Asleep at the Wheel

A retired Navy captain interviewed about the recent destroyer collisions by the In Military website. His insights are worth your time. Hat tip to Instapundit for the link.

I am willing to bet that those ships involved in incidents with merchants had all their sexual orientation, transgender training, and environmental training all completed at the expense of the safety and operational training. If you put the emphasis on social issues, you get a social force. If you put it on operational issues, you get an operational force.

It has been obvious to me that SECNAV Mabus was able to transform naval leadership in a way to conform to his world view; [that he] fired or relieved those who did not conform to his views and promoted those that did. I think the top leadership is pretty rotten, although I am sure there is “good wood” in there somewhere.

The ship climate and command structures were obviously out of whack. COs don’t get to sleep in in heavy shipping waters, [that’s] just a fact.

While it might be convenient or popular to string some kind of conspiracy theory, the mistakes made were all simple things: basic ship handling, navigation and seamanship stuff. Destroyers do not get run down by merchants; they are faster and much more maneuverable. No, they were not hacked; they were not run down on purpose. They just were asleep at the wheel.

The captain wonders why people in charge haven't been courtmartialed for manslaughter, since off-watch sailors died in their bunks belowdecks.