This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Navy

  • Commander Edward Byers, USS DALLAS commander fired

    Commander Edward Byers, USS DALLAS commander fired

    Commander Edward Byers

    Bobo sends us link to a Navy press release about the latest Navy officer to bite the big one. Commander Edward Byers, until recently the commander of the USS DALLAS, a Los Angeles-class attack sub, famous for it’s inclusion in Tom Clancy’s “Hunt for Red October”.

    Cmdr. Edward Byers was removed from his position by Capt. Oliver Lewis, Commander, Submarine Squadron 12. Byers has been administratively reassigned to the staff of Commander, Undersea Warfare Development Center, Groton, Connecticut.

    Capt. Jack Houdeshell, deputy commander at Submarine Squadron 4, has been assigned as commanding officer. Houdeshell previously served as commanding officer of Dallas prior to Byers.

    The press release says that his commander lost confidence in his ability to drive a boat underwater or something. Byers took command of the boat in November, 2014. The picture at the top is from that happy day. You probably should take care to not confuse this Edward Byers with the Edward Byers who is getting the Medal of Honor.

  • Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) Edward Byers to be awarded Medal of Honor

    Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) Edward Byers to be awarded Medal of Honor

    Medal of Honor

    The White House announces that Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) Edward Byers will be awarded the Medal of Honor on February 29th. The circumstances of his deeds is still classified, the announcement states merely that he is being awarded the Medal for rescuing a civilian on December 8-9, 2012.

    Senior Chief Byers entered the Navy in September 1998, attending boot camp and Hospital Corpsman School at Great Lakes, Illinois. He served at Great Lakes Naval Hospital, and then with 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. In 2002, he attended the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL course, graduating from Class 242, and completed the Special Operations Combat Medic course in 2003. Senior Chief Byers has been assigned to various east coast SEAL teams, and completed eight overseas deployments with seven combat tours.

    Senior Chief Byers’ awards and decorations include five awards of the Bronze Star Medal with Combat V device, two awards of the Purple Heart, the Joint Service Commendation Medal with Valor device, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat V device, two additional awards of the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, two awards of the Combat Action Ribbon, three Presidential Unit Citations, two Joint Meritorious Unit Awards, two Navy Unit Commendations, and five Good Conduct Medals.

    Thomas Gibbons-Neff writes in the Washington Post about the action that earned Byers the Medal of Honor.

  • Misiewicz Pleads Guilty In GDMA Scandal

    CDR Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz has pleaded guilty in Federal court to two felonies in conjunction with the Glenn Defense Marine Asia, Ltd (hereafter “GDMA”) bribery scandal.  The two felonies were conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery of a public official.

    Prior to the scandal, Misiewicz had been selected for promotion to Captain.  Now he faces up to 20 years in Federal prison.  A sentencing hearing is scheduled for 29 April.

    Another Naval officer involved – LCDR Todd Malaki – has also recently pleaded guilty.  He’s scheduled to be sentenced today.  He faces a maximum possible sentence of 5 years in prison.

    In the GDMA scandal, the CEO of GDMA – “Fat Leonard” Francis –  provided numerous expensive gifts to various Navy personnel in exchange for advance information regarding Navy port calls and/or the diversion of Navy ships to specific ports.  This in turn allowed GDMA to overcharge the US Government approximately $20 million for services performed in conjunction with those port calls.

    At present, only one of the GDMA conspirators is fighting charges; the rest have pleaded guilty.  A partial list of those involved from about a year ago can be found here.  However, it is known to be incomplete, as Malaki is not listed there.

    The matter remains under investigation.  More arrests are possible.

    Personally, I hope every one of the US personnel involved – civilian or military – gets absolutely nailed to the wall at sentencing. These individuals were all in positions of public trust and abused them badly. IMO they deserve a looong time to contemplate their misdeeds.

  • An Update on the Latest Iranian Incident

    The Pentagon has now released its take on the cause of the incident.

    The SECDEF earlier today said that that the US craft entered entered Iranian waters “due to a navigational error”.

    I’m guessing someone’s career is toast about now.

  • Iran Seizes, Then Apparently Releases 10 US Sailors

    Yesterday evening and this morning, looks like a bit of drama played out. Iran’s state news claims the Iranian Revolutionary Guard seized 2 US riverine boats crewed by 10 US sailors while those boats were in the Persian Gulf. The Iranian medial also claims the sailors have now been released; however, US sources do not appear to have yet confirmed that. It’s unclear whether the two riverine boats were also released.

    Prior to their release, a Revolutionary Guard spokesman said the sailors would be “debriefed”. They also accused the boats of exhibiting “unprofessional acts” and of possibly having intentionally entered Iranian waters.

