Job & Objective stories that three of the 5 Navy commanding officers who’ve been fired to date this yr, together with a Navy SEAL and two submarine captains, had been relieved after being arrested off-base for driving underneath the affect.
Navy Capt. Richard A. Zaszewski, who was relieved this week as commander of Naval Particular Warfare Group Eight, was arrested on Jan. 19 in Virginia, based on on-line court docket data. His Blood Alcohol Content material was measured at 0.15%, practically double Virginia’s authorized restrict of 0.08%.
Navy Occasions first reported that Zaszewski didn’t report his arrest to his superiors till March, after which he was relieved of command.
Two guided missile submarine commanders have additionally been relieved this yr after being arrested for driving whereas intoxicated. Capt. Geoffry Patterson was relieved on Jan. 12 as captain of the USS Georgia’s Blue Crew and Capt. Kurt D. Balagna was fired as captain of the USS Ohio’s Gold Crew on March 11.
The reliefs of Paterson, Balagna, and Zaszewski should not a results of any adjustments to the Navy’s accountability coverage, a service spokesperson informed Job & Objective.
“U.S. Navy leaders are held to excessive requirements of private {and professional} conduct,” the spokesperson stated. “They’re anticipated to uphold the very best requirements of accountability, reliability, and management, and the Navy holds them accountable after they fall wanting these requirements.”
Nevertheless, the current firings may point out that the Navy is changing into much less tolerant than it has prior to now when commanding officers are arrested by civilian police for drunken driving, stated retired Navy Cmdr. Bryan Clark, a senior fellow with the Hudson Institute suppose tank in Washington, D.C.
Beforehand Job & Objective reported that, in 2023, the Navy relieved a complete of 16 commanding officers of command: 14 had been fired “resulting from a lack of confidence” of their capacity to command, and two had been relieved for medical points unrelated to their efficiency, based on the Navy, which didn’t launch the 2 officers’ names resulting from privateness issues.
Of the 14 commanding officers who had been fired: Eight had been answerable for ships, 5 had been in shore billets, and one led a squadron of Navy E/A-18G Growlers.
