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3 commanding officers fired in one week

One Japan-based carrier air wing skipper and two Hampton Roads, Va.-area commanding officers were fired the week of May 4 due to “loss of confidence” in their ability to command.

On May 5, Cmdr. Raymond B. Worthington was relieved of duty as commanding officer of Strike Fighter Squadron 143, an F/A-18 Super Hornet squadron. Four days later, Capt. Kenneth J. Schwingshakl, commanding officer of the Maritime Civil Affairs Group, was relieved. Also on May 9, Capt. Michael P. McNellis, commander of the Japan-based Carrier Air Wing 5, was sacked.

McNellis commanded the air wing aboard the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. He was relieved by Rear Adm. Richard Wren, commander of Task Force 70, during a nonjudicial proceeding, according to a news release. McNellis was replaced by Capt. Michael White, the wing's former deputy commander. The news release did not give a reason for the relief.

Unit’s first CO

Rear Adm. Mike Tillotson, commander of Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, relieved Schwingshakl after an internal investigation concluded he had “misused his command authority,” said Lt. Cmdr. Leslie Hull-Ryde, a spokeswoman for NECC.

Schwingshakl was temporarily reassigned to NECC.

NECC’s training officer, Capt. Bob McKenna, has temporarily taken command, according to a Navy announcement. The unit is based at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Va.

The civil affairs group was established March 30, 2007, and comprises more than 300 sailors. The group was created to help the Navy work with foreign officials in maritime tasks such as port management, channel construction and other such jobs.

Schwingshakl was the unit’s first CO.

‘An administrative matter’

Naval Air Forces Atlantic spokesman Mike Maus would not say what caused Carrier Air Wing 7 commander Capt. Scott Stearney to lose confidence in Worthington. He said no further administrative or disciplinary actions are being taken at this time, and he would not say whether an investigation was underway.

“Any discussion on that would be inappropriate, but the decision to relieve Commander Worthington was strictly an administrative matter,” Maus said May 6.

Worthington has been temporarily assigned to Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic. Cmdr. Jake Elzey has temporarily assumed command of VFA-143.

VFA-143, the “Pukin’ Dogs,” last deployed aboard the carrier Eisenhower in 2006 and 2007, conducting operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and off the coast of Somalia.

The squadron continues normal training operations, Maus said.