Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Responsibility of the Commanding Officer - Chapter 8 - U.S. Navy Regulations 1990

0802. Responsibility.

1. The responsibility of the commanding officer for his or her command is absolute, except when, and to the extent to which, he or she has been relieved therefrom by competent authority, or as provided otherwise in these regulations. The authority of the commanding officer is commensurate with his or her responsibility. While the commanding oflicer may, at his or her discretion, and when not contrary to law or regulations, delegate authority to subordinates for the execution of details, such delegation or authority shall in no way relieve the commanding officer of continued responsibility for the safety, well-being and efficiency of the entire command.

2. A commanding officer who departs from orders or instructions, or takes official action which is not in accordance with such orders or instructions, does so upon his or her own responsibility and shall report immediately the circumstances to the officer from whom the prior orders or instructions were received. Of particular importance is the commanding officer’s duty to take all necessary and appropriate action in self-defense of the command.

3. The commanding officer shall be responsible for economy within his or her command. To this end the commanding officer shall require from his or her subordinates a rigid compliance with the regulations governing the receipt, accounting and expenditure of public money and materials, and the implementation of improved management techniques and procedures.

4. The commanding officer and his or her subordinates shall exercise leadership through personal example, moral responsibility and judicious attention to the welfare or persons under their control or supervision. Such leadership shall be exercised in order to achieve a positive, dominant influence on the performance of persons in the Department of the Navy.

Naval Regulations Chapter 8 - The Commanding Officer

2 comments:

James Hammersla said...

"The commanding officer and his or her subordinates shall exercise leadership through personal example, moral responsibility and judicious attention to the welfare or persons under their control or supervision."

I have yet to have had a Commanding Officer that failed to meet the mark (understanding that this year alone 15 have fallen short) and as stated, everyone who is a leader subordinate to the CO (from the XO to the most junior Work Center Supervisor) should meet the high standards expected of leaders. One of my long term hopes for the Navy is a better emphasis on leadership development at more junior levels of the Chain of Command. Some of my best experiences have been seeing junior Sailors stepping into the breach left by manning issues, shortfalls etc. and seeing them meet the challenge.

Fourhorseman said...

I had a breach of C.O. responsibilities. Changed duty orders, verbal threats, and instituted harrasssment as a means of discipline. Maybe, that's a rarity but I doubt it.