The entire command triad of the Navy’s Amphibious Construction Battalion 2 was fired Friday.
Navy officials said the reliefs of commanding officer Capt. Jeffrey Lengkeek, executive officer Cmdr. Michael Jarosz and Command Master Chief Matthew Turner were “due to a loss of confidence in their abilities to effectively perform their leadership roles.”
Lt. Cmdr. Paul Newell, a spokesman for Expeditionary Strike Group 2, told Navy Times Monday that the firings happened “following a formal command investigation.”
“While the investigation remains open, we do not intend to take further disciplinary action against the triad members at this time,” said Newell, who declined to provide further details for the firings.
Lengkeek and Jarosz served as leaders of the Seabee unit since July 2020, while Turner has been the unit’s senior enlisted leader since July 2019.
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All three have been permanently reassigned to Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, according to Newell.
“There is no impact to the command’s mission or schedule,” the release states.
Capt. Brian Finman has been named the battalion’s temporary CO, while Cmdr. Henry Price will serve as interim XO and Master Chief Todd Mangin will take on command master chief duties.
ACB 2 is based at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Virginia Beach, and it provides ship-to-shore movements of gear, as well as camp support and installation and oversight of bulk fuel and water systems.
Correction: an earlier version of this story misstated to which command the fired triad members have been reassigned. Based on updated information provided by the Navy, they have been reassigned to Navy Region Mid-Atlantic. An earlier version of this story also misstated the command for whom Lt. Cmdr. Paul Newell is a spokesman. He is a spokesman for Expeditionary Strike Group 2. The story has been updated.
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.
