The USS Gunston Hall's webmaster is busy today reconstructing the chain of command page for the ship's official website. USS Gunston Hall's commanding officer, Commander Fred Wilhelm, was fired this week following Admiral's Mast. The CO was charged with with sexual harassment, maltreatment of a subordinate, simple assault, conduct unbecoming an officer, drunk and disorderly conduct and use of indecent language.The XO was charged with dereliction of duty, while the CMC was charged with dereliction of duty, sexual harassment and simple assault. The XO and CMC had been relieved on schedule while the investigation was taking place.
That's a lot of bad stuff happening on a single ship. Worse yet is that it was perpetrated by the three senior most leaders of the ship. There's a lesson in leadership there for us but the Navy is not going to give us enough information to develop a proper lesson plan.
In thinking about this case, seems we take Sailors to Court-Martial for lessor offenses.
Commander Wilhelm was the ELEVENTH Commanding Officer fired this year. Last year the Navy publicly announced 15 CO firings.
CMDCM(SS) Wayne Owings, the former CMC, had been well thought of by senior Navy leadership. He sat the FY-08 ACTIVE-DUTY SENIOR CHIEF PETTY OFFICER SELECTION BOARD MEMBERSHIP as a member.
That's a lot of bad stuff happening on a single ship. Worse yet is that it was perpetrated by the three senior most leaders of the ship. There's a lesson in leadership there for us but the Navy is not going to give us enough information to develop a proper lesson plan.
In thinking about this case, seems we take Sailors to Court-Martial for lessor offenses.
Commander Wilhelm was the ELEVENTH Commanding Officer fired this year. Last year the Navy publicly announced 15 CO firings.
CMDCM(SS) Wayne Owings, the former CMC, had been well thought of by senior Navy leadership. He sat the FY-08 ACTIVE-DUTY SENIOR CHIEF PETTY OFFICER SELECTION BOARD MEMBERSHIP as a member.
22 comments:
The three of them are a disgrace to our Navy. Good riddence.
Once again proving that failure is a choice.
Captain Lambert,
I see that the impervious system of the present military has found another Commanding Officer and Executive Officer at fault along with the senior enlisted person of the command. These folks probably failed to observe the ordained rules of the present administration, very likely these guilty individuals were Caucasian and not of the preferred status that is presently in favor of those of higher authority.
The Navy and Military superiors of all services have made a clear choice to give preference to individuals of minority status and some perverted individuals. I am afraid that I can no longer support the Military and Naval ideology. Even though I spent most of my productive life in the United States Navy, It makes me very sad to see what I consider to be a constant degradation of the service’s.
Very Respectfully,
Navyman834
Let me add a note to the findings of whoever generated this wording on this post. The senior enlisted man CMDCM(SS), Wayne Owings is not the third senior member or the ships complement, every officer on board that ship or Warrant officer is senior to this enlisted individual. He may have acted as though he was the senior to other officers, but in fact he was not.
In today's Navy, the CMC is an essential member of the leadership triad. While he/she may not be the third most senior person on the ship, the CMC wields nearly as much authority as the XO/CO, particularly with the enlisted Sailors. Yes, all of the officers are senior to the CMC but the CO/XO/CMC make up the leadership triad.
I read in another article that the CO was also convicted of tickling and poking subordinates. I guess that means no more tickle fights. The Navy is really going downhill.
Before I start, You are absolutely correct on the Leadership triad. CO/XO/CMC . Officers rank is officially above the CMC, but no one really argues with 20+ years of experience. As far as all of their behavior on deployment, all I can say is "Childish". The CO was getting completely and utterly intoxicated. I personally saw 2 of the three leadership crawling up the brow on their hands and knees missing articles of clothing. Multiple times! As far as the sexual harassment on the ship, it was ship wide and nothing was ever done about it unless it was junior personnel. E-4 and below getting sent to mast for being seen kissing out in town, while the CO and CMC were groping and fondling JO's. This leadership will certainly leave a black mark on some people's opinions of Naval leadership, but it's not typical. There are some really excellent mentors and leaders in this organization, unfortunately it takes weeding out the bad ones to find them.
