Navy relieves two officers in charge during ship collision
The U.S. Navy has removed two officers who were in charge on the U.S.S. John S. McCain when it collided with a merchant ship in August.
The McCain’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Alfredo J. Sanchez, and executive officer, Cmdr. Jessie L. Sanchez, were “relieved due to a loss of confidence,” according to statement from the US 7th Fleet in Yokosuka, Japan, the ship’s home port. “While the investigation is ongoing, it is evident the collision was preventable, the commanding officer exercised poor judgment, and the executive officer exercised poor leadership of the ship’s training program,” the statement said.
Both officers were assigned to other duties in Japan.
The story also quotes the Navy Secretary saying that this is part of a more comprehensive investigation, resulting from the spat of collisions and other ship disasters in recent months.
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The U.S. Navy has removed two officers who were in charge on the U.S.S. John S. McCain when it collided with a merchant ship in August.
The McCain’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Alfredo J. Sanchez, and executive officer, Cmdr. Jessie L. Sanchez, were “relieved due to a loss of confidence,” according to statement from the US 7th Fleet in Yokosuka, Japan, the ship’s home port. “While the investigation is ongoing, it is evident the collision was preventable, the commanding officer exercised poor judgment, and the executive officer exercised poor leadership of the ship’s training program,” the statement said.
Both officers were assigned to other duties in Japan.
The story also quotes the Navy Secretary saying that this is part of a more comprehensive investigation, resulting from the spat of collisions and other ship disasters in recent months.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
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3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
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c/o Robert Zimmerman
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The only surprise is how long it took. As I’ve written before, the Navy always finds a scapegoat, so these reassignments are not necessarily an indicator that these officers were the main culprits.
I wonder what else they are doing to identify the scope of the problem and design remedies.
Are the two Sanchez commodores married?
Not a good idea to mix professional war fighting with family.
Completely unrelated.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/10/10/navy-fires-two-officers-over-uss-mccain-collision-says-deadly-accident-was-preventable/?utm_term=.27c35cae9ffd
Pics of the commanders in the above article.
I’m honestly surprised it took the Navy this long to relieve those in immediate command.
LocalFluff, that’s Commander (rank O-5, which I though was more properly abbreviated CDR than Cmdr., but perhaps I am out of date), not Commodore (no longer a rank in the USN, but an honorary title for senior Captains in charge ship squadrons).
Both the CO and XO are from Puerto Rico, but I’ve not found any indication that they are related. Sanchez is the fifth most common name in Spain and the eighth most common name among US Hispanics, so it’s most likely a coincidence.
Interestingly, the XO, a mustang, is roughly five years older than his CO. The CO, CDR Alfredo J. Sanchez, got his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico in 1997, and was commissioned via OCS the following year. The XO, CDR Jessie L. Sanchez, did his last year of high school in Tennessee, graduating in 1989 and enlisting in the Navy later that year. He became a Fire Control Technician and received his commission via the Limited Duty Officer Program (Surface Ordnance) in 2001.
Their entries are still up on the USS McCain biography pages:
http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/ddg56/Pages/Bio1.aspx#.Wd6NrjspDIU
http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/ddg56/Pages/Bio2.aspx#.Wd6NizspDIU
Sometime in the mid 80’s, the Navy changed the name of an O-7 from “Commodore” to “Rear Admiral, Lower Half” and the name of an O-8 from “Rear Admiral” (O-8) to “Rear Admiral Upper Half.”
Apparently, some of the Navy O=7’s were envious that their equivalents in the other services (Brigadier Generals) were referred to as “General,” but they were not referred to as “Admiral.”
Or maybe that was the cover story, and they were tired of being confused with members of Lionel Ritchie’s band.
I can’t imagine how many man-hours and millions of dollars went into making that very trivial change.
Kirk–
so, are they married or what? (ha)
Garry-
good stuff.
Gilligan’s Island original intro
https://youtu.be/kpimVRP3EW4?t=26
Garry,
It was probably far, far cheaper than Gen. Shinseki’s orders changing the entire US Army over to jaunty chapeax instead of utilitarian BDU caps, and had less of an impact. (positive or negative. There was almost no one in the US Army who was happy with that change other than the social engineers pushing it)
I always liked the expression “rock painting” to describe such actions in the military.
The command post has rocks on display. A new commander comes in, and decides that the quickest way to assert his independence of mind is to have the rocks painted a new color. Instead of marksmanship training, or maintenance, or any of thousands of other useful things the troops could be doing, they’re painting the rocks a different color. It became shorthand for any petty action that wastes valuable resources (particularly time).
I don’t miss rock painters at all.