Editing L. Ron Hubbard (section)

====Military career====
{{Main|Military career of L. Ron Hubbard}}
[[File:Hubbard and moulton.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Two men in naval uniform|Hubbard (left) in 1943]]
In 1941, Hubbard applied to join the [[United States Navy]]. His application was accepted, and he was commissioned as a [[lieutenant junior grade]] in the [[United States Naval Reserve]] on July&nbsp;19, 1941. By November, he was posted to New York for training as an intelligence officer.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=97}} The day after [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor]], Hubbard was posted to the [[Philippines]] and departed the US bound for Australia. But while in Australia awaiting transport to the Philippines, Hubbard was suddenly ordered back to the United States after being accused by the US Naval Attaché to Australia of sending blockade-runner ''[[Don Isidro (1939)|Don Isidro]]'' "three thousand miles out of her way".<ref name="Ron The War Hero, Chris Owen">Ron The War Hero, Chris Owen</ref><ref>Hubbard would [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd2u8DsfUJc later claim] that "for the next two or three years I'd run into officers, and they would say 'Hubbard? Hubbard? Hubbard? Are you the Hubbard that was in Australia?' And I'd say 'Yes.' And they's say 'Oh!' Kind of, you know, horrified, like they didn't know whether they should quite talk to me or not, you know? Terrible man." {{citation |title=The Key Words (Buttons) of Scientology Clearing (a lecture given on July 21, 1958).}}</ref>

{{multiple image|perrow = 1|total_width=250
| image1 = Yp422 large.jpg
| image2 = Uss pc-815 1.jpg
| footer = Hubbard's first command was a yard patrol boat in Massachusetts (top), while his second was a West Coast sub-chaser (bottom). In both cases, Hubbard was relieved of command.
}}
In June 1942, Hubbard was given command of a patrol boat at the [[Boston Navy Yard]], but he was relieved after the yard commandant wrote that Hubbard was "not temperamentally fitted for independent command".{{sfn|Atack|1990|p=74}} In 1943, Hubbard was given command of a submarine chaser, but only five hours into the shakedown cruise, Hubbard believed he had detected an enemy submarine. Hubbard and crew spent the next 68 hours engaged in combat. An investigation concluded that Hubbard had likely mistaken a "known magnetic deposit" for an enemy sub.<ref>"Battle Report – Submission of", A16-3(3)/PC815, Vice Adm. Frank Jack Fletcher, Commander NW Sea Frontier, June 8, 1943; [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Batconcl.gif Image of document]</ref>{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=105}}{{r|mystique}} The following month, Hubbard unwittingly fired upon Mexican territory and was relieved of command.<ref name="mystique">{{Cite news |last1=Sappell |first1=Joel |last2=Welkos |first2=Robert W. |title=The Mind Behind the Religion : Chapter Two : Creating the Mystique : Hubbard's image was crafted of truth, distorted by myth. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-06-24-mn-1012-story.html |access-date=July 25, 2022 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=June 24, 1990}}</ref> In 1944, Hubbard served aboard the {{USS|Algol|AKA-54|6}} before being transferred. The night before his departure, Hubbard reported the discovery of an attempted sabotage.{{sfn|Atack|1990|p=81}}{{sfn|Miller|1987|pp=108–109}}

In June 1942, Navy records indicate that Hubbard suffered "active conjunctivitis" and later "urethral discharges".{{Efn|Owen argues that Hubbard likely suffered from venereal disease, writing: "Sulfa drugs were used in treatment but in excess could cause bloody urine, something which Hubbard's shipmate Thomas Moulton saw him passing on at least one occasion. Hubbard himself later complained about the amount of sulfa he had been fed in the Navy. Former Scientology spokesman Robert Vaughn Young claims that Hubbard's private papers refer to him having caught gonorrhoea from a girlfriend named Fern, which forced him to secretly take sulfa."{{r|cowen}} }} After being relieved of command of the sub-chaser, Hubbard began reporting sick, citing a variety of ailments, including ulcers, malaria, and back pains. In July 1943, Hubbard was admitted to the San Diego naval hospital for observation—he would remain there for months.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=107}} Years later, Hubbard would privately write to himself: "Your stomach trouble you used as an excuse to keep the Navy from punishing you."{{sfn|Wright|2013|pp=53–54}} On April 9, 1945, Hubbard again reported sick and was re-admitted to [[Oak Knoll Naval Hospital]], Oakland.{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=110}}{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=112}} He was discharged from the hospital on December&nbsp;4, 1945.<ref name="cowen">{{Cite book |url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/warhero/crippled.htm |via=[[David S. Touretzky]] |isbn=9781909269897 |first=Chris |last=Owen |date=2019 |title=Ron The War Hero: The True Story of L Ron Hubbard's Calamitous Military Career |chapter=Crippled and blinded|publisher=Silvertail Books }}</ref>