Want a little bit of irony the reporters aren't telling you, the CO that relieved Wilhelm, is a dear friend of his and has been for some 15 years. How do you think that crew is really doing now??
DieselTech
Appreciate your candor. I think we've seen it all before. On a drive through Honolulu in the 1980s, my wife and I picked up the CO/XO of Antietam and brought them back to their ship. I don't know how they ever made it across the QDeck but thankfully they had the sense not to drink and drive. I can see the CO/XO at Captain's Mast giving some E-6 or below ABSOLUTE HELL for doing the same thing. I hate it.
Paying now for what was tolerated long ago...
Once again the many sacrificed for the few.
Somewhere, someplace, sometime ago, someone senior decided to look the other way.
All incredible...shameful really, in any day and age!
If a CO is not on his toes his entire tour he ought to be. He MUST set the absolute moral standard for the Wardroom and the crew to follow. Otherwise, the entire ship will follow his lead down that slippery slope. Hearing about CO's crawling up the brow is truly sad.
Future CO's should consider a few things in order to ensure success. One such thing would be to refrain from drinking altogether, or at least refrain from ever getting drunk. This is a small sacrifice to pay for the relatively short tour of a CO.
They must also remember that it is lonely at the top. They can't be anyone's best friend, drinking buddy, or other. He must isolate himself to some extent, from both the Wardroom and the crew. Yes, it is lonely at the top. But there is a reason for that.
Commanding a ship is a privilege few in the Navy will ever enjoy. To throw it all away over some booze or an inappropriate relationship is ridiculous.
I'm not familiar with the particulars of these incidents and in no way do I condon drinking to the point of incapacitation but, to suggest that someone should completely refrain from drinking for 18 months seems extreme. Should SECDEF refrain from drinking, or your pastor, or each LCPO???? Modeling responsible consumption of alcohol is something every leader should be able to do.
CMC Owings eas the sorriest Chief I ever served with. The comments that came out of his mouth about female Sailors were disgusting. I am not suprised to see what has come of this. It is a real shame when mothers and fathers end their daughters out in the world to serve their country with honor and they fall victim to what is essentially an older sexual predator. This would never be tolerated in our schools and universities but somehow onboard a US Navy ship it has become the norm.
Served onboard Gunston Hall late
90's...Was my first ship w/ a female crew...sure, we had to change a few things to accomodate, but we had fraternization issues then too. The CO then was a known drinker but he kept it under control more than these knuckleheads...Our Ops Boss at the time was sent away for alchol problems, so it sounds like nothing new, but how it got so crazy there is mystifing...sounds like nobody wanted to "makes waves"
I know this is an old post, but I have served with all 3 of the people listed. The Gunston Hall, while a good place to meet friends, was littered with garbage for upper management and they were a big reason why I decided to get out of the Navy after 8 years (5 of which was on the Gunston Hall). Almost everyone drinks onboard (and I have plenty of pictures of it too), but most can handle themselves. When I first checked onboard, CDR Wilhelm was the XO and we had a great CMC. CDR Wilhelm was a pretty quiet and nice guy. CMC Owings on the other hand... But with rank less than that of an E7, you have to just tolerate what the upper chain does. Hypocrites.
I served aboard this great ship during Desert Storm and we had a Marine officer end up in the Medical ward because he was so drunk. The next day he was before the CO of his unit and was punished it for it. It is such a shame to see a CO and CMC fall from grace this way.
I feel it's a mistake for those who knew nothing of the incidents to comment. There are many that believe that members of the military should NEVER curse, drink or get tattoos. Some of those were onboard, on their first sea duty tour and filed complaints. I did not witness each incident, but I do know there are two sides, and that the XO successfully appealed his verdict.
