Navy looks foolish.
From Legal
Insurrection
“At a preliminary hearing in December, a
Navy judge recommended against taking the case forward, saying the lack of
evidence made a conviction unlikely. Even so, the commander with convening
authority over the case, Vice Adm. Stephen T. Koehler, decided to proceed.”
A separate command investigation showed failures in command, training and equipment.
“The findings
indicate that the conditions were ripe for
a devastating blaze.
“The command investigation, led by a three-star admiral,
sent a team of investigators on a prodigious and methodical examination of the
fire. As the months passed, the investigators uncovered in exhaustive detail an
astonishing array of failures — broken or missing fire hoses, poorly trained
sailors, improperly stored hazardous material — that had primed the ship for a
calamitous fire.
“The command investigation traced the problems back to when
the Bonhomme Richard docked for maintenance and Navy leaders throughout the
ranks abandoned responsibility for the ship’s safety.
“Risks mounted, and nobody paid attention. All told,
investigators determined that the actions of 17 sailors and officers directly
led to the loss of the ship, and those of 17 more, including five admirals,
contributed. The long list was a staggering indictment of everyone from sailors
to top admirals who had failed in their jobs.
“Command investigators also found that the admirals charged
with overseeing ships in maintenance hadn’t noticed the rising risks on the
Bonhomme Richard. Other admirals and captains responsible for fire response
didn’t ensure even foundational precautions, such as having large fire pipes on
the piers and the distribution of ship maps to local fire departments.
“The Navy was at risk for mishandling even a minor fire,
investigators found.”
The fire was the result of all-around fuckups, with plenty
of blame but with few enlisted sailors, NCOs and commissioned officers willing
to take responsibility for anything.
Sailors, sail. Maintainers, maintain. Contractors, contract. In a highly compartmentalized structure, none overlap. Who's to blame?
ReplyDeleteWhen the bolt is slightly oversized, but nominally in spec; likewise, when the is slightly undersized, but nominally within spec, who's to blame?
I'll tell ya who; its the McNamara-esque geniuses. But will they accept the blame? Haha, its rhetorical. Of course they will not.
In a Navy heavy with admirals, floating down in the bows, the offering up of a few is deemed an appropriate sacrifice to protect the core.