Actually it was more of a, “And we shall never speak of this again.” kind of thing.
3 Likes
Since you tested the CIWS I am guessing you were underway at the time and pretty far out to sea? Was there a reason he couldn’t have just tossed the 20mm rounds overboard? Seems safer than storing them in his locker and since they had already been expended it would have solved the inventory issue permanently too.
Wheels
1 Like
Yes, we typically do the practice fires out on one of the at sea ranges. However…
The correct procedure, once the discrepancy was noticed, would have been to add some type of addendum to the official logs, correcting the count. That would have involved a lot of paperwork and perhaps some uncomfortable questions but in the end, nobody would have gotten into real trouble…unlike the trouble that William of Guam found himself in when it was all over.
As an engineer, I had a problem with the “Counting CIWS ammo is more of an Art than a Science.” that I heard bandied about from the weapons folks.
I think it is more “Counting the CIWS rounds before they go in the gun and then taking the mount off line and counting the rounds after it has been fired, reloading it, doing alll the checks and putting it back on line is a real pain in the butt, so we just guesstimate it all…”
But hey, its wasn’t my division, so who am I to argue. 
5 Likes
Yeah… I could wax furious for hours about how the differences in what was considered accountability between topside and below decks folks really, really angered me, especially depending on the chain of command; my first CO was a real piece of work in that regard.
Ah, right. Because officer, instead of enlisted, who did it. 
3 Likes
Actually, the officer went to Mast and had the book thrown at him. Think he was awarded a punitive LOR. Career–such as it was–ended.
I took it that the “we shall never speak of this…” was more due to the CO getting his chain pulled over this by the other COs on the waterfront. He was a “piece of work” anyway…had no sense of humor.
I lived in that stateroom for a while and often thought of this when opening that locker.
3 Likes
Wow. That was definitely intended to drive home a point. Good on the chain of command for doing their job!
Wondering what other “surprises” may have been in there?
4 Likes
1 Like