Posted on 05/08/2018 6:46:25 PM PDT by chajin
Just think. That slob is an officer.
Only Naval officer I know of who’s career survived getting a letter of Reprimand from a Court Martial was Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz. He ran the USS Decatur aground in Manila Bay in 1907.
Those butter bars are butter bars across all branches of the military. It’s the rank of an O-1. In the Navy... an Ensign. Hardly an old salt. The fvcking boat captain needs to be standing at the Captain’s mast/court martial, along side the fvcking pip squeek! What a disaster. Pipe the pip squeek aboard- boatswains mate. Aye Aye Captain.
Arleigh Burke-class destroyers like USS Fitzgerald rate a Commander (O-5) as CO and a Lieutenant Commander (O-4) as XO. A DDG's operations officer is usually a senior Lieutenant (O-3) but some might be promoted to O-4 before the ends of their tours. A Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) qualified Lieutanant Junior Grade (O-2) should possess the skills necessary to stand as OOD -- what is unusual is for any qualified OOD to screw up like this one did.
Citing lengthy reports completed since the collisions, Mooney painted a picture of crew that was overtasked and exhausted. The Fitzgerald was one of several ships in the Japan-based 7th Fleet that was undermanned and missing important experienced crewmembers. Critical training and qualifications were pushed off because of operational tasking.
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I’d say Obama left the Navy in terrible condition and with the wrong priorities.
Having been an O-2 OOD, and later more senior, I can tell you that there is nothing wrong in general with that practice. That is where the O-5 and O-6 commanding officers and executive officers got most of their watchstanding and shiphandling experience. I was much better as an O-3 than as an O-2, but that was because of practice. I saw very few officers who were O-4 or O-5 and were better than the O-3s who stood that watch every day.
Mistakes? I made a few - some memorable but still comparatively minor - and I learned from them. I called each CO I served under whenever I was uncertain (which quickly became more common and then gradually became rare) or supposed to call based on standing orders (which stayed common), which is why every Captain I ever had trusted me. I made several calls that started with "technically, I don't need to call you yet, but . . ." As for distractions that would affect my performance? Never, not ever, not while I was on watch. This officer is a disgrace, although taking clear responsibility mitigates the damage, just a little.
Her career is over. She will not be allowed to renew her commission.
Being the Officer of the Deck is a tremendous responsibility. I remember my first watch as OOD of a nuclear submarine, I was scared s@#&less.
The Captain’s order to maintain 20 knots seems very careless. I am not familiar with those shipping lanes, but 20 knots seems excessive.
And a guarantee that further promotion is out of the question.
OK! BUT there were basic errors on the deck that surely would have prevent this FU. BASIC errors were the reason.
These BASIC errors must be brought to the attention of all.
The cause of the basic errors must also be addressed as you point out. First things first.
You can’t AFAI remember...but I’m not sure.
The Officer had the right to refuse Article 15 with the CO, and go to CM..which happened here in any case.
The CO of the Fitzgerald was probably a CDR/O-5...Captain’s Mast (or NJP) is a relatively informal and low-level forum for handling minor misconduct...not sure why on a high profile case like this there even was an Article 15.
Weird.
So she was an LJG. A First Louie. Should - have - known - better. Dereliction of duty. Boom! You’re outta’ here!
Obama and the jackass Ray Mabus, SECNAV. Mabus was a screwup as governor of Mississippi with a sexual orientation that leaves one guessing.
“She will not be allowed to renew her commission.”
Never heard about renewing a commission. What is that?
That was pretty dumb. Heck, you know the Soviet boat knew your location from the near collision, breaking radio silence wouldn’t have told anyone anything they didn’t already know. And feeding the information of the encounter into the system as soon as reasonably possible was expected, I can completely see that.
AA hire.
And a drunk too
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Wow! No one saw this kind of diversity consequence coming.../s
Agree with your statement. I qualified as an OOD (U/W) one week prior to becoming a LTjg, on a CVN; was one of three to stand the watch for over a year, until a new CO qualified a couple more. Was also the Sea & Anchor Detail OOD for a year as an O2.
Regarding distractions - Recall once while entering port and the bridge was already crowded and getting too noisy, I called for silence and everybody shut up. Then someone requested permission to enter and, without turning around, said ‘permission denied’. The BMOW told me it was CAG - but he just turned around and left, as he should have.
This officer had no business being qualified as an OOD or a SWO.
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