Category: Navy

BNG sends us the news that the Navy has fired another flag officer. This time it is Captain Anthony Simmons who was the commander of the Norfolk-based Destroyer Squadron 2. According to the Navy Times;

Carrier Strike Group 12 head Rear Adm. Roy Kelley [fired Simmons] on Wednesday after an investigation prompted a “loss of confidence in his ability to command,” according to an official release.

“Capt. Anthony L. Simmons was relieved of his duties by Kelley due to loss of confidence in his ability to command as a result of failure to demonstrate the exemplary conduct expected of those in command,” the Naval Surface Force Atlantic release said.

It looks like he made a pass at an enlisted sailor and then lied to his superiors when he was confronted. The Times says that Simmons is the 15th commander canned by the Navy this year.

We talked about Senior Chief Clayton Pressley III and his unique leadership style back in May when he was arrested on bank fraud and identity theft charges – he was using the identities of a couple of his subordinates to make loans with online lenders. Well, he pleaded guilty the other day according to WAVY;

According to releasable information from the Navy, Pressley enlisted in 1997. He has been awarded a bronze star and is attached to an explosive ordinance unit. A spokeswoman for the Navy told 10 On Your Side that as of today, Pressley is still active duty.

“EODCS Clayton Pressley currently remains on active duty. Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 6 is currently evaluating the situation to take appropriate action, and is committed to ensuring accountability for those who are found to have violated standards of conduct or broken the law,” Lt. Liz Dougherty, Public Affairs Officer for Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 wrote in an email.

Sentencing is scheduled for January. Thanks to BNG for the link.

The Navy Times reports that four more sailors were punished for the seizure by Iran of the two boat crews earlier this year.

Four officers and two enlisted went to mast before Navy Expeditionary Combat Command head Rear Adm. Frank Morneau. Of the four officers, two were found guilty of disobeying a superior and dereliction of duty, according to an NECC statement and given punitive letters of reprimand — a potentially career-ending move. A third officer officer was found not guilty of dereliction of duty.

My frame of reference for this whole thing is back in the good old days of the Cold War when we used to patrol the East German Border, and ya know what? I would have publicly fired my squad leaders if they did shit like this;

The sailors from Coastal Riverine Squadron 3 did not brief or even plan their route from Kuwait to Bahrain. While the original route would have avoided Iran’s territorial waters around Farsi Island, the crew immediately deviated from their original course to make up for a late start.
The crew did not report to their operational handlers on shore when they sighted land unexpectedly or report the mechanical failure.
Task Force 56, the riverine squadron’s immediate superior in 5th Fleet, tasked the sailors beyond their capabilities and limitations and fostered a “can do/will do” culture.
The tactical operations center charged with tracking the transit failed to do so and reacted poorly when things started going wrong.

We would train for months before we became operational at our posts on the border so that every private knew how to respond to every single situation they might encounter, it doesn’t look like the Navy took their mission in the Gulf as seriously. We’d spend hours rehearsing our operations and doing map exercises, but it doesn’t appear that the sailors and their leadership cared too much about being successful in that regard. Especially since they should have known that Iran was just praying for a situation exactly like this to earn some points with the media.

This was a failure of leadership, plain and simple. All the way up to the office that cut off funding for proper training.

We told you more than four years ago that Ray Mabus had run out of names of heroic former Navy/Marine Corps folks for ships’ names and he was considering naming one after gay rights icon Harvey Milk. Well, USNI News reports that day is here;

The July 14, 2016 notification, signed by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, indicated he intended to name a planned Military Sealift Command fleet oiler USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO-206). The ship would be the second of the John Lewis-class oilers being built by General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego, Calif.

The Secretary of the Navy’s office is deferring releasing additional information until the naming announcement, a Navy official told USNI News on Thursday.

Mabus has said the John Lewis-class – named after civil rights activist and congressman Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) – would be named after civil rights leaders.

Naming a ship after Milk, “will further send a green light to all the brave men and women who serve our nation that honesty, acceptance and authenticity are held up among the highest ideals of our military,” said Milk’s nephew Stuart Milk in a statement to San Diego LGBT Weekly in 2012.

Bobo sends us a link to the Navy Times which reports that Master Chief Machinist’s Mate (Weapons) Joseph Decker, Chief of Boat on the submarine USS Oklahoma City was fired “due to poor leadership”.

“He was relieved for a consistent pattern of ineffective leadership at the deckplate level,” Cmdr. Corey Barker, a Submarine Force Pacific spokesman, said Wednesday. “Master Chief Decker was not relieved for misconduct.”

Decker, who took over as COB in April 2015, is the seventh submarine leader fired from his post this year.

Barker characterized Decker’s relief as “administrative in nature” but also said he faces “further administrative actions,” though Barker was not at liberty to discuss what those actions could be.