Cmdr. Steven Everhart, sub commander sunk
Bobo sends us a link to The Navy Times which reports that yet another Navy commander has been relieved from his assignment;
Cmdr. Steven Everhart was relieved Friday by Capt. Mark Schmall, head of Submarine Squadron 17, due to a loss of confidence in Everhart’s ability to serve as commanding officer, Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Corey Barker said in an email.
Confidence in Everhart’s leadership began waning during an investigation that began about a month ago.
Barker would not say what the nature of that investigation entails, citing the ongoing nature of the probe….
Everhart, only took command of USS Pennsylvania in January, so how much could he screw up?
Category: Navy
“Everhart, only took command of USS Pennsylvania in January, so how much could he screw up?”
Apparently a lot 😀
When the word, “investigation” is used, I’d tend to think his relief was for a personal issue rather than an operational one.
And judging by his assignments, someone thought he’d be a good choice for making flag rank at some point. Not anymore.
The way the FO/GOs have been behaving, he would be an excellent choice..
I’d guess either personal misconduct or one whopper of an operational error. I’d also say you’re correct that the former is far more likely.
Probably not so much he could screw up but who he decided to screw.
It could have been issues already present when he took command. Maybe he couldn’t get a lid on things. It’s unfortunate if that’s the case, but I could imagine that may happen from time to time.
?? Half the crew?
You have Trident Fag Master Chiefs who have squatted their ass there in Bremerton their entire pathetic careers. While swapping their Bremelo wives with one another. Who have done far worse then this guy.
And another commander takes a dive.
Muff dive? Or is it too early?
Not sure until the report comes out. He wouldn’t be the first.
Or the last….
Former Enlisted, by the look of those Aircrew Wings.
I wonder if he was a Seaman-to-Admiral program graduate.
Good chance. He got his commission via OCS.
His biography doesn’t show any prior Enlisted time; it says that he was commissioned via Navy OCS after graduating from Montana State University in 1999.
Those wings that he’s wearing appear to be Naval Aviation Observer (NAO) wings that he would rate from his tour flying as a crewmember with the National Airborne Operations Center (NAOC) airborne battlestaff.
From his official Navy biography:
http://www.csp.navy.mil/pennsylvania/Leadership/Blue-Crew-CO/
‘[…]
Following his Department Head tour, he reported to the National Airborne Operations Center (NAOC) in Omaha, Nebraska. He served on the airborne battlestaff for two years as the Strategic Operations section head and Emergency Actions section head.
[…].’
Naval Aviation Observer (NAO) Program:
http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/reference/milpersman/1000/1200Classification/Documents/1210-260.pdf
That’s close to how I got my Officer Aircrew Wings, only I was SAC Airborne Command Post as a Chief of the Battle Staff and he was National Emergency Airborne Command Post. About the only way a four eyes like me would ever get the chance to fly.
Good call Mick. I was just about to post about the Observer wings, and no Good Conduct ribbon on his rack.
I saw the no GCM, but I figured he had one of those easy promote ratings like AT or even AW. 😛
As far as those Observer wings…they need a new style dammit…looks too close.
AW was pretty easy- I made E-6 in six years.
Of course, one had to score high enough on the ASVAB just to get in the schoolhouse door. Unlike the ground pounder Ratings.
*grin*
196 minimum to stare at a screen? I’d rather swing a hammer in the Airframes shop, or launch and recover in the Line Division with a 164 min.
Though they did recruit NAC in A-school…I was just tired of doing push-ups at that point. (no kidding, I do kick myself for that.)
Atkron, actually, the NAO wings are OLD-they predate the Aircrew wings (by a lot). They were seen often in WW II and even earlier. There are some others from that time that were d’c’ed-Tactical Observer, etc, but the NAO has hung on. Remember in WWII, enlisted Aircrew guys wore their CLOTH AC wings on their SLEEVE, until they came out with the Combat Aircrew wings (metal badge).
One patrol cycle? That takes some special skills to tank that quickly.
Even a failed TRE or ORSE will give you a closer look, but you won’t get fired unless/until you fail the re-exam.
One fuckup cancels a thousand attaboys. Or he had zipper issues, which is the same thing, really.
Please tell me no bumping a Russian sub.
Instead of bumping something with his sub, maybe he ran into something with his dinghy…..HIYO!!
Too early?
He couldn’t keep his flesh torpedo in the magazine?
Probably bumping uglies with a subordinate.
If that happened, he would have a chance to redeem himself by taking a rag-tag crew, fixing up an old diesel sub, and, despite the interference of a stuffy admiral, having to manage an overzealous but incompetent XO, and being assigned a female diving officer as part of a social justice experiment, he could win a war game to vindicate a vice admiral’s fears and subsequently be assigned an awesome sub while he hooks up with the female diving officer. Then he could resume his psychiatric practice in Seattle and visit an old bar in Boston from time to time.
I remember.
Gold.
But no tatts in strange places, right?
You mean like “WELCOME ABOARD” on the hoo-hah?
Just the one that said Shorty…till the girls found out that it really said “Shorty’s Bar & Grill, open 24 Hours, in the heart of Midtown on Broadway”. Oh, different joke?
#Subsunk…
I nearly fell out of my seat laughing at the first comment on the Navy Times article:
“Maybe they should start a program called CO365.”
I’m stealing that comment for future usage.
His crime was caught being attracted to the opposite sex, er, gender, er non binary, er I’m now being NJP’d!
His crime was being an idiot.
He probably parked it in the wrong spot.
Maybe he likes to push in someone’s stool?
More like he got drunk and could not remember the assigned parking spot.
For his sub? That would do it
I read the inconclusively brief Navy Times article, then noticed in the sidebar another headline: SE Asia could be the next location for ISIS conflict.
I have to ask now, where the hell are the VC and NVA when you need them the most, never mind the Khmer Rouge?
Its going on now in Mindinao and has been for some time
when I get my snail mail Navy times once every two weeks instead of weekly, there is always someone getting fired either due to loss of confidence or not keeping their rocket in their pockets. Amazing.
I’m reserving judgment until more info comes out. IME (at least in the USAF), “loss of confidence”, especially after such a short time in command, often means nothing more than “didn’t do enough butt-kissing to higher”.
Dunno about that last, Eden. At least, not for O5 command positions and above.
Can’t speak for the Navy, but in the Active Army O5 and O6 commands are central board selections. That means Big Army has given the guy the seal of approval. It generally takes quite a bit before even a GO will relieve a board-selected subordinate – because he’s essentially telling the folks in the Pentagon, “You guys screwed up.” It can happen for something minor after only a few months, but IMO that’s pretty rare.
IMO it’s far more likely this guy “stepped on it”, figuratively speaking – and hard. My guess would be some form of misconduct is most likely. A whopper of an operational error or a major inherited scandal (the “right place, wrong time, sucks to be you” scenario) is also possible, but I’d guess that’s far less likely.
Big Navy picks these guys. Sub Command will definitely lead to Flag Rank. So folks tied in to the beat are followed by their Rabbi and helped along the way.
Thanks, CB Senior. Figured senior command (for the larger ships/boats/shore commands, anyway) was probably centrally-selected in the Navy too, but didn’t know for sure.
Anyone besides me notice that his hat’s crooked in that portrait?
Obviously, he made a major bogosian error, something akin to telling the artillery crew to fire their rocket launcher, and when they ask for coordinates, telling them ‘Just fire it! You’re trained to do that!’, and the rocket goes straight at the senior NCO doing rope-climb drills. The NCO lands in the hospital and the unit has to finish its own training to graduate, because their team leader was blown up.
That’s a fact, Jack!
Razz-ma-taz!