Worse than you thought: inside the secret Fitzgerald probe the Navy doesn’t want you to read
Erin Elizabeth Rehm receives the American flag from Vice Adm. Jan Tighe during a graveside service for her husband, Fire Controlman Chief Gary Leo Rehm Jr., at Arlington National Cemetery on Aug. 16, 2017. Rehm died when the guided-missile destroyer Fitzgerald collided with the Philippine-flagged merchant vessel ACX Crystal on June 17, 2017. (Elizabeth Fraser/ Arlington National Cemetery)
By: Geoff Ziezulewicz
If you require blood pressure meds, take some now. Also remove any throwable objects from arms reach. HMCS(FMF) ret sent me the link just as I was finishing the article. I then worked on Poe’s Valor Friday post for an hour, just to calm down. This is not good news.
A scathing internal Navy probe into the 2017 collision that drowned seven sailors on the guided-missile destroyer Fitzgerald details a far longer list of problems plaguing the vessel, its crew and superior commands than the service has publicly admitted.
Obtained by Navy Times, the “dual-purpose investigation” was overseen by Rear Adm. Brian Fort and submitted 41 days after the June 17, 2017, tragedy.
It was kept secret from the public in part because it was designed to prep the Navy for potential lawsuits in the aftermath of the accident.
Unsparingly, Fort and his team of investigators outlined critical lapses by bridge watchstanders on the night of the collision with the Philippine-flagged container vessel ACX Crystal in a bustling maritime corridor off the coast of Japan.
Their report documents the routine, almost casual, violations of standing orders on a Fitz bridge that often lacked skippers and executive officers, even during potentially dangerous voyages at night through busy waterways.
The probe exposes how personal distrust led the officer of the deck, Lt. j.g. Sarah Coppock, to avoid communicating with the destroyer’s electronic nerve center — the combat information center, or CIC — while the Fitzgerald tried to cross a shipping superhighway.
When Fort walked into the trash-strewn CIC in the wake of the disaster, he was hit with the acrid smell of urine. He saw kettlebells on the floor and bottles filled with pee. Some radar controls didn’t work and he soon discovered crew members who didn’t know how to use them anyway.
Fort found a Voyage Management System that generated more “trouble calls” than any other key piece of electronic navigational equipment. Designed to help watchstanders navigate without paper charts, the VMS station in the skipper’s quarters was broken so sailors cannibalized it for parts to help keep the rickety system working.
Since 2015, the Fitz had lacked a quartermaster chief petty officer, a crucial leader who helps safely navigate a warship and trains its sailors — a shortcoming known to both the destroyer’s squadron and Navy officials in the United States, Fort wrote.
Fort determined that Fitz’s crew was plagued by low morale; overseen by a dysfunctional chiefs mess; and dogged by a bruising tempo of operations in the Japan-based 7th Fleet that left exhausted sailors with little time to train or complete critical certifications.
To Fort, they also appeared to be led by officers who appeared indifferent to potentially life-saving lessons that should’ve been learned from other near-misses at sea, including a similar incident near Sasebo, Japan, that occurred only five weeks before the ACX Crystal collision, Fort wrote.
The guided-missile destroyer Fitzgerald sails limps back to Japan following a collision with a merchant vessel on June 17, 2017. (Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images)
‘Significant progress’
Fort’s work took on added urgency after another destroyer assigned to the 7th Fleet, the John S. McCain, collided with the Liberian-flagged tanker Alnic MC on Aug. 21, 2017, killing 10 more American sailors.
But it remained an internal file never to be shared with the public.
Pentagon officials declined to answer specific questions sent by Navy Times about the Fort report and instead defended the decision to keep the contents of the report hidden from public scrutiny.
“The Navy determined to retain the legal privilege in order to protect the legal interests of the United States, but provided information regarding the causes and lessons learned to families of those sailors, the Congress and the American people, again to make every effort to ensure these types of tragedies to not happen again,” said Navy spokesman Capt. Gregory Hicks in a prepared written statement to Navy Times.
In the 19 months since the fatal collision, the Navy’s Readiness Reform Oversight Council has made “significant progress” in implementing reforms called for in several top-level Navy reviews of the Fitzgerald and McCain collisions — nearly 75 percent of the 111 recommendations slated to be implemented by the end of 2018, Hicks added.
