Operation Reputation

The US Navy is working fast to regain its reputation after accidents in the 7th fleet. It removed the admiral in charge who was destined to retire anyway. The act forcing a step down is a symbolic gesture. It would be hard to know whether a commander at that level is indeed responsible for lapses in seamanship that has occurred four times in the last few months. But the Navy’s tradition is the commander is in charge in all cases and responsible. Although the leaders of the two frigates were not on deck when cargo ships plowed into them, they lost their posts anyway and were in effect drummed out of the Navy. Now the Navy is doing a rare stand-down of the worldwide fleets to retrain its personnel and insure that deck officers know what to do. It wants to get rid of the perception that it is the military arm that can’t sail straight and it needs to do that quickly.