U.S. APRIL 10, 2018 / 2:39 PM / UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO

After deadly crashes in Pacific, U.S. Navy refocuses on leadership

Idrees Ali
3 MIN READ

NEWPORT, R.I. (Reuters) - After a pair of crashes involving U.S. Navy ships in the Asia-Pacific killed more than a dozen people last year, the Navy’s efforts to develop its leaders is receiving renewed attention.

Last week, the Navy inaugurated the College of Leadership and Ethics at the U.S. Naval War College in Rhode Island.

Seventeen sailors were killed last year in two collisions with commercial vessels involving guided-missile destroyers, the Fitzgerald in June off Japan and the John S. McCain in August as it approached Singapore.

The commanding officers of the Navy destroyers involved in the collisions face courts-martial and military criminal charges. Charges against them include dereliction of duty, hazarding a vessel and negligent homicide.

A series of Navy investigations found rising pressure to meet demands for more and more Navy operations, particularly in the Pacific Ocean, led those in command to rationalize declining standards that ranged from basic seamanship to operational safety.

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