Navy News
Bobo sends us a Navy Times link about some more Navy guys losing their jobs. Capt. John Heatherington and his senior NCO Master Chief Missile Technician (SS) Eric Spindle of the Naval Ordnance Test Unit in Cape Canaveral, FL were relieved because they knew that their people were taking up collections for their 2014 Submarine Birthday Ball at strip clubs.
The firings stem from the command’s fundraising for the 2014 Submarine Birthday Ball at Cape Canaveral, with NOTU members soliciting sponsors for a November golf tournament to raise funds for the ball, Daniels said, including local dry cleaners, restaurants and two local adult entertainment businesses.
[SSP spokesman John] Daniels said Heatherington knew of the donations from the strip clubs but did not rectify the situation. The fund-raising team included active-duty, civilian and contract personnel, who are being handled administratively, Daniels added.
Yeah, because when you think of sailors on land, you never think of strip clubs, do you?
Speaking of running aground, Pinto Nag sends us a link to NBC News which reports that the U.S.S. Taylor, a guided missile frigate has run aground in the Black Sea while it was on duty for the Sochi Olympics. I guess they were going to port.
The ship had been operating in the Black Sea for about a week when it went in for a standard port call in Samsun, Turkey last Wednesday. The vessel’s prop was damaged in the incident — and now, nearly a week later, it remains in port as inspectors continue to assess the damage.
A senior U.S. military official says that there was an oil leak from the prop but that it was quickly contained.
So they either ran aground or they are some part of a clever Joe Biden plan to establish a missile base in the Black Sea. I report, you decide.
Category: Navy
They were probably collecting money at the Inner Thigh-er…. Inner Room cabaret. I’ll bet it’s still in business even after 30 years. I should have claimed them as a dependent on my 1984 Tax return after doing a DASO at Port Canaveral.
I’m putting my money on the USS Taylor running aground. Bigmouth Biden ain’t that clever.
Seriously, the CO/CMC who got fired apparently weren’t even aware that their guys were taking donations via the strip club.
Is that all it takes to get fired in today’s Navy? Good thing they weren’t around 25-30 years ago, I guess.
Dear Leader O’bumbles and the current PC military cannot have a bunch of young sailors acting like young sailors.
Today’s kinder, gentler, PC DoD at its finest.
Yes, the CO and CMC should have known about this. But I just can’t see it as something meriting relief-for-cause. Their boss chewing their asses and telling them, point-blank, “Not the image the Navy wants today – freaking fix it” seems more than enough.
I went the MT “C” school with MTCM(SS) Spindle. We were also assigned to the opposite crew of the same boat after graduation. As an MT3 he had a great reputation, and is one of the few who I served with who made it to chief, and the only one who made MTCM. He was rapidly closing in on his 30 years AFS, probably the end of this year. What a crappy way to end 30.
FFGs don’t have the Gs anymore
Geez, every military installation in the country has several main businesses just off post that support the military: the pawn shops, military surplus stores, tattoo parlors, new/used car dealerships, strip clubs and regular clubs, loan establishments, high interest retailers, etc – they just love our youngsters 🙂
From Joel Kennedy over at The Stupid Shall Be Punished:
“Note that Captain Heatherington and Master Chief Spindle are not accused of actively soliciting the donations from the strip club — they just knew about it and didn’t stop it. Sorry, but to me, unless the Skimmer Admiral had personally crayoned out an order that no units under his command were allowed to solicit strip club donations for a fundraising golf tournament, this is a ridiculous reason to fire anyone. PC culture run amok. Ridiculous. Likewise, the “company doing business with the Navy” solicitation rule is idiotic, and firing someone because their guys broke the rule without malice is stupid.”
So 1–correction to my previous post, 2–I still stand by the main gist of it, in that it’s not like they were having strippers on base in front of the Wives Club.
What’s next? CO’s getting fired because their guys saw a peso show in the PI, or went to a strip club in Thailand? Again, if that was the case, you wouldn’t have enough people left in to station the Maneuvering Watch (Special Sea and Anchor Detail for you target pukes) on a rowboat.
Okay, so you Navy folks help an old non-Navy type out here. If a ship runs aground like this, does the Captain get in any kind of trouble for that or is it just in that you know, “shit happens category”? Thanks for your help.
The strip club stuff gets all the attention. It’s accepting donations from a gov contractor that is the big violation. If he knew of it, and knew it was a contractor, that’s a good enough reason to relieve him.
@Sparks, They usually promote them to Admiral. That way they can no longer run a Ship Aground. CO’s are responsible for Manuevering.
In April 1983, Enterprise ran aground on a sandbar in San Francisco Bay while returning from deployment and remained stuck there for several hours.[36] Coincidentally, George Takei, who played Mr. Sulu, helmsman of the fictional starship Enterprise, was aboard at the time as a Distinguished Visitor of the Navy.[37] Even though groundings and collisions are usually career-enders for U.S. warship captains, the captain at the time, Robert J. Kelly, who had already been selected for promotion to commodore, eventually became a four-star admiral and commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet
@12 CBSenior, so what you’re saying is the “Peter Principal” is still alive and well in the military.
They can’t solicit any off-post business. Period.