https://www.navytimes.com/news/your...-caused-the-fitzgerald-and-mccain-collisions/ Good article on the subject
An Aucoin huh, must be from La. Sounds right though with the "accomplish the mission" directive. That sounds like something the military would say regardless of the circumstances. I could see them throwing him under the bus or in this case the battleship.
His wikipedia entry doesn't list his home, but says he graduated from North Carolina St. Impressive fruit salad....Navy DSM with star, Silver Star. Bronze Star, 3 Legions of Merit, DFC with combat V and about 20 more.
shipping lanes around japan are very crowded, but under no circumstance should a US Navy ship collide with a noncombatant. The admiral made an important point to me, he stated that overseas vessels or short manned and US stationed vessels are overmanned. He also stated that his command is over represented by young guys. Those statements go hand in hand, because speaking for the Marine Corps gennerally your first duty station is overseas. So if you are short handed with an over reprensentation of inexperienced guys in a part of the world where attention to detail is everything, you have a receipe for disaster.
https://features.propublica.org/navy-accidents/us-navy-crashes-japan-cause-mccain/ New article on this subject
Good article. Lengthy, but good. You didn't have to read much to realize the Navy leadership, both military and civilian was inept at best. Too much attention was paid to looking after your own ass than taking care of those who served under you. I wonder who the POTUS was during that time frame?
I was in for the end of Reagan all of Bush 41 most of Clinton. The shit started toward the end of Bush 41 and went all through Clinton. I don't know about Bush 43 but clearly under Obama it went down hill fast.
