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Ex-Ironsides CO awaits hearing results

A lawyer for the former commander of the historical frigate Constitution, who was fired and later charged with assaulting a petty officer, blamed the incident on a “group of immature and lazy sailors.”

Charles Gittins, the civilian attorney for Cmdr. Thomas Graves, said his client “cracked the whip, and the sailors didn’t like it.”

Graves faced a two-day Article 32 pretrial hearing Sept. 6 and 7 in Boston. He faces charges of assault, cruelty and maltreatment, forcing someone to falsify a record, and making a false statement.

Graves was fired in May after allegedly striking a petty officer who failed to note in the ship’s morning report that a shipmate had been late, Gittins said.

Graves put in his retirement papers, Gittins said, but has been temporarily assigned to Surface Warfare Officers School in Newport, R.I., since his firing.

The Boston Globe reported Sept. 7 that a sailor testified that Graves “swung his hand” into Yeoman 1st Class Robert Santiago’s chest. Later, Graves allegedly demanded another sailor say he was present when the supposed event occurred and deny it happened.

Another sailor, Seaman Katherine Wood, testified that Graves called her a vulgar name when she was on her knees cleaning his office, the Globe reported.

Santiago was called to testify by the defense, however.

“He proved he didn’t remember what happened,” Gittins said. The lawyer called Santiago a “serial screw-up,” who couldn’t follow simple orders.

Lt. Brendan McShane, the ship’s executive officer, said the commanding officer was “tough” and “demanding,” but denied that Graves created a hostile work environment, according to the Globe article.

McShane was not on the Constitution on May 2, when the alleged event occurred, the account noted. Nonetheless, McShane testified that “Santiago was performing badly at handling administrative duties for the Constitution and its crew.” Efforts to improve Santiago’s performance where made by Graves and others on the ship, but to no avail, McShane said.

If the case proceeds to a general court-martial, Graves could face up to 11½ years in prison.

“There is less to this case than meets the eyes, and with every witness it becomes apparent that there is no crime here,” Gittins told Navy Times.

Gittins characterized Graves as a “demanding commander” in charge of a “group of immature and lazy sailors.”

“Too bad he wasn’t running Camp Constitution,” he added. “He was running a real Navy command with a mission and doing it with not enough people, horrible facilities and an inexperienced crew.”

The Article 32’s investigating officer will make a recommendation to the convening authority on the charges, who will decide whether to proceed to court-martial.

Gittins said he believes “saner heads will prevail,” the case will not go court-martial and Graves will be allowed to retire.