Month: May 2023

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Defense News: Navy Releases findings from Investigation into Command Climate and Sailor Quality of Service onboard USS George Washington

Source: United States Navy

The investigation examined the service challenges unique to aircraft carriers undergoing midlife refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) in a shipyard environment.

“Navy leadership is working relentlessly to improve Quality of Service for our Sailors. This investigation provides solution-oriented, prioritized, and actionable recommendations aimed at implementing a number of immediate and long-term changes to improve the lives and workplace for our Sailors,” said Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command. “We are working daily and aggressively to ensure support and resources are available to Sailors in the shipyards, at sea, and at home.” 

 As the investigating team identified opportunities to improve Sailor QoS, USFFC took immediate action to rectify deficiencies in the short term and outline corrective measures for the long term.

To provide clear targets, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday released a memo titled Setting a New Course for Navy Quality of Service May 15 to provide Commanders’ Intent and directly address the identified areas from the investigation. These include, but are not limited to:

  • Every Sailor deserves a deliberate strategy for strengthening their mental and physical health: The toughness and resilience of their mind, body, and spirit.
  • Every Sailor deserves the opportunity to go to sea.
  • Every Sailor deserves the opportunity to live off the ship while in an industrial environment (includes public/private shipyards and major availabilities on naval bases).
  • Every Sailor, especially those assigned to a ship or submarine in the shipyard, deserves access to convenient, affordable, and nutritious food.
  • Every Sailor deserves convenient access to free, high speed WiFi in unaccompanied housing and Morale Welfare and Recreation centers.
  • Every Sailor unable to perform normally assigned duties deserves full, direct support.

Changes already in place include increases in mental health provider manning, provide off-ship housing opportunities, expanded food services, and improved parking options. Further actions will include expanded Wi-Fi in housing and recreational centers and policies to ensure first-enlistment Sailors do not spend the entirety of their initial enlistment in the yards.

The investigation team included subject matter experts with a wide breadth of experience and from various backgrounds. It reviewed areas spanning command climate, safety, habitability, personnel and manning, mental health, security, human factors, Navy policies, overall shipyard safety, and disciplinary and administrative actions and procedures.  

The full investigation can be found here: GW Quality of Service Investigation_All Endorsements_11May23_Redacted.pdf (navy.mil)

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Defense News: Navy Releases findings from Investigation into Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center Deaths

Source: United States Navy

The investigation examined the root causes of the four deaths by suicide.

“My highest priority has been to ensure the Sailors under my command are safe, supported, and have access to vital resources,” said Rear Adm. Eric Ver Hage, Commander, Navy Regional Maintenance Center. “Based on this investigation, we have taken steps to effect positive lasting change within MARMC and greater Regional Maintenance Center populations to prevent similar tragedies in the future.”

Examples of some of the changes implemented since November 2022 include the reduction of MARMC’s limited duty population, the addition of an onsite Navy Chaplain and Military and Family Life Counselor, increased senior leader visits/workforce engagements, and the physical evaluation board acceleration of the disability evaluation process, in which decisions regarding Sailors’ fitness for continued Naval service are rendered.

“The findings and recommended actions from the report are being shared with Navy leadership partners as we look at the Fleet-wide impact and areas for improvement, as well as the Navy’s Learning to Action Board to increase Navy-wide learning,” said Vice Adm. Bill Galinis, Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command. “We must do our best to learn from these incidents in order to prevent similar tragedies in the future.” 

Further action will be taken as a result of the investigation recommendations. The Navy remains committed to ensuring the health, safety, and well-being for all members within our military community.

The full investigation can be found here: https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Portals/103/Documents/FOIA-PII/ReadingRoom/Investigations/MARMC_Command_Investigation-FINAL.pdf

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Defense News: Readout of U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday’s Meeting with Chief of the Royal Norwegian Navy Rear Adm. Rune Andersen

Source: United States Navy

Today, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday met with Chief of the Royal Norwegian Navy Rear Adm. Rune Andersen in Cork, Ireland, at the Chiefs of European Navies Conference.

The two discussed the vital role of the maritime domain, as well as regional security and stability, and the importance of the arctic.

Gilday thanked Andersen for Norway’s commitment to international security and their significant contributions. He expressed that Norway is the alliance’s eyes and ears in the High North.

The two reaffirmed their shared commitment to NATO, as well as continuing their efforts to increase interchangeability.

The U.S. Navy and Norway have built significant levels of interoperability and continue to operate together around the globe. In addition to integrated deployments and real-world operations, the navies regularly participate in regional exercises such as Baltic Operations and Joint Warrior. Their work together highlights NATO’s ability to integrate high-end maritime warfare capabilities to defend the alliance.

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District Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Firearms Offense

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – John Maurice West, 29, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty today to a federal firearms charge stemming from his possession of a loaded firearm on June 27, 2022, aboard a Metrorail train and in the 1700 block of 8th Street NW, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Chief Michael Anzallo, of the Metro Transit Police Department, and Chief Robert J. Contee III, of the Metropolitan Police Department.

