From personal experience having served/lived on an aircraft carrier and battleship for two years as part of a Marine Detachment I can recall numerous occasions where sailors on deck watch were found asleep at their posts and even left their post. That may not be what happened here but I cannot imagine that the U.S. Navy has seen an increase in discipline and professionalism since the time of Reagan's 600 ship navy. I did notice that most if not all of the disciplinary actions handed down after the Fitzgerald collision were non-judicial punishment. Hell I received NJP for having two unopened cans of beer in my wall locker at 0600 on a Monday morning and a friend received a week in the brig on bread and water for getting in a fight. The deaths of several service members, hundred of millions if not a billion in damage and the strategic effect of tying up a majority of the ship repair facilities in the far east when the North Koreans, Chinese, and Russians are on the radar should require a few heads to roll in the form of summary or general court martial. If there is a lack of accountability we can only expect more of the same. Giving an 0-6 NJP then his walking papers with a generous retirement just doesn't cut it when we are losing more people to ship collisions than enemy action in Afghanistan.
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