An earthquake story
August 24th, 2011 | Admirals Board of Inquiry Earthquake Navy Norfolk Naval Station | Posted by Bill McMichael
Millions of Americans who’d never felt an earthquake now have a story to tell — thankfully, according to reports so far, not one involving widespread destruction or death. The 5.8-magnitude temblor rattled buildings and nerves from Maine to South Carolina at 1:51 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, stunning East Coast residents for whom earthquakes are a rarity. The quake’s epicenter was in north-central Virginia, which hadn’t experienced a quake of this magnitude since 1897.
At Naval Station Norfolk, yours truly and three other reporters covering the Board of Inquiry for former Enterprise skipper Capt. Owen Honors were ensconced on the 3rd floor of the Regional Legal Service Office in an otherwise empty Courtroom 3, set aside as a filing center, during a brief recess.
I was standing next to a table when the floor started wobbling gently, then a fair bit more vigorously. We all froze and looked at each other. I’d never experienced an earthquake but when someone said, “What’s that?”, I said with an odd certainty, “That’s an earthquake.” My eyes were quickly drawn to the 125-lb. TV monitor attached to the ceiling by a thick bracket, not far vertically from the left shoulder of Hugh Lessig of the Daily Press. I joked, “I think you better move.” The bracket held.
It stopped after what seemed like 15 seconds, though it could have been longer. After a few minutes of excited chatter, it was time for the hearing to resume, so we went back to Courtroom 1. It was empty. After a couple of minutes, we collectively thought: Hmm. Maybe they’ve evacuated. So we headed down to the 1st floor. Many personnel had left the building but it hadn’t been officially cleared, so we headed into a waiting room to get the story from CNN.
The hearing resumed a short while later. The first witness was Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, director of the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, whose secretary said Gortney’s telephonic testimony would have to wait a few minutes because he was “on the red phone with the NorthCom commander.”
Honors: Should he stay, or go?
February 2nd, 2011 | Board of Inquiry Carriers Detachment for Cause Fleet Forces Command Navy Navy Personnel Command Officers Personnel Retirement Show Cause | Posted by Bill McMichael
We reported in our print edition this week (dated Feb. 7) that Fleet Forces Command chief Adm. John Harvey has recommended Capt. Owen Honors be detached for cause. As those in the service know, that’s not separation from the Navy, but the formal completion of the administrative process of removing him from command of the carrier Enterprise, which was done Jan. 4 when he was fired by Harvey over his involvement in controversial shipboard video skits recorded several years earlier when he was the flattop’s XO. And Harvey can only recommend a DFC; approval is up to the chief of Navy Personnel Command, currently Rear Adm. Donald Quinn.
However, a DFC can lead to getting kicked out, and the formality of the DFC is required to continue the process. If the DFC request is approved, the official designated as the Show Cause Authority — either Quinn or the deputy chief of staff for Manpower and Reserve Affairs — will review Honors’ entire record and decide whether he should be required to “show cause” why he should be retained on active duty. (Of note: under the regulation, either official could delegate the authority to an “Officer Exercising General Court-Martial Jurisdiction” — such as Harvey.)
If so inclined, the Show Cause Authority would order the convening of a Board of Inquiry, whose members would consider Honors’ overall record of service, including the DFC findings, in determining whether to recommend separation. If they did, members would also decide whether Honors, who with 27 years of service is retirement-eligible, should be retired as a captain or at a lesser grade. The final decision would be up to the secretary of the Navy.
While it remains to be seen what might be decided, granting the DFC would seem to be a foregone conclusion. The greater question: whether you agree with his being fired or not, does Honors deserve to get the DFC and the boot, or to remain in the Navy? What are your thoughts?