“When [the officer] did not hear the helmsman’s repeat-back, [DeFant] smacked [the officer] on her collar bone and said ‘Pay attention.'” The officer said the smack did not hurt but “freaked her out” and she momentarily considered leaving her post by turning the conn over to DeFant. Several crew on the bridge confirmed the incident to investigators.
DeFant told investigators she did not recall this incident.
Another time, DeFant was on the bridge as the ship was mooring to a buoy off San Diego, with one officer serving in the conning position and another as the Officer of the Deck, or OOD, the role that directly oversees a ship’s watch.
As the ship maneuvered, DeFant aske, “Do I have a safe bearing?”
The Conning Officer responded in the affirmative — a response which, according to several witnesses cited in the report, set off DeFant.
“In response, [DeFant] approached [the Conning Officer], grabbed him by his uniform near his collar, pulled him towards her, and whispered in his ear, ‘Was I talking to you…You’re not the [OOD] …I was talking to the OOD…don’t ever interrupt me again’ or words to that effect.”
DeFant told investigators she recalled grabbing the officer “on his arm in an effort to re-focus his attention.”
This really sounds like my old XO - I hated mooring duty
The Captain should not have to lay hands on the crew to command their respect. That said, this officer who was 'smacked' on her collar bone in a way that 'didn't hurt' but left her so upset she wanted to flee from her position is a bit disturbing when you think this is someone we expect to be cool under fire in a conflict.
I've worked on USN and international naval shipbuilding programs off and on for the past 30 years and know a lot of naval officers from flag level down, men and women, but I never served and never went to sea so I'll accept if someone who has tells me I'm off base. But that's how it seems to me.
At least she didn’t grab anybody by the P...