San Antonio case won't lower expectations, admiral says

NORFOLK

For Lt. Cmdr. Sean Kearns, the outcome of last week's court-martial is crystal clear. Kearns, former executive officer of the troubled amphibious transport dock San Antonio, was found not guilty of criminal negligence related to the death of a sailor who drowned last year in the Gulf of Aden.

For the man who opted to send Kearns to trial, the ramifications of the case are more murky.

Adm. John C. Harvey said he did not take lightly the decision to court-martial Kearns.

Harvey inherited the situation after taking charge of Fleet Forces Command, which is responsible for training, equipping and maintaining naval forces and supplying them to military commanders. Two investigations into what happened Feb. 4, 2009, the day Petty Officer 1st Class Theophilus Ansong died, had been completed, but no actions had been taken.

Harvey said he felt he owed it to Ansong's family, and the crew of the San Antonio, to deal with the lingering issue.

In May, he issued a letter of reprimand to Cmdr. Eric Cash, the ship's commanding officer. He had fewer options with Kearns, who had transferred to a shore job. Once Kearns left the ship, he had the right to refuse administrative punishment, which he did. That left Harvey with two options: let Kearns off the hook entirely, or send him to trial.

Given the ship's many woes, Harvey's decision, and Kearns' ensuing trial, were certain to stir controversy. The five-day proceeding garnered much attention, with observers inside and outside the Navy wondering how the ship's deficiencies might affect the case. Much of Kearns' defense was based on the lack of clear guidance for sailors in how to conduct operations such as the lowering of small boats. Ansong's boat flipped, throwing him into the water. His body was never found.

In an interview Tuesday, Harvey said this was the first case he's taken to court-martial in 37 years in the Navy.

Although he is not allowed by the Navy's legal code to comment on the case or the jury's verdict, the four-star admiral acknowledged concern about the message the acquittal may send.

He offered a warning to the officers who command or serve as second-in-command aboard Navy warships. They need not fear becoming scapegoats when things go awry, he said. But neither can they claim that less-than-ideal circumstances absolve them of responsibility.

"The absolute responsibility that you have is the Navy's greatest strength because it gives you the ability to command. And with that responsibility comes the accountability that ensures command is worth something, and worthy of those we lead."

Gesturing to a black-and-white snapshot on the wall of his office of three naval legends of World War II - Admirals Chester Nimitz, Ernest King, and Raymond Spruance - Harvey said he felt he owes them something.

"Those are the guys who brought this Navy through World War II," Harvey said. "Those are the ones who gave me this Navy that I've been entrusted to this position with. I can't turn away from that responsibility."

Harvey said he's concerned that junior sailors could come to feel that high-ranking people are immune from being held accountable.

"The issue here is trust, and that's the only issue," Harvey said. "If you don't have the trust of those you lead, you don't have anything."

It's important for sailors to understand that the Navy sets a standard of accountability to ensure their leaders are worthy of trust, he said.

"And I will do everything in my power - legally, morally, ethically - to enforce and sustain that standard of accountability.

"Our leaders must be worthy of the trust of those they lead."

Legal responsibility is one thing, Harvey said. The Navy's standards of accountability, developed over 235 years, go beyond that mark.

The biggest challenge for those in command, in his view, is having to make decisions "when you don't have the script you'd like to have."

Harvey entered the Navy in the 1970s as a nuclear officer. It was a difficult time for the service - he called it the "hollow Navy" because it lacked sailors, parts and time at sea. But the service's standards stayed high.

"I've been there, and I think I need to make some points that very rarely will you get the script you want, but the standard for our performance cannot change," Harvey said. "The standards are eternal. The script was pretty tough back then, pretty tough, but we didn't back down on what we expected."

Harvey is more than familiar with the difficulties that plague the San Antonio, a first-in-class ship that was only 90 percent complete when the Navy commissioned it in July 2005.

He recently decided that the ship would not deploy for a second overseas tour next year because it's not functioning at a high enough level.

Harvey did not give the ship a deadline.

"San Antonio will deploy when it is operationally sound and ready to go," he said at the time.

The admiral explained that he doesn't expect commanding and executive officers to take defective ships to sea. "At times it takes great moral courage on the part of an individual... to stand up and say 'I cannot do what you expect me to do,' " Harvey said.

He doesn't mind putting commanding officers in a tough position, he said.

"This is a tough business, and that's why we grow COs to deal with tough ones. But I also understand my responsibility to say 'Hey, if I'm going to put you in that position, it's because I understand the conditions you're operating under, and I expect you to perform under those conditions.' "

"I find it a reasonable expectation on my part. You may have to make some pretty tough calls.

"But I've put you in a position where, OK, make them."

Kate Wiltrout, (757) 446-2629, kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com