Heads are rolling after investigation finds Admirals and Chiefs negligent

I remember seeing a thread on this when the fire occurred years ago, but a search revealed nothing, thus the new thread. I'd forgotten all about this, but what a cluster! How can something like this even take place?

It's the completely foreseeable consequence of an unclear chain of command. The Navy set up a C2 structure that diffused responsibility and now it's throwing good people under the bus rather than owning up to that as an organizational failure. Same thing happened in the Red Hill fuel spill out in Hawaii. You can't set people up to fail and then act surprised when they do. Just my two cents from the cheap seats.

This is a good read from former SWO Boss Vice Admiral Brown's perspective. He obviously went public because he knew he was about to get a letter of censure, but it is interesting none the less.

https://news.usni.org/2022/07/15/navy-announces-punishments-for-bonhomme-richard-fire-secnav-censures-former-swo-boss

I find it interesting the charges were initially dropped on the Sailor suspected of starting the fire.

Quote:

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"This fire could have been prevented with adequate oversight into the ship's material condition and the crew's readiness to combat a fire."

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This is a curious statement, given the notion it was arson. I think the Sec Nav was inarticulate, to say the least.

Not sure I'd consider any of those worthy of the "heads roll" description. Two Captains careers hit a wall and pay back some $. A handful of NJPs (which arent a big deal to junior enlisted) and some lesser punishments.

When the 'punitive action' includes NPLOCs (the first letters meaning "non punitive") it's pretty weak... especially for the totalling of an entire ship.