I’ve seen links to this Navy Times article on various sites. An excerpt.

Their report documents the routine, almost casual, violations of standing orders on a Fitz bridge that often lacked skippers and executive officers, even during potentially dangerous voyages at night through busy waterways.

The probe exposes how personal distrust led the officer of the deck, Lt. j.g. Sarah Coppock, to avoid communicating with the destroyer’s electronic nerve center — the combat information center, or CIC — while the Fitzgerald tried to cross a shipping superhighway.

When Fort walked into the trash-strewn CIC in the wake of the disaster, he was hit with the acrid smell of urine. He saw kettlebells on the floor and bottles filled with pee. Some radar controls didn’t work and he soon discovered crew members who didn’t know how to use them anyway.

Fort found a Voyage Management System that generated more “trouble calls” than any other key piece of electronic navigational equipment. Designed to help watchstanders navigate without paper charts, the VMS station in the skipper’s quarters was broken so sailors cannibalized it for parts to help keep the rickety system working.

Since 2015, the Fitz had lacked a quartermaster chief petty officer, a crucial leader who helps safely navigate a warship and trains its sailors — a shortcoming known to both the destroyer’s squadron and Navy officials in the United States, Fort wrote.

Fort determined that Fitz’s crew was plagued by low morale; overseen by a dysfunctional chiefs mess; and dogged by a bruising tempo of operations in the Japan-based 7th Fleet that left exhausted sailors with little time to train or complete critical certifications.

But I’ll be willing to bet that they were up to date on their Diversity (All Hail Diversity!) and Sexual Harassment training.

As I’ve said before, the collision was totally avoidable. Six minutes after a contact is spotted on radar, the radar operator should already have the CPA (Closest Point of Approach) and if he is half way competent, the course and speed. I was an electronics technician who stood radar watches on the Iredell County (LST-839) and I could do it. Plus, there is a radar repeater on the con and any idiot with a grease pencil and a ruler could easily determine the CPA. The OODs on the Iredell County could.

And WTF was the matter with the ETs on that ship? I was an ET, and altho’ I was not a big fan of Navy discipline (I’m surprised at some of the stuff I got away with) I always kept my gear up to snuff. I don’t care how bad my morale was, I took pride in my work. For the last year of my enlistment, I was the only ET on board who could fix anything and everyone knew it which is why I got away with what I did. I kept all my equipment in top notch shape. The ET gang on that ship had to be a bunch of losers.

As for readiness, it is not solely a Navy problem. Over the holidays, I talked to an Army dude who has been in for 17 years (and is really looking forward to getting out in 3 more years). He was bitching about readiness and how it has taken a back seat to SHARP. He was really irate about this.

“What’s SHARP”, I asked.

He told me. SHARP is Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention. According to him, that is much more important than readiness training. He’s had to stand down from a training exercise to attend a SHARP class. Can you imagine that?

The purpose of the military is to kill people and break things but the dweebs at the Pentagon have decided that SHARP is more important. I’m sure it was on the Fitzgerald as well.

We’re doomed!