Navy sacks three leaders in one day - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Navy sacks three leaders in one day

In the span of 24 hours, the Navy has fired a commanding officer, executive officer and a command master chief.

On Friday, Navy Capt. Ronald Murray Gero was fired from command of the guided missile submarine Ohio, after an investigation into “improper personal behavior,” Navy Submarine Group 9 said.

Gero is the 15th commanding officer to be fired this year.

Gero’s release came after mast with Rear Adm. James F. Caldwell, who commands Submarine Group 9 at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, Wash., said Lt. Kellie Randall, the group spokeswoman.

Randall said Gero was fired due to “loss of confidence” in his ability to command following an investigation that “eroded good order and discipline.”

Caldwell reassigned Gero to the group staff, Randall said.

Gero, who was commissioned in 1985, took command of Ohio’s Blue Crew on Nov. 6, 2008, and he led the submarine on a deployment and patrols in 2009 and 2010. His previously served as commanding officer of the fast attack submarine Buffalo from 2002 to 2005, according to his profile posted on the LinkedIn networking website.

Caldwell assigned Cmdr. Theodore Schroeder as the temporary commander of Blue Crew. Schroeder previously was the commander of the ballistic-missile submarine Pennsylvania.

Ohio, based at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, was the Navy’s first trident ballistic-missile submarine to convert to SSGN, which created space to house Navy SEALs and other special operations forces and provided capacity to carry 150 tomahawk tactical land-attack cruise missiles.

Executive officer of destroyer Mahan relieved

The executive officer of a Norfolk-based destroyer was relieved late Friday afternoon for striking a subordinate officer while the ship was underway, Surface Force Atlantic said.

The officer, Cmdr. Charles Mansfield, was due to take command of the Mahan following his tour as executive officer, according to Surface Force Atlantic spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Bill Urban.

Mansfield was relieved by the commander of Destroyer Squadron 22, Capt. Jeffrey Wolstenholme, during a captain’s mast administrative hearing in Norfolk on charges of conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman, and assault. Urban said Mansfield was also given a punitive letter of reprimand, a certain career-ender.

According to Urban, the incident took place while Mahan was underway off the mid-Atlantic coast during a Composite Training Unit Exercise on July 9. According to Urban, Mansfield struck the other officer, a male, in the ship’s combat direction center.

The incident was reported to the SURFLANT Inspector General on Aug. 6, Urban said.

Mansfield had been the ship’s executive officer since March 1. He’s been temporarily reassigned to Wolstenholme’s staff.

A replacement for Mansfield has been identified but Urban could not identify him as orders have not yet been cut, he said. The new executive officer is expected to report aboard Mahan in early October.

Mahan is currently in port at Naval Station Norfolk, Va.

Theodore Roosevelt CMC fired

The No. 1 sailor on the Norfolk-based carrier Theodore Roosevelt was fired Thursday, Naval Air Force Atlantic announced Friday.

Command Master Chief David Stitt was relieved by Capt. William Hart, the TR’s commanding officer, as the result of false statements Stitt made to an investigating officer and Hart during the course of an investigation, AIRLANT said in a statement. Hart decided that Stitt could no longer serve in the “unique position of trust and confidence that a master chief enjoys.”

The investigation is still ongoing, according to AIRLANT spokesman Mike Maus. AIRLANT did not say why Hart was being questioned, but released a statement from its own top enlisted leader.

“As the senior enlisted leader, a command master chief occupies a unique position of confidence and trust aboard a ship,” said Force Master Chief Garry McClure. “The command master chief serves as principal advisor to the commanding officer, and a role model to the chief petty officers and crew. When that confidence and trust are lost, the leader is no longer effective, and must be replaced.”

Stitt was temporarily reassigned to the AIRLANT staff. A replacement has not been named.

The Theodore Roosevelt is currently at Newport News Shipbuilding undergoing a refueling and complex overhaul, according to AIRLANT.

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