It's Not Just the Forward Deployed
Proceedings Magazine - April 2018
By Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin, U.S. Navy
(Retired)
I had the privilege of serving with some of the most talented and dedicated sailors and civilians in our Navy, culminating in what I believe is the best job in the world—Commander, U.S. Seventh Fleet (C7F). I had the opportunity to work with our forward-deployed forces in the Western Pacific. Tragically, during the summer of 2017, we experienced the horrific collisions of the USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) and USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) . I am concerned that, in some quarters, these collisions are viewed and characterized as a “localâ€â€”Japan only—problem. There certainly were pressures on the fleet in Japan, but there are also indications of problems elsewhere. While the investigations in the aftermath of the loss of 17 sailors addressed many of the issues that may have led to the collisions, there were other factors. I offer some additional thoughts on what we were dealing with, because without a full understanding of what happened, we will be limited in our ability to address the root causes and ensure this does not happen again.
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2018-04/its-not-just-forward-deployed
