Commander of Navy Ship Involved in F/A-18 Friendly Fire Incident Turns over Command
Military.com | By Konstantin Toropin
Published February 04, 2025 at 6:25pm ET
The commanding officer of the USS Gettysburg -- the Navy ship whose crew shot down one of its own fighter jets in the Red Sea in late December -- has finished out his tour on the ship and transferred off, an online statement announced last Thursday.
Capt. Justin Hodges was relieved as the commanding officer of the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser during an uncommon "at-sea" change of command ceremony on Jan. 30, the statement said.
Despite several ongoing investigations into the friendly fire incident looming over the ship and its crew, Navy officials said Hodges was leaving the ship under regular circumstances and that the change of command was occurring on schedule.
However, other details surrounding the change of command -- details that could offer insight into whether the ongoing inquiries into the mishap that left a F/A-18 Super Hornet destroyed at the bottom of the Red Sea impacted Hodges' future in the Navy -- were not immediately available.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2025/02/04/commander-of-navy-ship-involved-f-18-friendly-fire-incident-turns-over-command.html
