Navy takes nine months to drop hammer on Ward

| April 14, 2013

You probably remember when we wrote about Navy Cmdr. Michael Ward II, who fell in extramarital love on line, pretended to be a SEAL with his new girlfriend, got a submarine command and then pretended to die to get rid of his new girlfriend. Then his girlfriend showed up for his funeral, which, of course, didn’t happen which made her turn him in to NCIS, the Navy guys, not the TV show (although, I think they did that one already).

Well, that was back in August, and now it’s April, and the Navy has decided that Ward should be honorably discharged, says the Washington Times;

Cmdr. Ward asked to remain in the service during the hearing, and his lawyers argued that despite his mistakes, the case came down to personal misconduct that should not destroy what had been a highly distinguished career. But attorneys for the government countered that Cmdr. Ward discredited the Navy and that his removal put a strain on the fleet because officers had to be shuffled around to cover his removal.

“This is not a case of lapsed judgment; this is case of no judgment,” said NavyLt. Griffin Farris, acting as prosecutor at the hearing.

[…]

Still, the Navy shouldn’t throw away his talent and training, said high-ranking officers with whom Cmdr. Ward has served. They said he made an awful mistake and that he was a fast-rising, hard-working officer.

In other words, he sucks up to superiors at light-speed and he has a purty mouth.

He should have been allowed to retire nine months ago and saved the tax payers his full pay, if this is as tough as they’re going to be on him. Of course, this is just a recommendation from the board, and Ward’s commander can accept their recommendation or not, but I suspect, if the Navy is like the Army, he’ll retire at full pension and you’ll probably see him on a roster of contractors within the allotted time that officers are allowed to do that. If his wife doesn’t smother him in his sleep first.

Category: Navy

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K.J. Hinton

He should have kept his torpedo out of her tube.

FatCircles0311

More good ol’ boy officer shenanigans in action.

Ex-PH2

I’ll send the wife a pillow. 🙂

Flagwaver

And here I remember a female Air Force officer who was courts martialed for adultery not too long ago. I guess it was just sexual discrimination.

scr_north

Contrary to what his friends said about making “an awful mistake” it sounds like he made a lot of them not just one.

LebbenB

If he had been an enlisted man, I’d wager that the Chain of Command would have kicked him out so fast it’d make your head swim.

USMCE8Ret

Sounds like he’s on the fast-track to Admiral, given how the military rewards misconduct these days. //sarc//

Retired Master

#6 You’ve got that right. It has happened many times in the military. Especially an affair between officer and enlisted person. Officer is still telling war stories, enlisted is out on their butt!

A Proud Infidel

As I see it, the length of time they took before relieving him is enough evidence that he “knew and blew” some people in high places!

DaveO

Considering the Navy fires Commanding Officers and Senior Enlisted Advisors/Chief of Boat/Goatmen en masse and at the Speed of Lint, and given Commander Ward’s West Point-level lack of judgement, I doubt Commander Ward would have survived much beyond his first week in command.