Navy Captain Ted Williams was relieved of duty pending investigation into alleged misconduct
Two more senior American Navy commanders have been added to the growing list of high-ranking military officers relieved of duty due to ‘personal’ misconduct.
Two commanding officers in US Navy’s 6th Fleet based in Italy were stripped of their commands on Monday pending investigations into “allegations of misconduct,” US-based journal Foreign Policy quoted a Navy statement on Tuesday,.
According to the report, 24 American naval officers have so far been relieved of their commands this year on charges of misconduct.
Cmdr. Ray Hartman, commanding officer of amphibious dock-landing ship USS Fort McHenry was relieved of his command on Monday. Also relieved was Navy Capt. Ted Williams, top officer of the USS Mount Whitney, an amphibious command ship.
Williams, according to the report, was previously a transitory replacement No. 2 officer of the USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier after that ship's executive officer, Capt. Robert Gamberg, was found guilty of an "improper relationship."
A Navy official speaking on condition of anonymity is quoted in the report as saying that both officers were relieved of duty over offense of “personal misconduct… not anything to do with the operation of the ship or the mission of the ship.”
Less than three weeks ago, another ship commander and three naval officers were relieved of duty for drunken conduct during a port call in Russia.
