Posted on 05/19/2020 12:42:36 PM PDT by 11th_VA
The commanding officer of the Navy warship that spilled thousands of gallons of fuel into a Virginia river earlier this month has been removed from her job.
Capt. Erica Hoffmann, commanding officer of the guided-missile cruiser Philippine Sea was relieved of her duties on Monday, Navy officials announced. Rear Adm. Richard Cheeseman, commander of Carrier Strike Group Two, lost confidence in Hoffmann's ability to command, Lt. Cmdr. Richlyn Ivey with Naval Surface Force Atlantic said.
"Many factors weigh into a decision to relieve a commanding officer due to loss of confidence," Ivey added.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
A 4000 gallon spill while tied up pierside is likely to get you relieved from command, regardless as to who turned what valves.
Doing it while pierside at the Yorktown Weapons Station while loading weapons seals the deal.
Aren’t cruiser commands usually 2nd sea commands? Aren’t they a plum for a commander who had a particularly excellent 1st sea command?
** Hoffmann assumed command of the Philippine Sea in April 2019. A U.S. Naval Academy graduate, she previously served as the reactor officer on the aircraft carrier George H. W. Bush and as executive officer of the guided-missile frigate Samuel B. Roberts. **
Reactor Officers are usually sticklers for detail & training. Either she changed a lot on taking command, or she was a crappy reactor officer too. Maybe we should look at this as dodging a bullet. I mean, which would you rather have? A contained oil spill or a reactor accident?
I have no doubt you are correct. Even with men, staff grudgingly pay some form of honors to the position even if they dont respect the position holder. With women in many traditional male roles and professions they are merely considered place holders. Most people understand why they are where they are.
Just because you or somebody declares you are boss / responsible / in command does not mean you actually are. Leadership is like respect, honor and dignity. You dont declare them, you earn them.
He was my weapons office ... just sayin
In my actions and observations I always said: The attitude and standards of the staff is a reflection of the attitude and standards of their management / leadership.
I’m going to guess training. On my first watch on board ship, our ship had to move outboard and allow another ship pier side. Suddenly the OOD told me to get phones on and the XO shows up to take charge of the evolution. I had NO CLUE what was going on, but was told to repeat whatever the XO said to the bridge. I thought the XO was going to bite my head off at times.
With her nuclear background, what the hell was she doing on a gas boat?
Since she is not a pilot, no carrier command. Not a sub sailor, no sub command. As a black shoe, her only shot to command a ship of the United States Navy.
Correct, Cruisers are 2nd tour commands. DDGs generally being the first. CGs are a Captain (O-6) command.
Thanks, Bull.
I would hope the enlisted including the chiefs responsible for the reactor system would be on top of things, I’ve known at least one cheng on a non-nuke that wasn’t.
I noticed she got her degree in English at the academy. I never knew the academy degrees came in any flavor than science or engineering.
I considered the Naval Academy back in the late-70’s. Then, non-engineering degrees were relatively rare. Oceanography and maybe History were about the only things that were possible. I heard later that they were actually ‘drafting’ engineering students with high GPA’s into nuclear engineering due to a lack of interest in the field after Three Mile Island. Needs of the service took priority. Things have changed.
Yeah, that's a great comfort to all the enlisted men who sleep below the waterline.
If women can distinguish themselves as enlisted pukes for 100 or 200 years, then maybe we could let a few exceptional ones try the line officer ranks. Otherwise, they will never be as competent as men in command, because they never had to meet the same standards.
Yes, aside from gender-affirmative action.
It’s not FAIR!!!
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