Another Navy CO is Out of a Job

AWP

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Whoopsie!

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/...royer-fires-fishing-vessel-commander-relieved

The commanding officer of a Mayport-based destroyer has been relieved of his duties after a fishing vessel was mistaken for a target during a gunnery exercise last month.
Vice Adm. Daniel Holloway, commander of the U.S. Second Fleet, determined Cmdr. Mark Olson failed to follow safety procedures during the Aug. 17 exercise in the Cherry Point Operating Area range off the North Carolina coast.
The Navy said Wednesday that Olson’s ship, The Sullivans, fired inert rounds that landed close to the fishing vessel. The vessel and its crew were unharmed.
Cmdr. Sylvester Steele will assume command of the destroyer today.
 
That sucks. Not only did the ship shoot at the wrong target, it didn't even hit it (thank goodness). I'm glad no one got hurt.

I wonder if this screwup was completely on the crew, or if the fishing vessel was somewhere it shouldn't have been.
 
That sucks. Not only did the ship shoot at the wrong target, it didn't even hit it (thank goodness). I'm glad no one got hurt.

I wonder if this screwup was completely on the crew, or if the fishing vessel was somewhere it shouldn't have been.
My guess is a combination of the two. They did not properly ID the target, and the boat sailed into the gunnery zone after the warning was posted. My guess is there will be a few more RFC's during the next week or two.
 
That sucks. Not only did the ship shoot at the wrong target, it didn't even hit it (thank goodness). I'm glad no one got hurt.

I wonder if this screwup was completely on the crew, or if the fishing vessel was somewhere it shouldn't have been.

It's not surprising the ship missed. We shot the .50 cals maybe twice a year and only about 20-30 rounds per person were allotted. Hell, I was a Gunner's Mate and was part of the team that was supposed to train everybody else on how to operate/shoot/clear misfres and hangfires with the weapons and I shot maybe once more per year than the damn cooks and storekeepers. We shot only as much as we had to for the CO to be able to check the box that said he had enough qualified sailors to stand Crew Served Weapons watches when entering/exiting ports or doing random Force Protection shit. Also, with how incredibly risk-averse the Navy is, I wouldn't be surprised at all if the fishing vessel was mostly at fault but the CO got fired anyways. Officers in the Navy are in general not much on taking responsibility for anything and instead prefer to pass the blame down the chain of command.
 
Also, it was before I got to my first ship, but a dude shot a washing machine from the pier with a .50 cal. He thought he had not charged the weapon, but he had, so when he went to do it again, "BOOM!".
 
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