Commodore's Masts
It sounds like they're done with the Commodore's Masts for the San Francisco. With previous subs that have gotten into trouble (Greeneville, OKC) the Navy has announced in general that other officers and enlisted men were punished without listing the specific charges and "awards". Therefore, you won't hear it first from me, either. I have heard that the San Fran will have an awards ceremony on Friday, so we'll see if any of the punished Sailors also get awards; I would certainly hope they would if they're deserved...
Staying at PD...
Update 1825 22 March: Here's the Navy Times story on the Masts. Excerpt:
"...reliable sources told Navy Times that those punished included the heavily damaged submarine’s executive officer, navigator, assistant navigator and three petty officers. The assistant navigator is a senior chief petty officer who had qualified for that duty. Sources also said that the three more junior sailors reportedly each lost a stripe, with one first class petty officer reduced to second class and two second classes reduced to third.
"The Navy has not yet released any of its investigations into the mishap but given the initial punishments, it appears that much of the blame has been placed on the submarine’s voyage planning process. In Mooney’s case, Greenert concluded, according to a spokesman, that “several critical navigational and voyage planning procedures were not being implemented aboard San Francisco. By not ensuring these standard procedures were followed, Mooney hazarded his vessel.”
"Once a submarine’s superior command orders a sub to deploy and issues a basic track or operating area, the sub’s navigation team is totally responsible for properly planning the route, according to U.S. Submarine Forces in Norfolk. The actual charts and plan are prepared and approved by, in order, the sub’s assistant navigator, navigator, executive officer and commanding officer, according to the Norfolk command.
"Davis said the Guam command does not anticipate disciplining any other crewmembers as a result of the mishap."
posted by Bubblehead at 5:34 AM
3 Comments:
based on the fact the boat made it back into port, every single crewmember should get at least a "been there-done that" award. they wouldn't have made it back without the entire crew doing it's job above and beyond.
and the fact that the navy has to find scapegoats as far down the food chain is one of the reasons i'm glad i'm no longer in. it was the same way then, it's just that my tolerance level for it has greatly diminished.
3/22/2005 8:37 AM
It's been that way for most of the recent events; in those (OKC, Hartford, Greeneville except for the collision with USS Ogden) I figured that there were probably mistakes made by the crew. With this one, I still don't think the crew did anything that 90% of the other attack boat crews would have done in the same situation. I think I got out at the right time too.
3/22/2005 7:04 PM
Don't forget the best award they could have had.
They're still alive.
The investigator bubbas found some lessons unlearned that have been hammered into the crews over the past couple of years. Sounds like the masts got everyone in the chain of preparation and approval for a voyage plan. (I can't go into details--don't know them, but have the gist of it.) The difference is the scope of punishment the junior guys got (much less).
On Greeneville the punishments were meted out to about the right junior guys. Sometimes you can foul up and the opportunity isn't there--you might not go to mast the first three times you gundeck PMS, for instance...
3/22/2005 9:48 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home