Navy Times withheld publication of the Fort report’s details until Pentagon officials could brief the families of the dead Fitz sailors about the grim findings.
Sailors Xavier Martin, Dakota Rigsby, Shingo Douglass, Tan Huynh, Noe Hernandez, Carlos Sibayan and Gary Rehm drowned in the disaster.
Coppock pleaded guilty to a dereliction of duty charge at court-martial last year.
The Fitz’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Bryce Benson, and Lt. Natalie Combs, who ran the CIC, are battling similar charges in court but contend unlawful command influence by senior leaders scuttled any chance for fair trials.
Read the rest, if you can stand it, here: The Navy Times
Over tasked, under manned, no time for training or even maintenance, this is a disaster from the top of the squadron on down. And after completely avoidable disasters (Fitz, McCain) Big Navy immediately goes into CYA mode.
The part left unsaid is, I’ll wager every other destroyer in the 7th Fleet had exactly the same issues.
Category: Navy
“Over tasked, under manned, no time for training or even maintenance, this is a disaster from the top of the squadron on down. And after completely avoidable disasters (Fitz, McCain) Big Navy immediately goes into CYA mode.”
Don’t forget about the dysfunctional Wardroom and CPO Mess… so fucking disappointed in the lack of action by the Mess to stop or notify higher authority of the problems on the ship.
All of them have the blood of Sailors on their hands…
Yep, Senior Chief–my first thought was, “Where in the hell were the senior NCO’s?”
A situation that is equally sad and infuriating…
I don’t have it handy and don’t have time to look for it, but one of the Chiefs on the McCain who got shitcanned said some things that had I been in the room at the time, I probably would have throttled his ass.
The lack of a Quartermaster Chief stunned me as well.
From the Navy Times article: “Since 2015, the Fitz had lacked a quartermaster chief petty officer, a crucial leader who helps safely navigate a warship and trains its sailors — a shortcoming known to both the destroyer’s squadron and Navy officials in the United States,” Fort wrote.
I never served in the Navy or Coast Guard, but to allow the QM CPO position to go unfilled for two years prior to the accident seems to me to constitute dereliction of duty or willful neglect. The first admiral (or two) in the CoC should be fired in addition to the Fitz crew members already facing courts martial.
That’s one of the things that the CO failed to raise holy Hell about – he should have been blowing up BUPERS phone about not having a QM CPO the minute the last one left the ship – and putting pressure on the Squadron Leadership to helping him out with the issue. The CPO Mess/CMC should have been making it an issue – and they failed.
I saw situations like this at the last two commands I was at before I retired – at NHCS Great Lakes, things were so fucked up that when the IG team came in and started talking to people, they saw that both the Wardroom and Mess were so dysfunctional, they recommended that the CO, Director of Training and the CMC be relieved (all three were shitcanned 30 days after the visit).
NH2 29 Palms was almost as bad – new leadership came in and tried to clean house. The New XO met with the mess and told us that he, “trusts the Mess more than the Wardroom – you guys know what the Hell is going on around here”. They turned things around before the shit hit the fan.
I retired almost 11 years ago and in my limited experience with forward deployed ships in Japan, most of the sailors that came from Japan were top notch sailors that knew their jobs very well and as there always are there were a few dirt bags. One thing they all had in common though was the stories of poor moral.
Just my opinion but “The Navy” has became too politically correct to function at the tip of the spear. One of my buddies just retired at 28 years I asked why he didn’t finish his 30 (FCCM) and he told me because Chiefs in the mess are more concerned with the title of Chief than being a Chief and I truly feel that is because of the watered down “training period” they now have instead of a true initiation as I went through.
The ward room is only weak because the Chief’s mess let them be weak. Senior you are right they all have blood on their hands.
Good Lord! I had no idea just how bad the situation actually was. I sure hope these problems are properly remedied and soon.
What a story. Read it last night from online Navy Times.
I figured it was bad, but not that bad.
I’m not a Sailor, but I can say with certainty that this condition didn’t just happen overnight. A shitshow like that is multiple years in the making, with lots of people sharing (and likely dodging) responsibility, from leadership on the destroyer all the way to DC, and everyone in between.
