Controversial CO's name pulled from O-6 selectees list. Do you think this was warranted?

2015-05-10T05:55:23-04:00

http://www.navytimes.com/story/breaking-news/2015/05/06/jana-vavasseur-william-p-lawrence-accident-secnav/70886558/

Controversial CO's name pulled from O-6 selectees list

The promotion of Cmdr. Jana Vavasseur, former CO of the destroyer William P. Lawrence, faulted in the deaths of two helicopter pilots, is on hold.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 10 at 2015 6:39 AM

2015-05-10T06:39:39-04:00

Well I would hope that the Secretary of the Navy who is a former Naval Officer will not make this political.

Response by MG Hugh Van Roosen made May 10 at 2015 6:43 AM

2015-05-10T06:43:31-04:00

This is how the system is supposed to work whenever there is a question or allegation.

Response by CSM Carlson C. made May 10 at 2015 7:17 AM

2015-05-10T07:17:56-04:00

I'm glad that there is an investigation. The perception is that, things get swept under the rug for certain persons at certain levels of rank. I couldn't say yea or nay, because I don't know the factual evidence of the case. However, if in fact her negligence caused the death of those pilots, A HELL of a lot more than a non punitive letter should have transpired.

Response by Cpl Jeff N. made May 10 at 2015 7:23 AM

2015-05-10T07:23:50-04:00

She should be treated like any other Captain in a similar spot. I suspect she has already been given some slack based upon the fact that little appears to have been done in over 2 years. This seems to be pretty straight forward. Were her actions as the Captain of the ship the cause or a contributor to the cause of the death of two pilots and the loss of a helicopter.

Response by COL Vincent Stoneking made May 10 at 2015 9:25 AM

2015-05-10T09:25:24-04:00

Bottom line, I would need to know a whole lot more about the reasoning before I said yes or no.

Well, I'm a little conflicted about this, honestly. IF she was negligent in a way that led to the deaths of the flyers, well then I think it was a good action. HOWEVER, it is my understanding that there was an investigation at the time, and she was cleared of any wrongdoing, got a good eval, etc.

IF she was already cleared by an investigation and there is not any significant new information (and there doesn't appear to be), then it seems arbitrary to punish her for something she was cleared of. Then again, sometimes the original investigation is wrong for all kinds of reasons...

Assuming that there is reason to believe that there is something there, it would make sense to flag from command until it is cleared up.

Response by MSgt David Heil made May 10 at 2015 12:23 PM

2015-05-10T12:23:03-04:00

The Captain is responsible for everything that happens on that ship. If the investigation two years ago was inadequate and has been reopened to address facts that were overlooked, this is acceptable.

If this is yet another situation of politics....unacceptable. But then it goes back to my first statement. As Captain, she was responsible for everything that happened on that ship.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made May 10 at 2015 12:34 PM

2015-05-10T12:34:57-04:00

There is an old saying: "$#it happens".
Sometimes it happens to good people.
Question is, did the incident occur due to her mishandling her vessel at sea, or because the ocean gets a vote?
Should the Navy hold this against her forever? What are the precedents set by previous similar incidents. Surely this has happened before.
Without the facts of the case, we should not cast judgment. The senior officer who did have the facts of the case judged that a non-punitive letter was all that was warranted. Since the Navy does not screw around with incidents like this, I can surmise that the senior officer knows something we don't.
That's why we have this process.