Captain Anthony Simmons; destroyer squadron commander canned
Bobo and Mick send us links to the story of the end of Capt. Anthony Simmons’ career in the Navy. From Pilot Online they report that he didn’t lose his job as commander of Destroyer Squadron Two because of his behavior in a bar, but because he lied to investigators about his behavior in a bar;
According to a 40-page investigation received by The Virginian-Pilot through the Freedom of Information Act on Thursday, Capt. Anthony L. Simmons cast his visit to a Chesapeake Wild Wing Cafe as a 20-minute stop to pick up a take-out order during which he had a beer, spoke with the sailor and bought her and one other person a drink, all while his wife waited in the car.
But investigators found that Simmons entered the restaurant alone, dressed in civilian clothes around 6 p.m. Aug. 5 and went to the bar. His take-out food sat there for nearly an hour after he initiated conversation with the female sailor from a few seats away. As other patrons arrived at the restaurant, Simmons moved closer to her and attempted to buy her a drink.
Investigators describe an interaction that is occasionally marked by laughter from both parties but appeared to take an awkward turn at the end.
He told investigators about the conversation that he had with his wife, but video footage showed that his wife wasn’t with him. From the Navy Times;
“These actions demonstrate both a lack of integrity and a lack of professional recognition of a Commanding Officer’s vulnerability to the vanity of command,” the investigator wrote.
[…]
“Capt. Simmons went before Rear Adm. Kelley during Admiral’s Mast on Aug 31 and was found to have violated UMCJ Article 107 (Making False Official Statements) and Article 133 (Conduct Unbecoming an Officer and a Gentleman),” according to a statement from SURFLANT. “Capt. Simmons was awarded a punitive letter of reprimand.”
Simmons was commissioned through the OCS program in 1990.
Category: Navy
Minority senior officers are getting whacked by the Navy lately.
I do not really see race being a factor here. Married CO of a squadron consisting of 7 ships should know better than to be buying drinks for a Jr. sailor and then lying about it when questioned.
I totally agree with you andrew. The character of a person in the ranks of 0-5 and above are to be held to a much higher standard than an E1 or even an 01. Hope he is near retirement because his career is over, no stars in his future.
He should have stuck a cigar in her pussy eh? That would be acceptable because our king got away with it right?
It’s not the crime, it’s the coverup.
What the fuck did he need to cover up?
Chatted with an enlisted Sailor (Oh, the HORROR!). Attempted to buy her a drink (Oh, the DOUBLE HORROR!).
I love how they write “took an awkward turn at the end.” Say what the fuck you mean!!!!!
Considering some of the shit I saw from O-gangers on liberty, this rises to the level of NOTHING.
If they had confronted me about this, I would have just told them what the hell happened. Fuck ’em if they can’t take it.
Something else is going on here and we will never learn of it. The facts and the career-ending reprimand are laughable.
What he said. This doesn’t pass the smell test.
Smells like a “Monica cigar”!
Agreed. This guy had probably been on the bubble with his superiors for a while, and when he gave them a plausible excuse to can him, they seized it.
There’s rumblings around and about that military officers are now being subjected to a form of loyalty test centered around whether or not they’re obedient to the Anthropogenic Climate Change cult.
What does that have to do with running a ship or a squadron or a fleet?
What did the old Sov Political Officer have to do with sound tactical decisions?
It’s about purging the “politically unreliable”. The Left is closing in on their end game.
Another case study for the CO’s course…I think he would have gone down anyway for the drinks and “mentoring” shit…sex will likely trump race…he has his head up his ass if he thinks that is (or ever was) good leadership these days with a sympathetic IG just a phone call away…the lying just took any controversy out of the final outcome
I smell Moerk. Was she in that bar?
She was in the corner, trying to decide if she should get up and start pacing the floor.
Be careful, every time her name appears on the internet, she gets another ARCOM.
She’s up to about 50,000 at this point.
Yes, that was me. I should be getting my second ARCOM here shortly.
I would venture to guess that Captain Simmons forgot the old adage that “honesty is the best policy”, especially with investigators.
Might as well put those papers in to retire, Captain… you just took a megashit on any chance of wearing stars.
“a lack of professional recognition of a Commanding Officer’s vulnerability to the vanity of command.” Bwahahahahahahahahahah.
You left out the part about ‘lack of integrity’. Probably never had it in the first place.
It’s that vanity of command business that I found funny. When everybody kisses your ass, laughs at your stupid jokes, offers to help you do this and that, fears your power, salutes you, and tells you how great your latest idea is and what an honor it is to blah, blah, blah, it is rather difficult to remain humble, especially if you came from an academy where you were groomed to be a prince.
I’m guessing y’all missed that last line that says he was commissioned via OCS in 1990?
That’s the reason a mustang officer was a better officer.
Yep.
I would agree that some mustang officers are better, but not all. Some mustangs are idiots that never learn that officers have a different leadership role than NCOs. They tend to get too involved in NCO business because that’s what they know, and their actually duties never get done.
There are identifiable trends in behavior for OCS, ROTC, and Academy officers. While prior service OCS and academy officers tend to be more prepared tactically initially, that advantage drops away quickly and is basically gone by the time they are O2/O3s.
On the other hand, Academy guys tend to get in trouble with alcohol and ‘partying’ (since they were essentially in prison and are now out on work release), and prior service OCS guys have issues with ethics and money- a lot of shoplifting from the PX and improper relationships.
Oh, by the way, I have met plenty a toxic NCO in my career, especially First Sergeants and Command Sergeants Major. There is also the Staff NCO that has too much administrative power- the guy that controls supplies, leaves and passes, etc..
People are people. Some are more prone to personality failure than others- rank, privilege, and power just make it more likely.
Do they stake out gay clubs too?
They aren’t allowed to because that would be racist.
So the rather rarefied atmosphere of the 4th sleeve stripe and upwards turns ossfers into what? No, if he has no common sense at this level, he didn’t have it at a lower level. He was just able to get away with it at the lower level.
Here’s some advice for officers of all branches. Never frequent the same civilian watering hole. Mix it up. Go to higher-end places where EMs who would love to catch you shit faced or playing touch-feely in the shadows are less likely to be. Keep a low profile. No one gives a shit that you are an officer and no one in the civilian world is going to kowtow to you for being one. Know that you will be recognized wherever you go and, if you are, buy the fellow a drink and get the hell out of there.
If they follow your sage advice Air Cav, they would rarely get laid. Most senior officers who screwed around that I encountered were only able to do so because of their rank and position.
WAR STORY ALERT: I reported the O-5 Area Club Manager I worked for in Wiesbaden to the CO for using his position to hit on female entertainers who complained to me. The one star in Mainz made me his Area Club Manager but the dirt bag was promoted to O-6. In Mainz, the O-6 brigade commander was forced to retire for bonking the wife of a SP4 when he was in the field.
Hell hath no fury…….
It was the female sailor who made the complaint when she found out the guy in civilian clothing was a officer.
There was no criminal intent.
How can he be punished?
A CEO (president) having sex with an intern and then lying about it? That was just a right wing witch hunt.
The double standards of the treatment of Clintons makes all in the service wonder…
Well if she becomes president, I’m sure it’ll be okay because she’ll change all that, right?
Clinton stuffed a cigar in Monica’s vajayjay.
In the “oval” orifice.
“There was no criminal intent.”
Exactly – the double standards thing is as plain as the Good Lord’s sun in the sky.
Ray CharlesStevie Wonder could see it.Coupled with the stupidity of way too many of the American people and the loud mouthed boor from New York, she will probably be the next POTUS.
Of course there was. He was married, and he intended to have an improper relationship. That’s a crime under the UCMJ. He also made an ass of himself in public drove while under the influence of alcohol. Then he lied to investigators. Also crimes.
Aside from that, command is not a right, it is a privilege. Commanders serve at the convenience of their higher commander, and can be removed at that commander’s discretion. That’s why the Navy uses the phrase ‘lost confidence in the ability to command’.
The Admiral can’t have confidence in the ability to command of a man who does all of those things. This isn’t a business,and this officer is not a ‘CEO’, he was a commander of an organization preparing to go to war. If a commander can’t make prudent decisions about personal behavior on shore, what kind of decisions will he make under pressure in combat?
Yes. When you are in command, making decisions for people involved in life or death activities, good judgment is paramount. People who can’t be trusted to make prudent decisions in daily life should not be trusted to make critical decisions for others on the battlefield. Especially when those in command lack the integrity to admit their foul ups.
Like Bill “horn dog” Clinton and his cigar in Monica stuffing act?
Yes. Another, but all too vivid, example of someone in high level “command” who lets the little head make bad decisions.
Why does honesty even matter anymore. Our elected officials can lie, plead the 5th, do anything, yet we hold these guys accountable?
You are going in the wrong direction. Just because one group gets away with misbehavior shouldn’t make you get rid of the rules. Hold the military accountable AND hold politicians responsible.
Cigar in Monica.
What accountability did we demand then?
A new cigar?
Be honest, he did it for the nookie…
Navy official bio pics always have sailors seated , smiling enjoying getting their pic took . Army seems to be Hurry the Hell up ! and take the pic. It turned for the worst when his wife walked in.
And wearing their hat. Never understood that.
I like that commanders are always smiling, 1SGs and CSMs always looked pissed off in their command photos.
True Dat! They probably see soldiers walking on their grass in the background.
We’re forgetting the most important question to be asked in this matter: But was she hot?
Two negros in a row?
C’mon Jesse Jackson get it going!!!
Did he stick a cigar in her vajayjay like our commander in chief circa 1992-2000?
Because if he did, no big deal!
“I… did not… have sex with that woman!!!!”
– slick willy
Hey! He didn’t have sex with her, just with her blue dress. As Bart would say, “I dint do it, no one saw me do it; you can’t prove nuthin.” Or as Hillary would say, maybe he just “wiped it, like with a (blue)cloth.”
Have always wondered just who “that woman” is. For all we know, he was talking to one of his paramours and was referring to his wife. Or someone else entirely.
OK, maybe one of our current or former Navy types can help out here.
The guy got his commission thru OCS, not NROTC or USNA. But I’m not seeing any GCM on his ribbon rack in the photo above.
How common is it for a Naval officer to go to OCS without enough enlisted service to have been awarded a GCM?
Is it possible he joined after getting his college degree and went to OCS, and had no enlisted service?
Am I incorrect that most of the senior officers getting caught for various and assorted violations of the UCMJ are former aviators? They have always been the loosest fun officers I encountered and maybe they carry that attitude into higher command.
This officer is not an aviator. He is wearing the destroyer badge, I think.