Report: Fired Navy skipper made sailors work at family reunion

VIRGINIA BEACH

A local Navy skipper who lost his command this summer was fired in part for making his sailors work on a Sunday to help him host a family reunion at which he allowed his relatives to drive military vehicles and go for rides on a landing craft, according to a Navy investigation report.

Cmdr. Robert M. Brown, who had been the commanding officer of Beachmaster Unit 2 since May 2010, also allowed inappropriate purchases to be made on the taxpayers' dime and failed to put controls in place after the supply department approved expenses including a MacBook computer, high-end cellphones that weren't compatible with the Navy's computer network, and luggage, the investigation says.

Brown was removed from the beachmaster unit, located at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, in August, soon after one of his sailors reported the family reunion. Last week, Brown went to admiral's mast, where he was issued a punitive letter of reprimand, which could potentially end his career.

The Navy released a copy of its investigation to The Virginian-Pilot on Friday.

It says the reunion took place July 17. Roughly 120 people were there, including relatives from Texas, Arizona, Missouri and Maryland, Brown told investigators. He said he wanted his family to see his command, so he ordered his sailors to set up a display on the beach with an array of military vehicles, two beach landing crafts, a 20-man tent and various unloaded weapons. (Beachmaster units deploy with expeditionary forces to help with beach landings and evacuations.)

According to the investigation, some of Brown's subordinates expressed concern about the plan, including Brown's deputy, the executive officer.

"I told him operating the gear was not a good idea and that we did not have permission to operate on the beaches or in the harbor," the executive officer told investigators. "The C.O. got more heated and said we would find a way to do it."

On the day of the reunion, Brown's relatives drove hulking all-terrain vehicles and Humvees and went for rides in the water in the landing crafts. They posed for photos with the weapons, the report says.

One sailor told investigators that he initially was under the impression that the display was for a group of senators or dignitaries. He said he was surprised to learn that it was actually for the skipper's family.

"Everyone was kind of mad that they had to come in on a Sunday to do this," he said.

The report says that when one sailor began snapping pictures during the event, Brown ordered him into his office. "I went to his office," the sailor told investigators. "Then (Brown) goes, 'You know what, you wanna be a sea lawyer? You think you know people? You can call the inspector general. You can call the congressman. I don't care...' "

Brown then cursed and told the sailor he was going to have him kicked out of the Navy, the report says.

Brown told investigators that at the time he saw the event as no different than the skipper of a ship bringing his family to see his vessel.

Still, he acknowledged, "I did not look at how it could be perceived by an outside entity."

The investigation report details other questionable decisions by Brown. For instance, he allowed sailors to take old metal hydraulic lifts to a private recycler to be sold for scrap, and the money - roughly $1,000 - was placed into the command's recreation fund, possibly to be spent on a Christmas party.

The report says Brown allowed inappropriate purchases to be made at the government's expense, including a travel bag on wheels for his personal use and 50 Leatherman tools for him to give to new sailors coming into the unit.

The investigation examined a number of inappropriate purchases approved by the unit's supply department between November 2009 and August 2011, including a MacBook computer that investigators determined was taken home by a sailor for personal use and smartphones that weren't compatible with the Navy's email system.

"It had been brought to Cmdr. Brown's attention that there were discrepancies with Beachmaster Unit 2's purchases and credit card program," the investigation states. "Although many of the discrepancies had been taken care of, Cmdr. Brown never instituted a policy of reviewing or approving purchases that could be considered questionable nor did he institute a threshold purchase amount requiring his review."

Brown enlisted in the Navy in 1984. He could not be reached for comment. He is now assigned to administrative duties at Naval Beach Group 2.

Beachmaster Unit 2 is now led by Cmdr. Steven Hull.

Corinne Reilly, (757) 446-2949, corinne.reilly@pilotonline.com