OIC of Coast Guard Station Montauk fired - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

OIC of Coast Guard Station Montauk fired

The Coast Guard fired Chief Boatswain’s Mate James Weber from his post as officer in charge of Station Montauk in New York on Monday after an investigation into his decision to take a junior coxswain out into heavy surf last summer.

Sector Long Island Commander Daniel Ronan had temporarily relieved Weber of command Oct. 22 and reassigned him to work with sector staff in Coram, N.Y. It has not been decided whether Weber will stay in Coram or be assigned to New Haven, Conn., said Lt. Erik Halvorson, spokesman for the First Coast Guard District based in Boston.

Weber, who was a qualified surfman and 21-year-veteran of the Coast Guard, had not maintained his certification by re-qualifying at his current duty station, Halvorson said. On Aug. 23, he took out a junior coxswain who was not trained to handle the 10- to-15-foot waves generated by Hurricane Bill off the eastern end of Long Island. Pictures surfaced on the Internet that showed the 47-foot rescue boats being pitched in the high surf.

Rear Adm. Joe Nimmich, the First District commander, met with Weber and senior motor lifeboat experts in his district. He also sought advice from the Coast Guard National Motor Lifeboat School, the elite coxswain school in Washington state, Halvorson said.

Nimmich found that Weber had not followed proper procedures concerning training and risk assessment in this particular incident and in general at the station, Halvorson said. Nimmich recommended to Coast Guard Headquarters that Weber be permanently reassigned.

“It was those judgment calls that were looked at,” Halvorson said.

For now, Senior Chief Boatswain’s Mate Gordon McClay is the acting officer in charge of Station Montauk until a permanent replacement is identified, Halvorson said.