SENAV censures in DDG-62 case

The Navy plans to drop all criminal charges against two officers for their roles in the June 2017 fatal collision of USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) with the ACX Crystal off the coast of Japan that resulted in the deaths of seven U.S. sailors, USNI News reported. Former Fitzgerald boss Cmdr. Bryce Benson and tactical action officer Lt. Natalie Combs will no longer face criminal negligence charges, but will be issued career-ending letters of censure from Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer, according to an April 10 letter sent to families of the deceased sailors. The April 11 letter indicated that SECNAV will issue Secretarial Letters of Censure to both Cmdr. Benson and Lt. Combs, according to a copy obtained by USNI News. The censure letters “will publicly reprimand each officer for their actions commensurate with their respective levels of responsibility.” Public letters of censure are used to publicly shame service members but carry no legal weight. (Source: USNI News 04/10/19) Gulf Coast Note: USS Fitzgerald remains under repair at the Huntington Ingalls shipyard at Pascagoula, Miss.