^^^THIS^^^
So much Training Budget money and time being diverted to useless shit, anyone wanna bet that the Sailors were all up to date on Sharp and Transgender Training at the expense of the Training they truly needed?
My thoughts as well, API. The responsibility for this clusterf0ck should be laid squarely on DC and the five-sided puzzle-palace.
100% Correct….this shitshow didnt just pop up overnight, its been in the making for decades.
Navy leadership is fat, dumb and corrupt, they tried SOOOO hard to stay relevant during the hot years in Astan & Iraq, but they took their eyes of the ball.
Now, ships/aircraft are worn to pieces, behind on depot/MRO, SWO’s are not close to being ready to fight, and the P/C police can now wear their undies with a hole in the crotch.
LCS, Zumwalt, Fat Leonard, + how many CO/XO/CMC fired since 9-11?
Ouch, hopefully this will leave a big enough mark to get other half assed commanders and officers squared away so seven other sailors don’t have to pay a price for shitty leadership.
When someone dies because you’re a lazy, useless fuck of an officer you should be imprisoned and stripped of all benefits. When you don’t care enough about your job to do it properly and that gets someone killed you’re no better than a murdering piece of shit on the streets.
Talk about conduct unbecoming, these turds are criminals in officer’s clothing.
“And after completely avoidable disasters (Fitz, McCain) Big Navy immediately goes into CYA mode.”
Those of you who think there’s too much political discussion at TAH should ponder the reality that Big Navy’s CYA mode was engaged precisely for political reasons, first to protect the promotional prospects of Navy leadership and second to avoid the wrath of their political masters, the source of all funding.
The cited reason of legal retribution for the CYA seems rather thin to me, especially in light of the shipping company having already indirectly acknowledged some degree of liability with its $27 million settlement. Even Lawers as bad as Birdbath know it’s easier and likely more lucrative to sue a corporation than a sovereign.
I thought of pointing out in my reply that the causes were likely rooted deep in the former Glorious Leader’s eight years, but I figured it went without saying.
I’d go further back than that.
The genesis of this started after DS/DS, gained steam under Clinton, and while some tried to right that damage under Bush 43, the optempo was already taking its toll, and then the SJW bullshit under Obama just made it all that much worse.
Just…damn. The filtering in of pieces and parts of this story gave a thin idea of how bad it would be if the whole truth ever came out. Well now we kinda sorta know.
Is the entire Big Military been taken over by politicians in uniform? Seems to be the case. We were pre-warned about this story the other day. No clue it would be this bad. No excuses.
Not a new phenomenon by any means. George McClellan was a politician in uniform, way back in 1862, whose worthlessness damn near cost us the Civil War. And as Poe pointed out the other day, Benedict Arnold’s treason was motivated by poor political fortunes.
General George McClellan is known for three things.
1. Rebuilding the Union Army after the first Battle of Bull Run.
2. Stopping Lee’s first invasion of the North at Antietam with America’s bloodiest battle.
3. Being fired by Lincoln for being too timid.
He was also about the last American general who could have staged a military coup.
McClellan ran as a democrat against Lincoln in the 1864 election on a platform of negotiated peace and acceptance of secession due to the war being unwinnable. This despite the fact that McClellan had been in a position to win the “unwinnable” war several times and dicked it up every time.
Actually, McClellan refused the Democrat’s “Peace Now” platform. He was not pro-abolition, but wanted to prosecute the war to its end and restore the Union.
Arguably McClellan is also known for making sure his troops had good food—-good in the sense of not spoiled—- and camp hygiene, IF I recall properly.
And I thought the last POTUS was a copperhead (in the 1864 sense) back in 2008. I don’t think that makes me a genius.
As for the naval issues, being an Army vet all I know is what I read. Several years ago http://www.strategypage.com wrote that the Chiefs had lost influence. The reason was said to be (IFIRC) micro-managing officers protecting themselves.
There was indeed quite a problem with supplying the troops at the start of the Civil War. Union soldiers were literally dying of food poisoning from gov’t. rations. The whole system of acquiring food, etc. for the troops was reformed. The next time someone bemoans and mocks the existence of a 10 page specification for Worcestershire sauce, just tell them to think about why that cumbersome system came into existence.
“Is the entire Big Military being taken over by politicians in uniform?”
