A US Navy officer relieved of commanding a Persian Gulf patrol ship allegedly failed to maintain equipment to the point of exposing "his crew to unnecessary risk," interfered with an inquiry into his actions and once slept drunk on a bench at a Dubai port, according to a naval investigation.
The accusations against Lt Cmdr Jeremiah Daley saw the Navy on March 12 remove him from the USS Typhoon, a Manama, Bahrain-based vessel patrolling a region crucial to global oil supplies where American forces routinely have tense encounters with Iranian forces.
Daley, now assigned to Task Force 55, was on leave today and unavailable for comment, according to the US Navy's 5th Fleet, which is based in Bahrain and oversees the task force. Later reached by The Associated Press, Daley said he was challenging the report and appealing his punishment as a "good number of things are 100 percent not true." He declined to elaborate, saying he wanted the appeal process "to take its course."
The 300-page investigative report into Daley's actions, obtained by the AP through a Freedom of Information Act request, shows his crew also complained about his poor management style, with one sailor saying morale aboard the ship was the "worst" the sailor had seen in a 28-year career.
Daley assumed command of the Typhoon, a coastal patrol ship that typically carries 24 enlisted personnel and four officers, in May 2015. The Typhoon is one of 10 Cyclone-class ships the Navy bases out of Manama to patrol shallow waters in the Persian Gulf, providing security amid the US campaign against the Islamic State group and other extremists while offering a counterbalance to Iranian vessels in the region.
The investigation into Daley began in February after a survey found a majority of those on board the Typhoon didn't trust the vessel's leadership. The Navy conducted focus groups with those onboard and though officials redacted much of their responses, witness statements included in the report show there were concerns about Daley not following the chain of command.
