Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Navy cites readiness problems during hearing on fatal collisions

  • Other
  • by Ana Radelat
  • September 7, 2017
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Washington – Navy officials said pressure to increase the number of ships deployed overseas has hurt readiness and training levels, and those problems are getting worse.

Seventeen sailors were killed this summer when two Navy destroyers, the USS Fitzgerald and the USS John McCain, collided with merchant ships in the waters off Japan and Singapore. Two sailors from Connecticut were among the dead.

“We ask these forward-deployed ships to do difficult work that is oftentimes not well understood by the public at large,” said Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, at a joint hearing by the House Armed Services’ readiness and sea power subcommittees.

Navy witnesses said the majority of ships operating in the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet, including the USS Fitzgerald and the USS John McCain, weren’t certified to conduct basic operations at sea related to war-fighting.

“We are below the standards we should accept,” said Adm. Bill Moran, vice chief of Naval Operations.

Moran said he “made the assumption” the ships and subs of the 7th Fleet were in top shape because it was constantly deployed in the Pacific.

“I made the wrong assumption,” he concluded.

The collision last month of the USS John McCain and a merchant ship in the waters near Singapore claimed the life of U.S. Navy Electronics Technician 2nd Class Petty Officer Dustin Doyon, 26, of Suffield.  The collision tore a hole in the ship’s rear hull and flooded adjacent compartments, including the communications room.

The casket bearing Doyon’s body is expected to arrive at Bradley International Airport on Friday and be transported for internment in Suffield.

The USS John McCain accident was the fourth involving a U.S. warship deployed by the Pacific-based 7th Fleet this year  and the second fatal collision.

Sonar Technician 3rd Class Ngoc “Tan” Truong Huynh, 25, of Watertown, was one of seven sailors who died in a June 17 collision off the coast of Japan between the USS Fitzgerald and a container ship.

“I think we can all agree that our nation failed our sailors and their families,” said Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., the chairman of the sea power panel.

Moran said all 17 sailors killed in the collisions were promoted a grade posthumously in recognition of their service.

John Pendleton of the Government Accountability Office said a decision in the early 2000’s to reduce Navy crew sizes and the rapid deployment of more ships overseas has hurt Navy readiness.

“GAO found in May 2015 that there were no dedicated training periods built into the operational schedules of the cruisers and destroyers based in Japan,” Pendleton said “As a result, the crews of these ships did not have all of their needed training and certifications.”

He also said the Navy wants to  grow its fleet by as much as 30 percent but continues to face challenges in “manning, training, and maintaining its existing fleet.”

Wittman said the Navy prioritized operational deployment over maintenance and increased the number of ships in the naval fleet without increasing maintenance. He also said extended tours overseas have hurt readiness.

“The ships have been outside the continental United States for too long,” he said.

Ana Radelat :: CTMirror.org

Naval officers testify Thursday before Congress.

Courtney, the top Democrat on the sea power panel, asked who in the line of command decides to waive the need for a ship to be certified before it is deployed.

“We’re trying to find out who calls ‘time out’ and just says ‘no’?” Courtney said. “Who is the decision maker?”

Courtney also asked about the parameters, and timetable, for the Navy’s investigation of the collisions.

Moran said Navy investigative teams were sent immediately to the crash sites and eventually will send him reports on how and why the collisions happened.

The Navy also is conducting an investigation into the larger question of readiness, training and whether Navy policy and methods must change. Moran said that study would take about 60 days.

Courtney said the Armed Services panel would be following the Navy’s progress on these investigations “like a box score.”

Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5th District, was invited to take part in the hearing as a special member of the panel because Huynh was a constituent. Doyon lived in Courtney’s district.

She told Navy witnesses that the fatal collision of the USS Fitzgerald occurred on Huynh’s birthday, and his family became concerned when the sailor stopped answering congratulatory messages on Facebook.

She told Moran that while Navy culture is to obey requests for service, “we need to ask you to tell us when we are asking too much.”

That young sailors are working 100-hour workweeks “is really terrifying for them and for us,” she said.

Esty also joined other lawmakers in asking whether budget cuts to the Defense Department, known as a sequester, and Congress’s inability to pass a federal budget on time had hurt readiness.

Congress plans to approve another “continuing resolution,” or CR, this week to avoid government shutdown at the end of the month.

That would fund the government at last year’s levels, preventing the Armed Services from initiating any new weapons program or maintenance project.

Moran said uncertainties in funding have hurt.

“We have had nine consecutive CR’s and are about to get another one,” he said.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ana Radelat Ana has written about politics and policy in Washington, D.C.. for Gannett, Thompson Reuters and UPI. She was a special correspondent for the Miami Herald, and a regular contributor to The New York TImes, Advertising Age and several other publications. She has also worked in broadcast journalism, for CNN and several local NPR stations. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Journalism.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
CT tax fairness debate heats up with new pandemic relief on the way
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Connecticut’s tax fairness debate shifted into high gear as state officials eye $2.6 billion in new pandemic relief from Washington.

Questions officials still haven’t answered after weeks of hearings on the Capitol attack
by Joaquin Sapien and Joshua Kaplan | ProPublica

After two weeks of congressional hearings, it remains unclear how a rampaging mob of rioters managed to breach one of the most sacred bastions of […]

Plan to expand child tax credit offers hope along with direct payments
by Lisa Backus | C-HIT.ORG

When her car started making a noise more than a year ago, Chinara Johnson parked the vehicle and hasn’t used it since. As a New […]

Capitol cop: ‘I don’t trust the people above me’
by Joaquin Sapien and Joshua Kaplan | ProPublica

How failures of leadership put Capitol cops at risk; allowed rioters to get dangerously close to members of Congress.

Miguel Cardona is one step closer to becoming next U.S. education secretary
by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

In a swift meeting, senators voted 17 to 5 to forward Cardona's nomination to the U.S. Senate for final approval.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion One step Connecticut can take to address our maternal mortality crisis
by Myechia Minter-Jordan, MD

Uncertainty. Fear. Worry. These are just a few of the thoughts and emotions that run through the minds of almost every expecting parent. And for many expecting Black parents, those feelings can be more acute. That’s because for far too many, having a child is a life and death struggle.

Opinion Connecticut lawmakers on aid in dying: two decades of delay, deferral, obstruction
by Paul Bluestein, MD

Very soon, members of the Connecticut House and Senate will be voting on HB6425, - the Medical Aid in Dying bill. More than 20 years ago, Oregon implemented its Death with Dignity Act. Since then, Washington, Vermont, California, Montana, Colorado, Maine, Washington DC, Hawaii and most recently New Mexico have passed legislation authorizing medical aid in dying for terminally ill adults. But not Connecticut.

Opinion The intersection of race, class and gender in America’s childcare system: The class edition
by Georgia Goldburn

When Michelle Obama declared that she wanted to become “Mom in Chief,” she spoke to a sentiment shared by many women, i.e. the desire to […]

Opinion A progressive income tax to re-align Connecticut’s moral compass
by Ezra Kaprov

Redistribution of wealth and property is a fundamental and missing pillar of the hope for multi-racial democracy in the United States.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s […]

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is […]

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO