Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Few things are sadder than a crash report, plus roundup of maritime firings & crime

If I had time, I would compile an anthology of aircraft crash analyses. There is an art to them, and always a sadness, too.

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

If I had time, I would compile an anthology of aircraft crash analyses. There is an art to them, and always a sadness, too.

If I had time, I would compile an anthology of aircraft crash analyses. There is an art to them, and always a sadness, too.

I mention this because NBC News and the Virginian-Pilot unearthed a Navy analysis of a fire aboard an MH-53 in the air. I honestly didn’t know that MH-53s were still flying in the Navy. I remember a few years ago a Marine pilot telling me that he had flown 53’s that had in their skins repaired bullet holes from the Vietnam War, but of course had new engines and avionics.

In other Navy news, the skipper of the attack sub the USS Mississippi was given the big heave-ho. He was a veteran of the USS Greenville, but was not assigned to it during its cursed period in 2001-02 of running around and colliding with other ships. I was pleased to see that he got bounced not for having a personal life but for “issues revolving around operational decision-making.”

Also, several chiefs about the destroyer the USS James E. Williams allegedly had sex with a junior sailor. And the former skipper of the USS Ponce was convicted of looking at porn and bestiality on his work computer. This is a sign that you are bored with your role in the military, and also that you are not making good decisions.

Not to be outdone, the Coast Guard heaved the skipper of a Maine-based cutter, the Moray.

Wikimedia, Alan Redecki

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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