Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog
There has been some reporting that the number of Detached for Cause (DFC, Relief for Cause) in the Navy are up this year over past years. Here are some more. Actually I almost missed one. I had this ready to post last night and didn’t so today I was able to read:
A Navy Times report entitled “Navy sacks three leaders in one day” (fortunately for them no court-martial that we know of):
In the span of 24 hours, the Navy has fired a commanding officer, executive officer and a command master chief.
On Friday, Navy Capt. Ronald Murray Gero was fired from command of the guided missile submarine Ohio, after an investigation into “improper personal behavior,” Navy Submarine Group 9 said.
Captain Gero’s DFC follows shortly after another bubble-head CO was relieved.
The commanding officer of the Trident Training Facility in Bangor, Wash., was fired Tuesday because of "inappropriate personal behavior," according to a Navy spokesman. . . . Kenny said the relief stemmed from "inappropriate personal behavior" that led to a loss of confidence in Solms’ ability to command. Kenny said he could not characterize the nature of the behavior. . . .[N]o one else would face discipline in the matter.
Here are the other two I’d caught yesterday:
The No. 1 sailor on the Norfolk-based carrier Theodore Roosevelt was fired Thursday, Naval Air Force Atlantic announced late Friday afternoon.
Command Master Chief David Stitt was relieved by Capt. William Hart, the TR’s commanding officer, as the result of false statements Stitt made to an investigating officer and Hart during the course of an investigation, AIRLANT said in a statement. Hart decided that Stitt could no longer serve in the “unique position of trust and confidence that a master chief enjoys.”
I don’t recollect if either Captain Bligh or Captain Queeg are accused of assaulting a junior.
Navy Times reports.
The executive officer of a Norfolk-based destroyer was relieved late Friday afternoon for striking a subordinate officer while the ship was underway, Surface Force Atlantic said.
The officer, Cmdr. Charles Mansfield, was due to take command of the Mahan following his tour as executive officer, according to Surface Force Atlantic spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Bill Urban.
The Navy Times article on the TTF CO has this listing:
SKIPPERS FIRED THIS YEAR
• Capt. John Titus Jr. was fired Jan. 8 as CO of the Naval Supply Corps School in Georgia for failing to adequately discipline a junior officer accused of inappropriate conduct.
• Capt. Holly Graf was fired Jan. 13 as CO of the Yokosuka, Japan-based cruiser Cowpens after an inspector general’s investigation found problems with her “temperament and demeanor,” a spokesman said.
• Capt. Glen Little was fired as CO of Naval Weapons Station Charleston, S.C., after he was arrested Jan. 26 on a charge of solicitation of prostitution.
• Cmdr. Scott Merritt was relieved as head of Naval Support Activity North Potomac on Feb. 12 following nonjudicial punishment. Sources told Navy Times the NJP involved fraternization with a junior Navy personnel.
• Cmdr. Timothy Weber, the commanding officer of the Norfolk, Va.-based destroyer Truxtun, was relieved Feb. 17 for having an inappropriate relationship with a female officer in his command, according to a Navy statement
• Capt. William Reavey Jr., CO of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., was fired Feb. 26 for “inappropriate conduct,” officials said.
• Cmdr. Jeff Cima, CO of the Pearl Harbor-based sub Chicago, was relieved of command March 15 for drunkenness and conduct unbecoming an officer, officials said
• Cmdr. Neil Funtanilla, CO of the destroyer The Sullivans, was relieved May 18 in Manama, Bahrain, after a non-judicial hearing found he was “derelict in the performance of his duties.” The destroyer struck a buoy in the Persian Gulf in March.
• Cmdr. Herman Pfaeffle was relieved as CO of the frigate John L. Hall for loss of confidence in his ability to command on June 22 after hitting a pier April 16 in Batumi, Georgia.
• Capt. William Kiestler was relieved June 30 as CO of of Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Vice Adm. Kevin McCoy, commander of Naval Sea Systems Command, cited a loss of confidence in Kiestler’s ability to command.
• Cmdr. Fred Wilhelm was relieved Aug. 12 as CO of the dock landing ship Gunston Hall. Rear Adm. Dave Thomas fired him after Wilhelm was “charged with sexual harassment, maltreatment of a subordinate, simple assault, conduct unbecoming an officer, drunk and disorderly conduct and use of indecent language.”
• Capt. David Schnell was relieved Aug. 15 as CO of the amphibious assault ship Peleliu by Vice Adm. Mark Fox, commander of 5th Fleet. The relief took place “as a result of an investigation into allegations that he acted in an unprofessional manner toward several crew members that was inappropriate, improper and unduly familiar.”
• Cmdr. Mary Ann Giese, CO of of Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Bahrain, was fired Aug. 21 by Rear Adm. Edward Deets, head of Naval Network Warfare Command, after “a preliminary investigation into allegations that she had been involved in inappropriate relationships with other Navy personnel,” according to a statement from 10th Fleet.