The executive officer of Point Mugu, Calif. Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 55 was fired Friday for poor job performance. Dec. 18.
Cmdr. C. Patrick Smith, was ousted by Capt. Scott Eargle, the head of Fleet Logistics Support Wing commander, due to a loss of confidence in Smith's ability to command the Point Mugu, California-based logistics squadron. and continue to serve in his current billet.
The reasons for Smith's relief were professional in nature, according to Lt. Wes Holzapfel, spokesman for the Chief of Naval Air Forces Reserve in Norfolk, Va.
The relief, he said, was not due to any personal misconduct and was carried out after previous verbal and written counseling had failed raisecorrect Smith’s on-the-job performance. Holzapfel said he couldn’t discuss the details of the relief any further.
Smith is a native of New York and graduated from the Naval Academy in 1998. He was winged as a naval aviator in 2000 and trained to fly P-3’s, serving on active-duty until 2007, when he left active duty and affiliated with the reserves and VR-55.
Retraining in C-130’s, Smith mobilized back to active-duty in 2009 and served as VR-55’s Safety, Maintenance and Operations officer before becoming the second-in-command executive officer on on Dec. 12, 2014.
Smith, who could not be immediately reached for comment, will be administratively reassigned to Navy Operational Support Center Point Mugu, Calif. Cmdr. Dan Pugh, has assumed the duties as VR-55's XO, having been designated as the prospective XO in October.
When fired, Smith, who Hozapfel confirmed is a selected reservist, was removed 12 months into what is normally a roughly 15-month executive officer tour that followed by a command tour. Smith would have ascended to command and relieved That XO tour is usually followed by another 15-months at the same unit in command. Though no exact dates had been set, Smith would have been expected to ascend to command and relieve Cmdr Joel A. Fragale, the current commanding officer who is reserve full-time support officer, within the next six months.
But The firing has disrupted that schedule, Holzapfel said. cause that schedule to be reworked, he said.
"[Fragale] will extend as CO for six months, which will give Cmdr. Pugh requisite experience as XO to succeed in follow-on command," Holzapfel said. "We are confident that the experience Cmdr. Pugh has gained during his career will allow him to adapt to his role quickly and effectively."
executive officer of VR-55 after having been designated as the prospective executive officer in October.
Mark D. Faram is a former reporter for Navy Times. He was a senior writer covering personnel, cultural and historical issues. A nine-year active duty Navy veteran, Faram served from 1978 to 1987 as a Navy Diver and photographer.
