2 Navy officers relieved of command
Sandra Jontz – (Stars and Stripes) – NAPLES, Italy – April 23, 2011 – The top two officers of the USS Ponce were relieved of command Saturday after an investigation into accusations of poor leadership, including multiple incidents of hazing as the ship sailed in the Mediterranean in support of missions in Libya, a Navy spokesman said.
Cmdr. Etta Jones, the commanding officer of the Austin-class amphibious transport dock, was relieved “due to her demonstrated poor leadership and failure to appropriately investigate, report and hold accountable sailors involved in haz ng incidents,” said Lt. Nathan Potter, a spokesman for the Navy’s 6th Fleet. “Additionally, she failed to properly handle a loaded weapon during a security alert, which endangered some of her crew.”
Her executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Kurt Boenisch, also was relieved for failure to effectively support the command and ship’s commanding officer, Potter said. Both were relieved by Vice Adm. Harry Harris, commander of 6th Fleet.
In mid-April, the inspector general’s office of Fleet Forces Command received a complaint, which sparked the investigation led by Navy Capt. Dan Shaffer, commanding officer of Task Force 65 and Destroyer Squadron 60, based in Naples.
Potter said he could not provide more details on the complaint or the ensuing investigation that led to Saturday’s termination of Jones and Boenisch’s roles aboard the Ponce.
Jones is the eighth naval commanding officer to be relieved this year. (Click HERE for article)
UPDATE
Navy report finds preferential treatment on Ponce
Corinne Reilly – (The Virginian-Pilot) – NORFOLK – December 1, 2011 – The Navy commander who was fired in April from her position as skipper of the Norfolk-based amphibious ship Ponce gave preferential treatment to female officers and repeatedly put her crew’s safety at risk, according to an investigation report released Wednesday.
Cmdr. Etta Jones, who took command of the transport dock in October 2010, was removed while the ship was on deployment in the Mediterranean Sea. The Navy took action after a member of the crew submitted an anonymous complaint alleging that Jones also verbally abused and demeaned subordinates, failed to report incidents of hazing, and mishandled the ship, various safety procedures and a loaded weapon.
The investigation report, obtained by The Virginian-Pilot through the Freedom of Information Act, says all of those allegations were found to be true.
It says there was a widespread perception among the Ponce’s officers that Jones favored women. She gave certain female officers better watch schedules, allowed them to miss watches, failed to reprimand them for violations, invited them to her stateroom for special meetings and movie nights, allowed them to use her car while in port, and bought them gifts, the report says.
“Her preferential treatment caused the recipients to be uncomfortable and created a divide in the wardroom between those favored and those who were not,” the report says.
It says she verbally abused and degraded other officers by calling them names, sometimes in front of enlisted sailors. Male officers told investigators that Jones threatened to defecate on them or tie their testicles in knots if they failed to perform according to her standards.
On numerous occasions, the report says, Jones directed sailors to engage in unsafe ship-handling procedures that clearly went against standards. Other times, she distracted officers at critical times.
The report offers an example: “While navigating the Suez Canal at night with heavy shipping traffic, the C.O. came to the bridge and ordered the [officer of the deck] to explain why her laptop computer had been closed.” (Click HERE for article)
A savvy appointment runs afoul of savage grief
Joan Vennochi – (Boston Globe) – April 24, 2011 – President George W. Bush learned its potency from Cindy Sheehan, who launched a damaging campaign against the president after her son was killed by enemy action in Iraq. President Barack Obama could be setting himself up for a similar lesson.
(Read the rest of the story here…)
Patrick Dickson – (Stars and Stripes) – KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany – An Air Force Academy professor. An F-16 pilot. A contractor who had trained Iraqi helicopter pilots, himself a retired lieutenant colonel.
