Hawaii Senator Questions Top Navy Officials

Hawaii U-S Senator Mazie Hirono questioned top Navy officials Tuesday about the factors leading to the recent collision involving ships in the Seventh Fleet. This year, four Navy Ships were involved in incidents, Two, the U-S-S Fitzgerald and the U-S-S McCain, were involved in major collision, which left 17 service members dead.

“And so the culture is probably that everyone wants to meet the demands for deployment, so the culture needs to be changed, that’s safety first. Is that what you mean?” Hirono asked Admiral John Richardson.

“I completely agree with you maam. We have a can-do culture, right, that’s what we do. Nobody wants to raise their hand and say I can’t do the mission.” Richardson, the Chief of Naval Operations replied.

“So now you’re going to institute a can-do with safety first culture?” asked Hirono.  “Exactly,” replied Richardson.

Hirono is the Ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Seapower Subcommittee. They are still awaiting a final report into what caused the incidents.