The commanding officer of the guided-missile cruiser Normandy was relieved of command Tuesday in the middle of the warship’s deployment, and less than eight months after he took command.
The Navy announced the firing in a brief press release stating that Capt. Simon McKeon was relieved “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command.” It offered few other comments regarding the reasons behind the relief.
But U.S. 2nd Fleet spokeswoman Cmdr. Lara Bollinger told Navy Times there is an ongoing Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation related to the firing and declined further comment.
“We will provide more details at the appropriate time,” Bollinger said.
Normandy left Norfolk, Virginia, last month as one of the ships in the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group for the aircraft carrier’s maiden deployment.
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McKeon took command of the ship in March. His relief is not impacting the ship’s mission or schedule as it operates in the Atlantic Ocean, according to the Navy.
He could not be reached for comment.
Capt. Gary Chase is serving as Normandy’s temporary commanding officer.
McKeon graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1998 and did his executive officer/commanding officer fleet-up tour aboard the destroyer Curtis Wilbur, according to his online biography.
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.
