Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Take this job and shove it: USS Rushmore skipper goes all Johnny Paycheck

Not clear why she dumped command of the ship.

040718-N-5055W-034
Pacific Ocean (July 18, 2004) – The amphibious dock landing ship USS Rushmore (LSD 47) heads out to sea after dispatching Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAV) during a mechanized amphibious raid in support of exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2004. RIMPAC is the largest international maritime exercise in the waters around the Hawaiian Islands. This year's exercise includes seven participating nations; Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. RIMPAC is intended to enhance the tactical proficiency of participating units in a wide array of combined operations at sea, while enhancing stability in the Pacific Rim region. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Jane West (RELEASED) For more information go to: http://www.cpf.navy.mil/RIMPAC2004/
040718-N-5055W-034 Pacific Ocean (July 18, 2004) – The amphibious dock landing ship USS Rushmore (LSD 47) heads out to sea after dispatching Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAV) during a mechanized amphibious raid in support of exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2004. RIMPAC is the largest international maritime exercise in the waters around the Hawaiian Islands. This year's exercise includes seven participating nations; Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. RIMPAC is intended to enhance the tactical proficiency of participating units in a wide array of combined operations at sea, while enhancing stability in the Pacific Rim region. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Jane West (RELEASED) For more information go to: http://www.cpf.navy.mil/RIMPAC2004/
040718-N-5055W-034 Pacific Ocean (July 18, 2004) – The amphibious dock landing ship USS Rushmore (LSD 47) heads out to sea after dispatching Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAV) during a mechanized amphibious raid in support of exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2004. RIMPAC is the largest international maritime exercise in the waters around the Hawaiian Islands. This year's exercise includes seven participating nations; Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. RIMPAC is intended to enhance the tactical proficiency of participating units in a wide array of combined operations at sea, while enhancing stability in the Pacific Rim region. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Jane West (RELEASED) For more information go to: http://www.cpf.navy.mil/RIMPAC2004/

 

 

Not clear why she dumped command of the ship. Before becoming CO she had been XO.

Also the “Chief of U.S. Air Force Fire Services” — I didn’t know there was such a thing, but I guess there is — pled guilty to ripping off charities.

Photo credit: U.S. Navy/Wikimedia Commons

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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