Posted on 12/04/2009 11:19:01 AM PST by GATOR NAVY
The commanding officer and top enlisted sailor serving on the Norfolk-based destroyer James E. Williams were relieved of command today after numerous cases of fraternization among the crew and allegations of sexual assault.
Cmdr. Paul Marquis, skipper of the Williams, was assigned to administrative duty by Capt. Robert C. Barwis, the commander of Destroyer Squadron 26, according to a Navy spokesman. Master Chief Timothy Youell, who served as the command master chief on the Williams, also has been reassigned to an administrative job.
The actions come in the wake of nine fraternization cases between senior and junior enlisted personnel on the Williams, said Lt. Cmdr. Phil Rosi, a spokesman for the Navys Fleet Forces Command. Nine sailors on the Williams received nonjudicial punishment in November for fraternization, a military term for relationships that do not respect differences in rank. The military forbids unduly familiar relationships between officers and enlisted sailors, as well as between senior and junior enlisted personnel.
Such a large number of fraternization cases in one command is a clear indication of a leadership failure, Adm. J.C. Harvey Jr., commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, said in a news release. Authority requires both responsibility and accountability, Harvey said, and nobody trusts leaders who think they cant be held accountable for their actions.
This leadership failure fostered a command climate that allowed the fraternization to occur. ... The commanding officer and command master chief are being held accountable for the fraternization that occurred on their watch.
The Navy said it has conducted separate investigations into allegations of sexual assault aboard the Williams, and charges have been filed. A pending Article 32 investigation the military equivalent of a preliminary hearing will determine whether to take those cases to courts-martial.
(Excerpt) Read more at hamptonroads.com ...
866. ART. 86. ABSENCE WITHOUT LEAVE Any member of the armed forces who, without authority-- (1) fails to go to his appointed place of duty at the time prescribed;
...and that doesn't even address the charges for missed movements, etc.
Is Mullen one of Clinton's Admirals? He sure acts like it.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
BTW I spent my first 17 years on the surface with some of that time in the gators. Amphibious Construction Battalion Two at Little Creek, deployments on the USS Waldo County and USS Grant County and stationed aboard the USS Newport and the USS Chehalis (PG94). I, too, was lucky enough to have never had to be stationed aboard a ship with women crewmembers.
I understand your point but does the word criminal apply?
Try missing ship's movement. If you're late for your ship getting underway you are in a heap of trouble! The Navy takes this type of thing very seriously.
Glad to be of help! QMC(SW)
Can’t beat the USS Acadia (AD-42) from Gulf War I.
On 5 September 1990 the ship departed San Diego for first war-time deployment of male-female crew on a U.S. Navy combat vessel, to the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. Just over one third of her crew were women.
In 1991, when the ship returned to San Diego from the deployment, thirty-six women were missing from the ship, the result of medical transfers for pregnancy. It was a particular embarrassment for the Navy, who had to look at the success on the battlefield of the other military branches during the Gulf War while hearing one of its vessels was derisively called ‘The Love Boat.’
God help anyone in the military/Navy that stops to assist someone on the highway on the way to his/her ship and is late for quarters.
I’ll say you helped. Now there’s only Joe Murphy, Dave Gale, and Dan Holloway left. I love it when Zits ruin their careers.
I was involved in the military justice system for 10 years, both as a military police officer and as a company commander. I can assure you, that in my experience, matters of extenuation and mitigation were considered far more deliberately, and weighed much more fairly than what I observe in the civilian justice system.
I didn’t see anything in the article that said the sexual assaults were on females............
But Hey! Ain’t it great that they are going to put women on submarines? Does any of this make sense?
Naval shipboard commands are a different world ....lol
..... the old UCMJ ... penetration however slight ..... amazing how that statemement fit every article.
I would imagine they'd have to be. That being said, orders and regs are what they are for a reason, and if not upheld, they will be violated with increasing frequency. If a soldier missed a roll out for a training exercise, or even a deployment because he was running into a burning building saving children's lives, I would be recommending him for a Soldier's Medal long before I would initiate any UCMJ action. In this day; however, when virtually every swingin' richard has a cell phone, I think one would have to have a pretty damned good excuse as to why they were running late and nobody in their chain knew about it.
My ship, USS McKee (AS-41) came back from that trip almost in the same shape. I checked on board right after the return from GWI.
Some of my unmarried friends (and a couple of married ones) enjoyed the “duty booty” in port. But most wanted nothing to do with them.
I believe it goes without saying. We’re not talking about Jarheads.
If anyone doesn't understand that co-ed fighting units are compromised, don't understand about the birds and bees.
Thank you for explaining that. I thought at first that your were saying the military is too harsh in its punishment
I am so glad that my Navy days ended before coed warships. I cannot imagine the headaches involved. I was at NTC Orlando in the wake of their little scandal in the early 90’s. Human biology cannot be over-ridden with a lawful order.
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