Navy News, news from Iraq - Navy Times

Sub skipper sacked

Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Ga. — “The nation needs you, the world needs you, and obviously our Navy needs you,” Adm. Mike Mullen, chief of naval operations, told submariners today at the submarine base here. The CNO’s visit came as the undersea fleet wrapped up a weeklong safety standdown following several recent mishaps.

It also came the same day Navy officials announced the firing of Cmdr. Edwin Ruff, captain of the attack submarine Minneapolis-St. Paul .

Ruff was sacked just three days after receiving a punitive letter of reprimand following the deaths of two of his sailors while pulling out of Plymouth, England, Naval Submarine Forces confirmed today.

He was relieved by the commander of Naval Submarine Forces in Norfolk, Va., Vice Adm. Charles L. Munns. Munns took the action because of a “loss of confidence in Cmdr. Ruff’s ability to command,” said Submarine Forces spokesman Phil McGuinn.

Ruff was replaced in Rota, Spain, by Cmdr. Chris Williams, former deputy for readiness at Submarine Squadron 6 in Norfolk and a former commanding officer of the attack sub Oklahoma City.

Ruff has been reassigned to the staff of Submarine Squadron 6, McGuinn said.

The Associated Press reported today that a Navy investigation determined that the Dec. 29 incident was avoidable and due in part to a poor decision by the commander. Submarine Force spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Chris Loundermon he couldn’t comment on that report, saying only, “The Navy holds its commanding officers accountable and responsible.”

Loundermon noted that the official investigation is complete but is still working its way up the chain of command — it’s currently on the desk of the commander of Submarine Group 8 in Naples — and has not been released.

According to a British police official working in a Plymouth operations center at the time, the Minneapolis-St. Paul was moving past a man-made breakwater into the rougher waters of the English Channel when four sailors were swept overboard. Two of those sailors died: the chief of the boat, Senior Chief Electronics Technician (SS) Thomas K. Higgins, 45, of Paducah, Ky., and Sonar Technician 2nd Class (SS) Michael J. Holtz, 30, of Lakewood, Ohio.

Mullen, on his first trip to Kings Bay as CNO, didn’t speak of Ruff’s sacking during his visit. Instead, he reminded sailors of their importance in an unpredictable world during an all-hands call with E-6s and sailors at the base chapel. Similar talks were held with chiefs and officers later that day.

Mullen made it clear that submarines, despite the recent rash of accidents, are a hot operational commodity.

“There’s plenty of work for us to do as far as I can see in the future,” he said.

The week-long safety standdown was issued Jan. 11 by Munns so crews can “review recently completed operations and planned future evolutions, and evaluate areas of risk and risk mitigation,” officials said.

Munns ordered submarine captains to report on the standdown to their chain of command by today.

The move came following a Jan. 8 collision between the attack sub Newport News and a Japanese tanker in the Persian Gulf, and the fatal incident aboard Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Mullen told chiefs and officers he fully supported the standdown Munns ordered, noting sub safety issues had concerned him for some time.

“I trust you are taking his direction ... very seriously,” he said. “This is a dangerous business.

“Let’s make sure we take advantage [of the standdown] and not say, well that happened over there, it could never happen to me,” he said. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”

Mullen reiterated the critical role of today’s submarine force and its ongoing nuclear deterrence mission.

He also urged the young submariners to be leaders, no matter what their rank.

“That means we do the right thing when no lone is looking, when no one else is around,” he said.

Kings Bay is the Navy’s Atlantic base for Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines Alaska, Tennessee, West Virginia, Maryland, Rhode Island and Wyoming.

It’s also home to two former ballistic missile submarines, Florida and Georgia, that are being converted to SSGNs. , submarines that can carry guided missiles.

The SSGNs will carry up to 154 Tomahawk missiles in tubes that formerly held Trident nuclear missiles. The conversions include deck mounts for mini-submarines and a room for up to 100 special operations forces such SEALs.

Mullen toured the Florida during his Kings Bay visit.

Rear Adm. Frank Drennan, commander, Submarine Groups 9 and 10 said that the standdown was an opportunity to take a pause and remind submariners they are in a dangerous business.

“I’m also reminding them they’re the best people we’ve ever had, and they’re fully capable of reducing these events to zero,” he said.

Drennan also said he expects a lot of feedback.

“I want to hear from them. What signals are we sending you? Or what ways are we changing the way you do business that prevent you from maintaining that margin of safety? Are we distracting you? Are we training your people properly? All of that is what we’re taking in, and over the last few days, we’ve gotten some very, very valuable input on that matter.” Drennan said.

Mullen echoed those remarks.

“I expect to get feedback on what we’ve learned and what we will do with what we’ve learned,” he said. “Some of it is leadership. I want to understand, in fact, what the leaders in the submarine community have learned about what the challenges are, tied into the fact that this is a dangerous business and safety is absolutely paramount.

“We should not be doing anything that is not well thought through in terms of risk management, particularly when our lives are at stake,” he said. “This is not the submarine force’s submarine force. This is my submarine force. And I care an awful lot about getting this right.”

Earlier in the week, Ruff received a punitive letter of reprimand following the deaths of two of his crew.

The ship’s former executive officer also got a punitive letter of reprimand at a nonjudicial punishment hearing before Rear Adm. Jeff Fowler, commander of Submarine Group 8.

The former executive officer is no longer assigned to the ship because of a previously scheduled change of station, officials said.

Charges against three other crew members — two officers and a chief petty officer — were dismissed.

Names of the executive officer and three other sailors were not released because of the privacy considerations of a nonjudicial proceeding.

The hearing was conducted at Naval Station Rota, Spain, while the Minneapolis-St. Paul was in port.

Ruff was on the bridge at the time of the fatal incident, said Lt. Chris Servello, media officer for 6th Fleet in Naples, Italy.

Servello said the initial investigation of the incident is complete. As of presstime, it had been provided to Fowler at Submarine Group 8, but still required endorsements commanders of 6th Fleet in Naples as well as Submarine Force in Norfolk, Va., before being publicly released.

Servello said the “best interest of the crew” and considerations of “future mission success” were factors in the outcome of the nonjudicial proceeding.

Stateside funerals for Higgins and Holtz were held Jan. 13.