Posted on 04/25/2011 11:17:22 AM PDT by rawhide
Commander Etta Jones, officer in charge of the Norfolk, Virginia-based Ponce, was sacked for not properly investigating sailors involved in the humiliating rituals, the Navy said.
Commander Jones also failed to properly handle a 9mm handgun during a security alert, which endangered some of her crew, the Navy said.
Lieutenant Commander Kurt Boenisch, the ship's executive officer, was also sacked, after he failed to provide support to the command and commanding officer, according to the Navy.
The sackings come as the the amphibious transport dock Ponce - pronounced 'ponsay' - is deployed in the Mediterranean, after recently taking part in a mission in Libya.
As he removed the two officers from their posts, Vice Admiral Harry Harris said: 'When leadership fails in setting a proper example or upholding proper standards on his or her ship, they fail to serve our sailors, our Navy and, ultimately, our nation.'
Captain Brad Skillman, deputy commander of Amphibious Squadron 4, has taken command of the Ponce, which is due home in about two months to be decommissioned.
Commander Jones is the eighth U.S. Navy commanding officer relieved so far this year, according to navytimes.com
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Is it me or has there been a positive epidemic of skippers getting beached for cause in the past 3 years?
Who the hell named a Navy Ship “Ponce” (pronounced “Pon-Say”)???
Goodness. Admiral Harris has been busy. I do know him and he is a good guy, but in these situations he has been tough. The Navy is going to have to do something about senior leadership ASAP and believe they will before the end of the year. New training methods or something.
More seriously screwed up commands all the time.....
“humiliating initiation ordeals on board ship”
Sounds like some of the Pollywogs got a bit upset by their treatment by the Shellbacks during the Crossing the Line ceremony.
Anyone know the full story?
Ouch, ouch. Both eyeballs are stinging.
did she authorize a line crossing ceremony? Isn’t that tradition older than the US navy and still followed by countless navies across the globe?
Where are those damn strawberries?
Methinks the Navy has become CINC of our diversity and political correctness movement.
The AF and ARMY are currently fighting a losing battle.
Thankfully, my MARINES are holding the fort.
(Nope, I’m old AF, not a Marine, but still think the Marines are sierra hotel.)
That’s an interesting point. It’s possible that the ship was just following the old shellbacking traditions, and someone whined about it. In that case, the skipper may not have been all bad, but instead weirdly caught up in some PC-motivated crackdown.
Well! We are told, and apparently believe, that: “Our Diversity Is Our Strength.”
after reading the story, it would appear one of the pollywogs was a gay dog handler....figures, centuries of tradition out the window because of one fag with an attitude...
“Who the hell named a Navy Ship “Ponce” (pronounced “Pon-Say”)???”
Politicians, that’s who. http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/names.htm
“The names for new ships are personally decided by the Secretary of the Navy. Ship name recommendations are conditioned by such factors as the name categories for ship types now being built, as approved by the Secretary of the Navy; the distribution of geographic names of ships of the Fleet; names borne by previous ships which distinguished themselves in service; names recommended by individuals and groups; and names of naval leaders, national figures, and deceased members of the Navy and Marine Corps who have been honored for heroism in war or for extraordinary achievement in peace. “
USS PONCE is designated an LPD, Amphibious Transport Dock. It is the United States Navy’s custom for LPDs to be named after cities that take their names from explorers and developers of their countries. USS PONCE is the first United States Ship to be named after the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, which in turn is named in honor of the Spanish explorer, Juan Ponce de Leon. Juan Ponce de Leon discovered the State of Florida and served as the first Governor of Puerto Rico.
after reading the story, it would appear one of the pollywogs was a gay dog handler....figures, centuries of tradition out the window because of one fag with an attitude...
I think you are referring to the story about Bahrain. That is where the gay dog handling was from. They were just going over the other stories that broke recently. There was no gay dog handler in this story.
Quoting the Navy:
USS PONCE is designated an LPD, Amphibious Transport Dock. It is the United States Navy’s custom for LPDs to be named after cities that take their names from explorers and developers of their countries. USS PONCE is the first United States Ship to be named after the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, which in turn is named in honor of the Spanish explorer, Juan Ponce de Leon. Juan Ponce de Leon discovered the State of Florida and served as the first Governor of Puerto Rico.Source: http://www.ponce.navy.mil/ Click the "Characteristics" tab.
I was in a Golden Shellback ceremony. We had one guy not want to do it and he did not. Everyone else had a lot of fun.
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