No it is not. You used the wrong (present) tense.
What concerns me other than the lives loss, is could we go toe to toe with China as they continue to build a blue water Navy. What type of readiness is this?
Excellent question, Dustoff. Every one is looking inward at the tragedy and missing the bigger picture.
Even though Trump has opened the pocketbook in funding, it takes time to root out the rot, and put a professional war fighter class in its place. To me, this reeks of the prior administration’s perfumed princes, all politics and the bottom line, damned how we get there.
Yeah, I had heard that the Bridge Watch Officer were room mates with the TAO and weren’t on speaking terms and there were no Senior Chiefs of Officers on the bridge to square them away.
The additional, not asked question, is that they are women and if it would have happened if they were men.
But you’re not allowed to ask it, or point it out.
Because men never, ever feud. Unprofessional conduct knows no gender.
Coppock was a woman. Don’t know about the CIC Watch Officer.
I just pray very hard that the PLA-N does not provide PACFLT with an embarrassing and deadly wake up call.
And yet, the Navy found time to demote a submarine commander for what was once considered normal behavior while on a port call at Subic Bay not that many years ago.
Unless and until Admirals get cashiered for tolerating this sort of crap, it isn’t going to get fixed.
Didn’t Seventh Fleet get a new admiral because of this already?
Yep, VADM Joseph Aucoin got canned. His boss, ADM Scott Swift, the former commander of PCTFLT was passed over for PACOM command, and retired.
Welp, the question I was going to ask on the first post has been answered. No communication between vessels, no senior NCO or Officer command presence on the bridge and the list goes on. Didn’t we see similar breakdown during and after the Viet of the Nam wind down?
“Since 2015, the Fitz had lacked a quartermaster chief petty officer, a crucial leader who helps safely navigate a warship and trains its sailors”
Um, Come again!? What!? That is absolutely unbelievable and completely bat-s&*t crazy! Add to the fact that it’s reading that you have a mess of a backup CIC, and very junior officer’s standing OOD underway in restricted navigational waters, I’m surprised something worse didn’t happen and/or sooner.
Yup. A couple of months gap, I can understand. 2 YEARS? Where the fuck was the detailer? Even if the ANAV was a VERY senior QM1, having a CPO in that slot would certainly have gone a long way to preventing this incident.
“The part left unsaid is, I’ll wager every other destroyer in the 7th Fleet had exactly the same issues.”
I would not take that bet. From the article:
Ship travel is governed by the “rules of the road,” a set of guidelines regarding speed, lookouts and other best practices to avoid collisions, but Fort’s report casts doubt on whether watchstanders on board the Fitz and sister warships in the 7th Fleet had sufficient knowledge of them to safely navigate at sea.
About three weeks after the ACX Crystal disaster, Fort’s investigators sprang a rules of the road pop quiz on Fitz’s officers.
It didn’t go well. The 22 who took the test averaged a score of 59 percent, Fort wrote.
“Only 3 of 22 Officers achieved a score over 80%,” he added, with seven officers scoring below 50 percent.
The same exam was administered to the wardroom of another unnamed destroyer as a control group, and those officers scored similarly dismal marks.
The XO Babbitt, Coppock and two other officers refused to take the test, according to the report.
That is a damning revelation; one-third of the officers who took the test scored below 50 percent?!!!
And yet these people are entrusted with the operation and navigation in major shipping lanes of billion dollar vessels provided by American taxpayers? Want an even more frightening thought? Imagine this level of incompetence on an aircraft carrier.
Something is deeply and woefully wrong in the US Navy.
The reports on the Fitz and McCain collisions.
Section 2.2 Events Leading to the Collision: The last sentence of the 2nd paragraph reads “FITZGERALD maintained a constant course of 190 degrees at 20 knots of speed.”
20 knots through that traffic pattern? Geezu cristo! That would be akin to a Olympic sprinter trying to run through a grade school playground during recess.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/CHINFO/USS+Fitzgerald+and+USS+John+S+McCain+Collision+Reports.pdf
I’m about as much of a Non-Sailor as one can get, so I take it as that doesn’t mean IF, but WHEN that S will hit the fan and Personnel will be lost. Geez-O-Pete, a number of People need to be held accountable, here’s hoping every one is!