A couple of things:
1. I did not know Holly Graf--at all. But she and I knew "all the same people". I never once since hearing her name first in the mid 90's--heard ANYONE ever say ANYTHING nice about her.
2. She took over the USS WINSTON S. CHURCHILL (DDG 81) (COWPENS was her second command--a huge Navy mistake) from a great friend of mine, RDML Mike Franken (he was a Commander then). Franken was the commissioning CO and he built a great ship and crew. Graf relived him, and drove the ship into the ground. By the time another good friend (CDR Todd Leavitt) took over the ship, things had gotten so bad that at the change of command ceremony in which he relieved her, upon hearing Graf say the famous words "I stand relieved", the crew broke into applause. Leavitt brought the ship back from a nightmare.
3. There is absolutely nothing wrong with drag racing with one's ship. That she engaged in a good race is to be considered a mark in her favor. All the great ones do it.
(USS BULKELEY (DDG 84) kicking USS COLE (DDG 67) ass)
Dude - are you sure that's a female?
ReplyDeleteI won't engage in the post-mortem of her career other than to say that this is a good thing for the Navy which I hope will serve as a reminder that selection of the people who lead our Sailors must be done with great care.
ReplyDeleteI will comment on the photo, however. Clearly it was taken from the starboard quarter of a cruiser at split plant. It would appear the two DDGs were drafting.
Sigh...It was always fun to watch the kids play.
"... Graf assaulted subordinates ... regularly verbally abused subordinates by publicly berating them, belittling them and using profane language."
ReplyDeleteWell no kidding. She was in the wrong job. She sounds like a pretty good D.I. to me.
But that's pretty funny about the ships drag racing. Just goes to show, boys will be boys and the only thing that changes is the price of their toys.
You're pretty close, Mudge. PHIL SEA CO Gene Moran took the pic, and yes, he beat us both.....
ReplyDeleteGoes to show: pretty is as pretty does
ReplyDeleteThis is another case (think Joe Sestak) where there was ample evidence of her unfitness for command that somehow the Navy system managed to overlook. There are examples in every warfare specialty. The Navy needs to figure out how to prevent this in the future.
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ReplyDeleteThis kind of stuff happens in the civilian world all-the-time. The Armed Forces of the US are not unique in having an unfit leader ooze through the system now and then. It just makes good press especially when someone is "drag racing" with a billion dollars worth of equipment.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Scotty needs to know what the Warp engines will do at a time when Captain Kirk needs them the most. Hence, the ship needs to be "aired out" every now and then. Just maintain a safe distance, right?
That's right Doc. Keep a safe distance. You have no idea how big a boost a race is to a crew--EVERYBODY is awake, everybody wants to win. The Engineers are particularly proud--to win.
ReplyDeleteSaw that she's going to Navy Air and Missile Defense Command. Maybe she can join Robin Quinlan in trying to revive SIAP. Two birds of a feather.
ReplyDeleteWould someone please remind us again how valuable our gays and lesbians are to our military effort.
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