Commander Robert M. Brown, Commanding Officer of Beachmaster Unit TWO was fired on Friday, 5 August 2011, amid an investigation into the misuse of government resources and the improper disposal of government equipment.
Rear Admiral David M. Thomas, the commander of Naval Surface Force Atlantic, lost confidence in Brown's ability to command.
Brown has been reassigned to administrative duties at Naval Beach Group 2.
"The allegations of misuse of government resources and the improper disposal of government equipment were severe enough to warrant immediate relief due to loss of confidence in Brown's ability to command before completion of the investigation."
Brown enlisted in the Navy in 1984 and took command of Beachmaster Unit 2 in May 2010. Beachmaster units provide teams of Sailors that deploy with expeditionary forces to help with beach landings and evacuations.
5 comments:
Bobby Brown is a decent guy. Sorry to see him involved in this.
This is a tragedy. CDR Brown is about as honest as they come. I can see the Navy reversing this decision when all the facts are known.
BTW, is the rate of these firings typical for the Navy, or are they "cleaning house"...?
[I only know about such things from reading this blog, but there seem an awful lot of them mentioned here!]
Fired beach unit CO gets letter of reprimand
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Dec 7, 2011 11:59:27 EST
The commanding officer of a Virginia-based amphibious unit who was fired in August over allegations of ethics violations was given a career-killing punitive letter of reprimand Tuesday, Naval Surface Force Atlantic said.
Cmdr. Robert M. Brown was fired Aug. 5 as CO of Beachmaster Unit 2 based on findings of an ongoing investigation into a complaint that Brown had misused government resources. Once the investigation was concluded, Rear Adm. Dave Thomas, CO of SURFLANT, charged Brown with communicating a threat, misusing government resources, dereliction of duty, wrongful disposal of government equipment, and violating a lawful general regulation.
Thomas found Brown guilty of failing to obey an order or regulation and dereliction of duty, wrongful disposal of government property and communicating a threat, said SURFLANT spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Bill Urban.
The unit, based at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, is now commanded by Cmdr. Steven Hull.
Report: CO made sailors work at family reunion
The Associated Press
NORFOLK, VA. — The commanding officer of a Virginia Beach-based Navy unit was removed from his job this summer after making his sailors work on a Sunday to help him host a family reunion.
A Navy investigative report obtained by The Virginian-Pilot also says Cmdr. Robert M. Brown failed to put controls in place after the supply department approved expenses including a Macbook computer, high-end cell phones and luggage.
Brown was removed as the commanding officer of Beachmaster Unit 2 in August.
The report says about 120 people attended the reunion, where Brown's relatives drove military vehicles, took pictures with weapons and went for rides in the water in landing crafts.
Brown told investigators the event was like a skipper of a ship bringing his family to see his vessel.
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