Did a Must-Do Attitude Contribute to Collisions?

[rangerrebew]

Did a Must-Do Attitude Contribute to Collisions?

Proceedings Magazine - September 2017 Vol.

Captain David Marquet, U.S. Navy
(Retired)

We do not yet know the causes of the USS  John S. McCain  (DDG-56) and USS Fitzgerald  (DDG-62) collisions that resulted in the death of 17 sailors. It is likely, however, that technical failure played little or no role.

Despite some differences ( John S.   McCain  was hit on the port side,  Fitzgerald  on the starboard), the similarities are many. The automatic identification system (AIS), which publicly transmits ship position, course, and speed, indicated that both merchant ships had been on essentially steady courses and speeds for the hour immediately preceding each collision. Each collision occurred on the midwatch (0524 and 0130, respectively), during good visibility, and with the captain absent from the bridge. In both cases the merchant hit the Navy ship, which likely means the warship was crossing ahead of the merchant.

https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2017-09/did-must-do-attitude-contribute-collisions

[Night Hides Not]

Thanks for posting this column.

I was in the Army, so I can only draw upon my experiences. It may be that subordinates were uncomfortable raising issues up the chain of command. If true, that would be an indictment of the ship's captain.

I never had that problem, lol, which prompted me to leave the Army after 8 years. My best evaluations came from superiors that expected their officers to lead. Unfortunately, I worked for a few with a "my way or the highway" attitude. Results really didn't matter with these guys, it was fealty they wanted. Sound familiar?