Friday, August 27, 2004

Skipper of USS Kennedy relieved As a result with a collision with a dhow (that I mentioned in a previous post here), the Commanding Officer of the USS Kennedy has been relieved.  Obviously, it is not acceptable for a small wooden boat to be able penetrate the safe radius of the carrier.  Navy Commanding Officers have responsibilty for everything, so when there is a failure of this sort, they are the ones to take the fall. Unfortunately, the story gives no further insight on how this ocurred. Earlier this year, the Navy Times had an article on the  high number of Commanding Officers being relieved (the Navy was on pace to break a record).  Add one to that list now. The last time the Commanding Officer of the Kennedy was relieved was after she failed INSURV, which is a major inspection held once every five years.  In that case there were some extenuating circumstances, but once again the accountability of a Commanding Officer is absolute, so the relieval was warranted. Kennedy Captain relieved (Florida-Times Union) Military comment []10:31:19 AM   trackback []