Less than three months after he took command of the guided-missile cruiser Antietam, Capt. Tadd Gorman was relieved of command Tuesday.
Officials with the Japan-based Task Force 70 declined to specify why he was fired, but attributed it to “a loss of confidence in his personal judgement and ability to command.”
Gorman took the helm of the warship on May 30 in Guam. He could not be reached for comment.
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Gorman, 46, has been reassigned to Task Force 70, which is embarked on the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, according to spokesman Lt. Cmdr. William Knight.
The Antietam has been underway as part of the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group and made a port call in the Philippine capital of Manila earlier this month, according to a Navy release.
Knight declined to say whether Gorman faces other disciplinary actions.
“The removal of Capt. Gorman from his position as commanding officer is administrative in nature,” Knight said. “It would be inappropriate to discuss possible further actions at this time.”
Capt. Jim Storm, the deputy commander of the Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center, has assumed command of the Antietam, Knight said.
Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, Gorman was commissioned in 1996. He previously served as executive officer and commanding officer of the guided-missile destroyer Ross during its homeport shift to Rota, Spain.
He’s the second Antietam CO to be fired since 2017.
Capt. Joseph Carrigan was removed in early 2017 after the ship ran aground in Tokyo Bay, the first of four major ship collisions in the west Pacific 7th Fleet that year.
Gorman’s relief was the third triad removal announced on Tuesday by the Pentagon.
Superiors fired the executive officer of the fast attack submarine Jimmy Carter, Lt. Cmdr. Jonathan Cebik, and the XO of the guided-missile destroyer McCampbell — Lt. Cmdr. Randall Clemons — also was relieved and reassigned to other duties.
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Geoff is the managing editor of Military Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.