And the CO was guilty as charged.
Okay, I served under all three and can clarify they were all garbage. The XO wasn't by any means a good officer, but I don't believe he was as bad as the other two. He just refused to report on what he knew was going on. He had it in him to be a good officer but was too scared to step up I suppose. The CMC was a tremendous hypocrite and along with Wilhelm, a pretty big pervert. I personally saw how he groped junior enlisted out on liberty and their uncomfortable expressions. It wasn't until one of them was under some heat over some petty stuff that she stepped up, and it opened up a massive can of worms. This is only the half of it. What you don't know about is the entire chief's mess that was doing the same stuff. Can't get em all I suppose.
Okay, I served under all three and can clarify they were all garbage. The XO wasn't by any means a good officer, but I don't believe he was as bad as the other two. He just refused to report on what he knew was going on. He had it in him to be a good officer but was too scared to step up I suppose. The CMC was a tremendous hypocrite and along with Wilhelm, a pretty big pervert. I personally saw how he groped junior enlisted out on liberty and their uncomfortable expressions. It wasn't until one of them was under some heat over some petty stuff that she stepped up, and it opened up a massive can of worms. This is only the half of it. What you don't know about is the entire chief's mess that was doing the same stuff. Can't get em all I suppose.
I served with the little fat bastard when he was the XO of the ship from 02,04 and guess what he was sexually harassing junior enlisted then. So happy something was done about him and thankful I left before he became the CO!
I served with the little fat bastard when he was the XO of the ship from 02,04 and guess what he was sexually harassing junior enlisted then. So happy something was done about him and thankful I left before he became the CO!
I was on the APS '10 deployment when these incidents happened. There are many sides to this story and I still feel I don't have all the facts. What I can tell you is that I was on watch as topside rover our first day in Spain when I witnessed the DCA carrying the CO up the brow to the ship. He lost his shoe overboard as he was fighting the DCA. Yelling "I'm the CO, you can't tell me what to do." I honestly found this quite hilarious as it seemed like the typical sailor thing to do. Also, found it quite hypocritical because he put me on liberty risk during the port visit because I had an ARI just a few months before the deployment. I had a real love of the Navy before going to that ship and I was a promising junior sailor. I had quit BUD/S before becoming a GM. I made it far enough to earn my Combatant Swimmer qual. I felt like I was an above average sailor and was looked at as being the next go-to GM aboard the ship. I was ready to go to VBSS school and become the ships SAR swimmer because of my previous SEAL training. None of these things happened. They never even sent me to C School to learn about the 25mm cannon. During the deployment I was sent to DRB and to the XO because I turned in sailors in my division for gundecking our magazine temp logs, but low and behold I was the one in trouble. The XO told me he was "disappointed" I was in front of him again so soon. I didn't understand this because I was thought I was turning my life around after my ARI and doing the right thing by reporting gundecking. The ethics aboard the ship were confusing and lackluster. I was also stuck with an LPO who was the guy with the story of, "Go to the military or go to jail." I'm pretty sure he was a gang member. My GM1 was so clueless that he didn't even know how to put a .50 cal M2HB back together correctly. The entire upper chain of command was a mess on that ship and it made me hate the Navy so much so that I got myself kicked out.
On another note, the chief's mess was also completely screwed up as they had it out for me. At the time our HMCS was gay. And at the time it was still against regulations to be gay in the military. He knew I was about to turn him in, and was the reason I was sent to the DRB during that 2010 deployment. Also, our PSC tried to get me to have sex with me. I was a DCPO at the time and had replaced the gaskets on a door hatch. This had to be inspected by a khaki. Part of the inspection is for the khaki and junior sailor to go inside and lock the hatch to ensure there is no light coming through from the other side. While we were in there she came onto me so strongly that I felt uncomfortable. A week later when I was in that DRB she was one of the first to chew me out.
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