Quote:Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin was commander of the 7th Fleet at the time of the collisions. A Naval aviator who fought in the Balkans and Iraq, he made repeated pleas to his superiors for more men, more ships, more time to train. He was ignored, then fired.
More than 18 months later, Aucoin believes that the Navy has yet to disclose the full story of the disasters. Navy leaders, he said in his first extended interview, have not taken accountability for their role in undermining America’s sea fighting ability.
“I just want the truth to come out,” Aucoin said.
I can personally attest to this. Ships that rotate out from Seventh Fleet have been beaten to hell and back again. While the fleet repair and maintenance facilities at Yokosuka maintain normal business hours, the workers there are always busy, even for Japanese.
Captains regularly get only four hours of sleep per night. 12-hour watches at sea are the norm. Systems have to be bypassed or locked out entirely in desperate "good enough for now" quick fixes.
Other telling signs: 7th fleet, unlike any other fleet in the US Navy, literally has a blank-check budget for fuel expenditures. Keep in mind, this is a fleet with only one carrier, a few cruisers, and a single DESRON. And yet 7th fleet will burn through more fuel than any two other fleets combined.
This should be telling. But the Pentagon ignores 7th Fleet. And then they got the gall to wonder what happened when shit like this happens.