    The two boats apparently drifted into Iranian waters after having mechanical problems. They were enroute from Bahrain to Kuwait.

    Given the fact that the POTUS gave the State of the Union address yesterday and other recent incidents between Iranian and US naval forces, does anyone out there really think the timing here was coincidental?

  • Flag officer weekend body count

    Bobo sends us links to the stories of two more flag officers who succumbed to their darker sides and joined their peers on the Naughty List. Rear Admiral Rick Williams was fired on Friday from his job as commanding officer of Pacific Fleet’s carrier strike group training command for looking at porn on his government computer, according to the Navy Times;

    During a routine inspection, Williams was found to have looked at pornographic images on his government computer, violating Navy rules, said a Navy source familiar with the incident. The misuse of the computer did not involve any classified material and the investigation is ongoing, the source added.

    “They have enough information to say it wasn’t just a mistake,” the source said. “It was extensive enough that they knew it was not just an error.”

    Williams, a career surface warfare officer, has been the head of Carrier Strike Group 15 since June. He could not be immediately reached for comment Saturday.

    I guess he couldn’t wait until he got home.

    Michigan National Guard Major General James Wilson is being investigated for using his position for private gain, according to the Air Force Times;

    At issue were two contract proposals submitted by now-retired Maj. Gen. James Wilson for his Springfield, Virginia-based consulting firm Northstar Services LLC. Northstar’s proposals, submitted in 2010 and 2011, contained Wilson’s official photograph in military service dress, according to the IG report. At the time, Wilson was still in the Guard as a brigadier general, and the photograph had his ceremonial one-star flag in the background.

    […]

    “Brig. Gen. Wilson’s inclusion of his official photo in uniform for the contract proposal can reasonably be construed to imply that the Government sanctions or endorses his personal business,” the report said in its conclusion.

    Wilson retired in September to avoid the investigation after he got a counseling statement from Vice Chief of Staff General Larry Spencer in January.

    So, let the wrist slapping begin.

  • USS Milwaukee breaks down right off the lot

    USS Milwaukee breaks down right off the lot

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    Stars & Stripes reports that the newest ship in the Navy, the USS Milwaukee, broke down just 20 days after the Navy drove it off the lot and had to be towed 40 miles to Little Creek, VA to be repaired;

    Initial indications are that fine metal debris that collected in the lube oil filter caused the system to shut down, but the cause is not known, the Times reported.

    “Reporting of a complete loss of propulsion on USS Milwaukee (LCS 5) is deeply alarming, particularly given this ship was commissioned just 20 days ago,” Sen. John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee who has voiced serious reservations about the [littoral combat ship (LCS)] program in the past, said in a statement to the Times.

    “U.S. Navy ships are built with redundant systems to enable continued operation in the event of an engineering casualty, which makes this incident very concerning.”

    At the time of its commissioning critics said the $437 million ship still hadn’t met expectations.

  • Scratch One Career

    The armed services have been trying to discourage alcohol use for at least the past 20 years, if not longer. In truth, sometimes I think they go to far in that respect.

    Regardless, it’s policy – and excessive alcohol consumption isn’t generally a behavior that should be encouraged.  But there are still people out there who don’t seem to “get the word”.

    Unfortunately, sometimes those folks are relatively senior. Like the former 20th Air Force Commander, for example.

    And, it turns out, like the Director for Strategy, Policy, Capabilities, and Logistics at TRANSCOM – RADM David Baucom. Apparently he was removed from his position in October for what amounts to “drunk and disorderly” while TDY on the night of 7-8 April of this year.

    I’m not going to go into the details of the “drunk and disorderly” here.  This Navy Times article on the subject does so; read it if you’re interested.  Suffice it to say that the details are rather . . . unusual.

    RADM Baucom has issued a statement blaming his conduct on a medical condition occurring on “the evening of April 8th which caused lightheadedness, disorientation, dizziness and confusion.” Other indications are he may have mixed prescription medicine with drinking.

    However, a Navy investigation found that RADM Baucom had consumed all or part of at least 8 drinks that evening. It seems to me that, according to this blood alcohol concentration (BAC) chart, that would yield a BAC of 0.11 in a 180-lb man four hours after he’d begun drinking (0.17 – 6 x 0.01). If he drank more than 8 drinks, that would have yielded an even higher BAC.

    Sorry, RADM; I can’t say I have very much sympathy.  A drink or 3 at an official function or conference is one thing; eight or more seems rather excessive.  Someone of your seniority should know that.  Ditto for knowing that mixing prescription drugs and alcohol is a fool’s game.  Either way, you should damn well have known better.

    At least you’ll get to keep your retirement.  It could have been worse.