Commanders getting fired, Carriers in the Gulf, does something stink?

[FogerRox]

Many of us have read about 2 US carriers entering the Persian Gulf 2 days ago for "excercises". I noted 2 DU posts in the last 24 hours. Here & here. Last October I posted a dairy that was meant to dispell some of the hype about US carrier groups, what they can do, can't do. I also wrote about some of the missiles owned by certain Mid East countries like http://rdanafox.blogspot.com/2007/01/modern-iranian-sam-missiles-can-they.html">Iran & Saudi Arabia. In a nutshell having 2 US carriers in the Persian Gulf just puts these ships in a duck pond. Iran could roll rocks of the cliffs along the coast of the Gulf and hit something. I have for a while had faith that no US CO would endanger their ships by doing something stupid while in the Gulf. In my mind an attack on Iran would put our carriers safely in the Arabian Sea.





One of the most effective bunker busters we have is the GBU-28, at 4400 pounds it maybe only land based bombers can even carry it. If so, there is no real reason for a carrier group to get close enough to Iran.



Another avenue to deliver bunker busters are a fleet of LA class attack subs which carry 12 vertical Tomahawk criuse missile launchers, coincidently the LA class subs can be equipped with the recently developed Tomahawk penetrator variant. I still believe that no US CO would endanger their ships by doing something stupid while in the Gulf. Except today something struck my eye, something made my stomach queasy. Donsu posted this in GD today: 6 Navy Commanders Sacked in 6 Weeks.

For the sixth time in as many weeks, the lead officer of a Navy ship has been suddenly relieved of command, DANGER ROOM pal Andy Scutro reports for Navy Times.

Oh gee, WTF are Bush and Cheney up to now? >sigh< SO lets have a look at these 6 officers:

1) April 16th Navy sacks EA-6B aircraft squadron CO.

The U.S. Navy said Monday it had relieved a top officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower who is under an internal investigation on unspecified charges.

2) May 9th Navy sacks Destroyer CO, on the way to the Persian Gulf.

The captain of the destroyer now in the U.S. Central Command theater of operations has been relieved of command, the Navy announced Tuesday.

3) This is the strangest one of the bunch, May 11th Navy sacks CO of 210 yr old "Old Ironsides".

The commander of the famed USS Constitution was fired from his post yesterday, two months before his two-year term expired, because the Navy lost confidence in his ability to command the 210-year-old ship, officials said.

4) May 17th Navy sacks sub CO.

SAN DIEGO — The skipper of the fast-attack submarine Helena was fired from command Wednesday for “loss of confidence,” a Navy spokeswoman said.

5) May 18th Navy sacks guided missile frigate CO.

The guided missile frigate Samuel B. Roberts had to be assisted to port after having "engineering difficulties" during the UNITAS Atlantic exercise on May 11.

6) A 6th CO was sacked but that was Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard reassignment is more straightforward, however. Cmdr. Michael Sabellico, skipper of the 270-foot medium-endurance cutter Escanaba, was arrested in Key West on May 15 after an apparent bar brawl.

Capt. Scott Stearney was sacked on April 16th, but today (May 24th) he is quoted upon his return to Norfolk Virginia with no mention of the incident.

Capt. Scott Stearney, commander of Carrier Air Wing Seven, said Virginia Beach-based F/A-18 Hornets and Super Hornets assigned to the Eisenhower strafed and bombed targets attacking coalition troops in both nations.

Those aviators, as well as crew members of electronic jamming and surveillance planes and helicopters, often spent 12 to 14 hours a day in the air, much of it over combat zones, Stearney said. Of the 12,000 sorties flown by the wing's 61 aircraft, more than a third were combat flights.

"We supported the soldier on the ground," Stearney said. "They were being engaged in dire situations."

Capt. Scott Stearney flies the EA-6B aircraft, but is quoted about the F-18 Hornet pilots. Someone is ignoring getting fired, thats for sure. That second guy on my list, was CO of the Destroyer Higgins, which is now in the Persian Gulf. Heres a full accounting of what we have in the gulf:

other ships which made the transit include the guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam (CG 54) and the guided-missile destroyer USS O’Kane (DDG 77), guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59) and guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG 76), amphibious transport dock ship USS Denver (LPD 9), amphibious dock landing ship USS Rushmore (LPD 47) and fast-attack submarine USS Scranton (SSN 756). Embarked aboard BHR is Amphibious Squadron 7. Also embarked aboard BHR, Denver and Rushmore are units from Beach Master Unit 1, Assault Craft Units 1 and 5, Tactical Air Control Squadron 12, Naval Beach Group 1, and Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 23. The 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) makes up the Marine force embarked with the ESG. Units of the 13th MEU include Combat Logistics Battalion 13; Battalion Landing Team, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment; and Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 163 - Reinforced.

I really don't see a strong enough pattern here, only 2 of the sackings had any connection with the Mid East. But it is weird, very friggin weird.

Vigilance.

ON EDIT: I think Bush is picking up where he left after Tony BLair told him to fuck off when the UK had 15 sailors held by Iran. Bush offered to fly fighters thru the edges of Iranian airspace to pressure Iran, Blair said no fucking way, in fact it appears Blair told Bush to get his damn carriers out of the area completely.