Navy Seabees FIRE three top commanders over ‘loss of confidence’

Last updated on February 26th, 2022 at 01:29 pm

Top three commanders overseeing Amphibious Construction Battalion 2 (SeaBee) which included commanding officer Capt. Jeffrey Lengkeek, command master Chief Matthew Turner, and executive office Commander Michael Jarosz were fired Friday due to “a loss of confidence in their abilities to effectively perform their leadership roles”.

Lt. Cmdr. Paul Newell, a spokesman for Navy Expeditionary Combat Command informs that the officers are, for the time being, relieved from their duties. This will be followed by a formal command investigation. The army does not plan to take any further disciplinary measures for the time being.

What prompted the investigation remains unclear.

While Turner had served his role since July 2019, Jarosz and Lengkeek had been in their position since July 2020.

Their temporary replacements will serve until a permanent relief is identified. The navy assured that the departure of the officers will have no impact on the command’s mission or schedule.

The Amphibious Construction Battalion 2 provides ship-to-shore movement of maritime pre-position equipment ashore and is situated on Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Virginia Beach, Va. Though it is a rare thing to find the entire command to be suspended from their duties, similar situations have occurred in recent years.

In 2019, three officers with San Diego-based SEAL Team 7 were fired due to a “loss of confidence”. It was after they were investigated over an alcohol party and sexual assault investigation on the 4^th of July.

A year before that, according to the navy times, the command triad of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4 was fired after being found intoxicated and walking naked in the woods.

In 2016, on account of gambling onboard and storing fireworks, three top officers on the destroyer USS Bainbridge were also fired.

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