            West pleaded guilty in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a person convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.  Judge Jia M. Cobb scheduled a sentencing hearing for September 8, 2023. 

            According to the government’s evidence, on June 27, 2022, West threatened another man with a gun while aboard a Metrorail train at the Gallery Place–Chinatown Metro Station.  The victim disembarked at the next station and reported the offense.  Surveillance footage revealed that West exited the Metro at the Shaw–Howard University station and ran into the 1700 block of 8th Street NW, in the District’s Shaw neighborhood.  Surveillance footage also depicted West in and around the entryway of an apartment building in that block moments before his arrest.  Police canvassed the area and found a loaded, semi-automatic handgun concealed in a drainage pipe.  Subsequent DNA testing and analysis linked both the handgun and its magazine to West. 

            West was arrested on June 27, 2022, and has remained in custody ever since.

            Federal law prohibits West from possessing a firearm because, in 2014, he was convicted in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia of possession with intent to distribute cocaine while armed with a firearm.

            West faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentence imposed in this case will be determined by the Court after considering the United States Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Graves, Chief Anzallo, and Chief Contee commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metro Transit and Metropolitan Police Departments.  They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Karla Nunez.

            Finally, they commended the efforts of Assistant United States Attorneys Paul V. Courtney and Thomas G. Strong, who investigated and prosecuted the case.

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Justice Department Secures Settlement in Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Missouri Landlord

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department announced today that it has secured a settlement from a St. Louis, Missouri landlord, who has agreed to pay $110,000 to resolve a lawsuit alleging that he violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) when he sexually harassed multiple female tenants.

Under the agreement, subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Nedzad Ukejnovic is required to pay $85,000 to compensate individuals harmed by the harassment and $20,000 to compensate the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council for resources it expended responding to the reported harassment. The defendant is also required to pay a $5,000 civil penalty to the United States. 

“Far too often landlords sexually harass and prey on those who are most vulnerable and it is unacceptable,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will continue to vigorously enforce fair housing laws to hold those who engage in unlawful conduct to account.”

“Multiple tenants complained that Mr. Ukejnovic subjected them to vulgar and disgusting demands for sex, offering to reduce rent or security deposits if they complied,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming for the Eastern District of Missouri. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office takes allegations like these seriously and seeks to hold all civil rights violators accountable whether civilly or criminally. This agreement not only provides for monetary compensation, but it also prohibits him from contacting these tenants, bars him from his properties when a lease is in effect and requires him to hire an independent property manager to prevent further violations of the civil rights laws. All of these are measures that will help protect current and future tenants.”

“It is abhorrent that a landlord would subject his tenants to sexual harassment and retaliation, robbing them of a safe place to call home,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Demetria L. McCain of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “This settlement sends a strong message that sexual harassment in housing is illegal and that those who violate the Fair Housing Act will be held accountable. HUD applauds today’s action and remains committed to working with DOJ to enforce our nation’s fair housing laws.”

In addition, the consent order requires the defendant to retain an independent property manager to manage his rental properties for the duration of the order, obtain fair housing training and implement non-discrimination policies and complaint procedures to prevent sexual harassment at his properties in the future.

The lawsuit, filed in September 2022, alleged that the defendant subjected multiple female tenants to harassment that included making unwelcome sexual advances, offering to reduce rent or security deposits in exchange for engaging in sex acts, requesting sexually explicit photos, staring at female tenants’ bodies in a sexual way, subjecting female tenants to unwelcome sexual touching, and visiting and entering female tenants’ homes for no legitimate purpose.

The matter was referred to the Justice Department after HUD received two separate complaints alleging that the defendant had violated the Fair Housing Act. The complainants – a former female tenant and the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council, a non-profit organization that helped the tenant file a complaint with HUD and engaged in outreach and education efforts following defendant’s harassment of the tenant – chose to have the matter decided in federal court after HUD investigated their complaints and issued a charge of discrimination. Upon receiving the referral the Justice Department investigated further and identified additional female tenants whom the defendant sexually harassed.

The Justice Department’s Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative is led by the Civil Rights Division, in coordination with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the country. The initiative seeks to address and raise awareness about sexual harassment by landlords, property managers, maintenance workers, loan officers and other people who have control over housing. Since launching the initiative, the department has filed 31 lawsuits alleging sexual harassment in housing and recovered over $10.8 million for victims of such harassment.   

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division enforces the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability and familial status. The Civil Rights Division is committed to protecting people from sexual misconduct. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.justice.gov/crt. Individuals may report sexual harassment or other forms of housing discrimination by calling the Justice Department’s Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-833-591-0291, or submitting a report online. Individuals may also report such discrimination by contacting HUD at 1-800-669-9777 or by filing a complaint online.