Navy Fires 18th CO for Shooting at Fishing Boat off North Carolina

Navy Times has the story.

Cmdr. Mark Olson was relieved of command of the Mayport, Fla.-based destroyer by Vice Adm. Daniel Holloway, 2nd Fleet commander, due to “a loss of confidence in his ability to command,” 2nd Fleet said in a release...

Olson was in command on Aug. 17 when the ship was conducting a gunnery exercise at the Cherry Point Operating Range Area, off the North Carolina coast. During the exercise, The Sullivans mistook a fishing vessel for a towed gunnery target and began firing inert rounds at the vessel. They landed close but did not strike the boat. None of the fishermen was harmed, 2nd Fleet said...

At admiral’s mast, Holloway determined that the accident stemmed from Olson’s failure to follow established procedures.

This is interesting.

Olson, a 1992 Naval Academy graduate, previously commanded coastal patrol ships Sirocco and Firebolt and served as executive officer aboard cruiser Lake Erie, according to his official bio. Messages seeking comment from Olson were not immediately returned.

Olson had commanded two PCs and was XO of a cruiser. The system - on paper anyway - suggests this guy was one of the top SWOs in the fleet, and based on first person accounts many of his peers thought he was one of the top as well.

The thing that is on my mind though... how many other people have to mess up for something like this to happen?

Also worth noting, last time this happened no one was fired. I wonder what made it different this time for CDR Olson.