The IG Pedigree

Has it always been such, that the IG is this strange, non-lethal shadow of other organizations through history that used open-ended investigations in order to find something, anything, to smear and destroy someone?

I saw it happen to a friend of mine who had the last 6-months of his command tour destroyed by a vindictive IG. A guy who made CDR early and selected for command early, wound up professionally destroyed by bad paper from an ISIC who was afraid of placing a bet on what could be spoiled goods. He was cleared within a year of his change of command, but the damage was done.

Others have their own examples. I'll wait for the FOIA ... but we may be here again.

Rear Adm. Charles M. Gaouette, who led Carrier Strike Group Three, which included the U.S.S. John C. Stennis, had been accused of using profanity in a public setting and making at least two racially insensitive comments, officials familiar with the investigation said.

He was cleared of any criminal violations under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the laws governing the behavior of armed services personnel. But a set of administrative penalties will effectively end his career.
...
Admiral Gaouette was the subject of a five-month investigation by the Naval Inspector General ... the complaint had been filed by Captain Ronald Reis, the commander of the Stennis, after the admiral admonished the captain for his ship-driving practices.

Read the whole story at the NYT and you will come away feeling a bit unclean. Five months and a career destroyed ... for what?

Think back to your time in the Navy, and ponder;

The investigation ultimately found that the admiral had used profanity while being the subject of a shipboard roast, called a “Foc’sle Follies,” and had made racially insensitive remarks on two previous occasions, officials said.
...
Captain Reis, the officers said, had been an exceptional EA-6 pilot before commanding the carrier, and was highly regarded for his intellect and drive.

But he did not follow normal protocols for driving the ship through busy shipping lanes, and ran a bridge in which the surface officers under his command felt tense and unable to offer their input, the officers said.

Three officers and two former officers familiar with the ship’s bridge procedures said the captain tended to act alone and by eye, and not carefully track the Stennis’s position relative to other vessels in crowded seas; one of them said he tended “to fly the ship.”

After Admiral Gaouette had ordered the captain to slow down as the vessel was steaming through ship traffic in the Malacca Strait in excess of 20 knots, the officers said, Captain Reis filed a complaint to the inspector general, claiming the admiral was abusive.

I am sure there is a lot more to follow, but no officer I have ever served with could survive being, "... the subject of a five-month investigation by the Naval Inspector General, ... ", and since when does a senior O6 cry to the zampolit when someone hurts his feelings?

Do we really have a CVN CO serving up this weak cheese ... calling an IG because he's butthurt that the SOPA had issues with his ship driving?

Profanity at “Foc’sle Follies?” GMAFB; I've never seen one that didn't. As for the "racially insensitive remarks" - let me see them - see them in context. An Admiral of a strike group of thousands wandering off the shores of people who have been killing and being killed by American Sailors for decades might say something a bit "off," at least I hope so. Methinks the "racially insensitive remarks" thing, once it is known, will not be what 98% of the US sane adult population would think is "racially insensitive" for an Admiral at that place at that time.

I checked in with a friend in the Queer community ... wait, one can't use that phrase anymore ... excuse me, the "Electronic Attack" community - and he gave me this snapshot.

"... it is truly crazy to me. The embarrassing thing for me is that the guy who filed the complaint is a Prowler guy. I had friends on the Stennis that were in positions where they witnessed the events discussed in the article and they say the public profanity (at follies after getting roasted by the airwing) and "racially insensitive" comments were taken out of context and not offensive. They were about Iran and kicking their arse if called upon. The bottom-line is an O6, carrier CO got his feelings hurt because he got yelled at so he complained to the IG about it and based on their investigation which expanded to all kinds of subjects finds the RADM guilty of other things they discover during the investigation unrelated to the original complaint. I would expect a leader to confront his boss privately and explain to him what he disagreed with him about and ask for him to change his methods in the future.

The Chinese much love this. We are doing this to ourselves."

Can't say it any better.

Unforced error on our part. Let us ponder that a bit. Review and ask - how did we get here?