Posted on 05/13/2016 10:25:13 AM PDT by Kaslin
Accountability matters, especially in the military — and the US Navy just delivered some internal accountability for the capture of sailors by Iran. NBC, ABC, and other news agencies report that the Navy has “fired” Commander Eric Rasch, the executive officer of the sailors in the embarrassing January incident. This reverses the promotion Rasch got while the investigation took place, and will end any hopes he has for promotion:
The Navy has fired the commander of the 10 American sailors who entered Iranian territorial waters in the Persian Gulf and were captured and held by Iran for about 15 hours.
In a statement Thursday, the Navy said it had lost confidence in Cmdr. Eric Rasch, who was the executive officer of the squadron that included the 10 sailors at the time of the January incident. He was responsible for the training and readiness of the more than 400 sailors in the unit.
A Navy official said Rasch failed to provide effective leadership, leading to a lack of oversight, complacency and failure to maintain standards in the unit. The official was not authorized to discuss the details publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.
“Fired” in this context doesn’t mean Rasch will sign up for unemployment benefits. The Navy has relieved him of his command and reassigned him to “other tasks,” which basically means a desk job with fewer responsibilities and opportunities. He’ll continue to serve, but Rasch and everyone else knows that he’s now on borrowed time, and will have to start considering his next career sooner rather than later.
CNN reports that the Navy has not ruled out more disciplinary action for others involved in the incident, and the initial report of its origins shows that it’s more likely to involve a number of people. The list of failures CNN cites shows that the responsibility appears to be rather wide-spread:
• The sailors had never made the trip before.
• They had been up most of the night before conducting maintenance on one of the boats that had broken down.
• They had to “cannibalize” parts from a third boat in order to have two working vessels.
• They then experienced problems with their satellite communications gear. …In addition, they did not conduct a standard operational briefing for themselves prior to setting sail, during which they would have fully reviewed their route and navigation plan.
The approved navigation path would have had them sail in international waters between the Iranian coastline and the eastern side of Farsi Island as they moved south toward Bahrain. Instead, they were significantly off course, sailing on the western side of the island.
In other words, it was a cascading series of blunders and failures that led to the humiliation of the US Navy and the propaganda coup realized by Iran. The sheer number of problems raises questions about the overall readiness of forces in sensitive areas, and few are more sensitive than the Persian Gulf. One would have expected the Navy to operate at peak efficiency that close to hostile territory rather than allow for such slipshod performance.
Clearly, that’s what the Navy expected too, and why the disciplinary action has begun. Rasch may be the first to face the music, but he won’t be the last. Like it or not, Rasch’s public dressing-down will serve the Navy as a reminder to other officers of the consequences of negligence and failure.
Good
I wonder though - what were his ROE’s?
What if he had instead shot-up the Iranian boats? Would he have been court-martialed by an angry Obama regime?
Perhaps this commander was put in a no-win situation? Maybe he was a scapegoat for a media operation by the Obama regime? There were many strange facts with this case - for example, how did both boats lose radar and power?
Political correctness kills - both careers and lives.
It is a shame that civilian government employees aren’t held to the same standard (or at least some standard) - Lerner, Koskine, Congress et al
And yet, the investigation of Benghazi - who denied a military response, etc. - continues to this day.
I wonder why...
My brother was a sea captain. He believes they caused their own predicament and are lucky they’re alive.
He wasn’t the commander of the unit until after the incident happened. The real commander at the time of the incident was “protected” by an admiral.
Obama’s navy certainly isn’t the one we served in. (1967-1975)
Obammy and Kerry can appoint him to chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or whatever.
“Perhaps this commander was put in a no-win situation? Maybe he was a scapegoat for a media operation by the Obama regime? There were many strange facts with this case - for example, how did both boats lose radar and power?”
Very, very good questions.
I never thought this whole thing passed the smell test.
What of the Cmdr. who was the CO of the squadron at the time of the incident? Did he retire or was he promoted thereby making room for XO (Lt. Cmdr?) Rasch to be promoted to Cmdr. in his/her place?
I wonder though - what were his ROE’s?
= = = = = = = = = = = = =
I would take the courts-martial and try to get all this aired out - career ruined anyway.
Funny, the XO hangs, and the CO slides?
XO must have ‘spoken up about the shiitee conditions and is now collecting his ‘reward’.
How about the OIC of the two craft?
Wasn’t he/she Navigating?
Would think ‘on scene CDR’ would get shafted before the XO.
Whatever happened to ‘my Navy’
Of course if ‘on scene people’ and CO bypassed maybe they should go straight to the TOP and work the way down from the pResident.
THAT I could go along with.
Headline the other day saying Barry was being dragged out of DC in chains....
I had my hopes up till I realized they were referring to USS Barry (DD-933) being towed by tug from DC to Philadelphia.
Oh well, maybe next time.
Holy cow, I didn’t know that. Is the real commander one of the protected class?
Is this the same outfit?
https://navaltoday.com/2014/08/13/coastal-riverine-squadron-3-commander-replaced/
The blamed commander was a Christian.
I agree completely. They should be
They also didn’t have the Balls to fight off the F N iranian basturds!
I have posted this letter before, but it seems timely again.
The XO is just the first fall guy used to obfuscate the truth. As far as I am concerned everything we have been and will be told by this Administration and their Navy acolytes is a lie.
Thinking of my own time leading small boat detachments, why were they there initially? Was no one paying attention? They now even have GPS. There were two boats, so one could have towed the other. Back in my Old Navy even if I was leading LCM-8 landing craft without radar, I would have had a chart, compass and current information about currents.
Could it be the Iranians had a different definition of territorial waters to which they wanted this Administration and our Navy to subscribe? That seems more likely. Regardless my CO and I would have laid out a course which intercepted the friendly shore at least by the latitude of the Iranian island. We would have been nowhere near the island, and the refueling ship would have been where we assigned it. Most likely we would have chosen a course which kept us in sight of land the whole way.
Finally how could the Navy lose track of these boats? Why were the crews not initiating contact? During an amphibious exercise my wave of assault boats were swallowed by a fog. When I saw that fog coming I made sure the flag ship could vector us back to our LPD. In this case the departure port, refueling ship, and the destination port should all share the same radio frequency and do regular radio checks. This evolution was not rocket science.
This event directs my memory back to the Cold War involving China as well as the Soviet Union. Navy ships stationed in Yokosuka Japan ”patrolled” through the Taiwan Straits as they transited to Vietnam. Our captain told us that if any Chinese ship tried to intercept us we would fight. The prospect was not that exciting because our heaviest armament were three dual 3in50cal anti-aircraft mounts.
But the Pueblo incident was on everyone’s mind and that was going to be our response.
Our military needs to ‘fire’ Obama as their commander and chief
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.