrant recruits). Jim and the other recruit were subjected to unspeakable brutalities in this illegal 'hotbox'. The female was subjected to certain sexual and physical abuses and Jim was subjected to outrageous physical abuses, including "falling" pushups and back to a standing position and dropping on his buttock to perform setups. This cycle was repeated for a period of six to eight hours causing permanent damage to Jim's shoulder and back. The female recruit suffered traumatic loss of memory because of the incident that persists to this day. Jim was ordered by his Navy superiors to never mention the incident or he would be ". . . killed . . ." Needless to say Jim never did mention the incident.

Jim reported to Electronics Technician "A" School where he was selected as class leader and graduated fourth in a class of forty students. Jim was further honored by being selected as a laboratory assistant, an honor awarded to only one of one hundred graduating students. After completing his assignment as a laboratory assistant Jim reported to the next school for which he had been selected. He reported to the Naval Nuclear Basic School at Orlando, FL., graduating in the top 10% of his class. He was advanced to Petty Officer Second Class after completion of this School. He was than assigned to the Nuclear Navy Power Training Unit (NPTU) at West Milton, NY. He finished in the top 10% of his class with evaluations of proficiency and conduct of 4.0 and 4.0, the best the Navy can bestow in a school the Navy advertises as its most elite.

Based on Jim's proficiency and conduct evaluations he was promoted to an instructor. This promotion is an unusual honor for someone who had never served at sea. Jim was also being considered for a Medical Administrator Commissioning program and/or an opportunity to finish his B.S. in Engineering and obtain a Commission as a Nuclear Navy Officer. Jim has a math SAT score of 740 and a verbal SAT of approximately 470.

During his entire time at the various Commands Jim never complained about the back or shoulder injuries received at Boot Camp although there were several instances of passing out, shoulder dislocations and chronic shoulder and back pain. Jim was told that there was nothing wrong with his back. It was eventually determined, through an illegal file being kept on Jim, (and on all NPTU trainees) that an x-ray had revealed that his back had indeed been injured. Finally during September 1992 Jim's shoulder required surgery. This surgery was unsuccessful. The periods of passing out and chronic pain continued; some pain episodes were so severe they caused blackouts requiring transportation to the Naval Clinic. During a late night pain episode, of January 18, 1994, Jim had to be transported to the Saratoga Hospital by ambulance, a practice forbidden by the NPTU command. That evening Mrs. Annbeth Hills (Beth), Jim's wife, became so frustrated and upset that she saw Jim's Command Master Chief, Jim Williams, to explain to him the source of Jim's pain and to see if Master Chief Williams could offer some source of relief and advice. Beth did not inform Jim of her conversation with Command Master Chief Williams until January 20, 1994; the cover up and retaliation was swift and barbaric.

During the next several months' Jim's Command ordered him not to drive, he was transferred to work 20 miles away in Scotia, NY. His wife and four children were denied access to all local Navy Commands including the Clinic and Commissary, and his qualifications as a Nuclear trained Sailor were revoked thereby reducing his salary by nearly 50%.

Mrs. Hills was arrested by the Saratoga Police for transporting her husband to work and thereby charged with trespassing' on government property. The trespassing charges were dismissed after several months of additional pain and emotional agony for the Hills. She and her children were illegally arrested and her car was seized by members of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service

( NCIS ) at Naval Base, Groton, Connecticut, the purported purpose was to intercept a bomb that Mrs. Hills was reported to have been carrying. This charge was subsequently disproved. The real reason was to confiscate audio tapes that Mrs. Hills was known to have had concerning the abuse being heaped upon her and her husband. She did not have the tapes with her at the time of her detention. She was separated from her children and her son was interrogated without Mrs. Hills being present.

A Navy - IG Investigation begun during 1995 has been stopped and the documents have apparently been destroyed. [completed a couple of weeks ago and flies in the face of all the evidence]

Mr. and Mrs. Hills have tried every chain of command up to and including members of the staff of the Secretary of the Navy attempting to have an honest investigation conducted all to no avail.

These are only a few examples of what happened to Jim and Beth Hills and their four small children. The entire story of harassment and retaliation would require a book. A sad fact of the Navy Reactor program is that what happened to the Hills at NPTU is fairly routine.

The Hills situation must be investigated. I am requesting all Officers who have served with honor to help the Hills obtain a fair hearing and, if justified, honorable restitution from the Navy.

The Hills have been decimated financially, emotionally and physically. Mr. Hills was driven from the Navy on a psychological discharge, a charge disproved by USAF Psychiatrists at Wright Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB). An MRI conducted at WPAFB also shows Mr. Hills to be suffering from an inoperable shoulder injury, a spinal fracture at a Thoracic Spinal location known as T-7 and two compressed lumbar discs. Mr. Hills had none of these injuries upon entering the Navy. He is now limited in the civilian work he can perform and suffers constant pain because of the illegal injuries inflicted upon him by the US Navy.

Respectively Submitted:

John P. Shannon, Major USMC (R)

cc: President William Clinton, Commander in Chief

Admiral Bowman Commander US Naval Reactors Program