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Submarine
inquiry delayed
to March 5
The skipper's attorney has
asked for more time to
prepare for the caseAttorney experienced in
high-profile military casesBy Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-BulletinThe formal inquiry into the Feb. 9 sinking of a Japanese fishing trawler by a nuclear submarine was delayed for the second time, this time for another week.
Inquiry delayed
Vice Adm. John B. Nathman, head of three-admiral inquiry board, granted a request by the civilian attorney for the USS Greeneville's commanding officer to delay the court of inquiry until March 5.
Charles Gittins, who has tackled several high-profile military courts martial, has been hired by Cmdr. Scott Waddle.
He was the lead attorney in the highly publicized sexual misconduct trial of the Army's top enlisted man -- Sergeant Major Gene McKinney.
In March 1998, McKinney was acquitted on 18 charges of sexual misconduct. Those charges were based on the independent allegations of six different women, allegations that army prosecutors said showed a common pattern of behavior. But McKinney was convicted on only one count of obstruction of justice.
In explaining the latest delay for an inquiry, Pacific Fleet spokesman Capt. Kevin Wensing said Gittins cited the need for more time to prepare, as well as a conflict with another case.
The rare court of inquiry -- the Navy's highest administrative board -- was originally scheduled to start today, but had been postponed until Monday.
A panel of three admirals will judge the actions of Waddle; Lt. (j.g.) Michael Coen; and the Greeneville's executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Gerald Pfeifer.
The three admirals could recommend criminal charges and that Fargo convene a court-martial to consider charges ranging from involuntary manslaughter, negligent homicide, dereliction of duty and conduct unbecoming an officer.
Also joining the panel, which will be headed by Nathman, will be Rear Adm. Isamu Ozawa, chief of staff and commandant of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force's Maizuru District.Ozawa, 50, has served in submarines and has attended the U.S. Naval War College.
Pacific Fleet spokesman Jon Yoshishige said Ozawa will be included in the court's deliberations and may submit questions. However, he will not have a vote.
The search for the lost men and boys continued today, with the Coast Guard saying more than 31,515 square miles -- an area the size of South Carolina -- already has been covered.
Two Navy deep diving drones are combing the ocean floor, 2,300 feet down. The Navy said no bodies have been found.
Meanwhile, the Washington Times yesterday reported that the Greeneville detected a small vessel by sonar and concluded that it was at a safe distance before it executed the emergency surfacing maneuvering, ending up striking and sinking the Ehime Maru.
Before the Greeneville prepared for the emergency main ballast tank blow, Waddle brought the submarine to 60 feet below the surface, the newspaper said..
Coen, the officer of the deck on watch that day, did two complete, 360-degree sweeps of the surface using the Greeneville's periscope.
Waddle then took the periscope himself and made another visual check, focusing on the sonar bearing generated by the noise from the small vessel, the Washington Times reported.
The Washington Times said Waddle then ordered the submarine to move up two more feet and increased the periscope's magnification. At the time, waves were 4 to 6 feet. He also ordered that the TV monitors attached to the periscope in the control room be shut off to increase the light in the viewfinder.
The Navy has ordered that no civilians will be allowed at the controls of any submarine. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfield is preparing an order extending that ban to all military ships, aircraft and vehicles.
Yoshishige declined to discuss the Washington Times report, saying that it would be inappropriate to discuss these matters before the start of the inquiry.It has been speculated that the Japanese vessel and submarine were heading toward each other and the white Ehime Maru might have been camouflaged by the haze and white-capped waves. The 190-foot ship sank within 10 minutes, 10 miles south of Diamond Head.
Despite repeated requests from the Japanese government and family members of the nine missing people from the Ehime Maru, the United States has maintained that it may attempt to raise the sunken ship only "if it is technically feasible."
Yesterday, National Transportation Safety Board investigators inspected the massive submarine as it sat on blocks in Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard's dry dock 1. Its propeller system was covered.
Lt. Cmdr. Dave Werner, Pacific Fleet Submarine Force spokesman, said the Greeneville will be in the shipyard as long it is needed to complete its repairs. The paint on its rudder was scraped off in the collision and several yards of its sound-deafening titles on the left side were ripped off.
The Greeneville was to serve as the platform for a March 23 change of command ceremony for Rear Adm. Al Konetzi, the outgoing boss of the Pacific Fleet Submarine Force. Werner said the ceremony will still be held and Rear Adm. John Padgett III will be piped aboard as Konetzni's replacement on another submarine. Konetzni leaves to become Atlantic Fleet deputy commander and will receive his third star.
Investigators for the NTSB have already been told that the 16 civilians were crowded into Greeneville's compact control at the time of the accident and may have distracted the crew, preventing one of them from plotting the course of a vessel believed to be the Greeneville. Eight or nine sailors also were in the cramped space with the civilians.
A fire control technician said he was not able to complete his duties manually plotting the position of the Greeneville and nearby surface vessels on a paper chart because civilians were in his way.
Charles Gittins, a Marine Corps aviator turned lawyer, has been described as someone who makes the military cringe. Skipper’s attorney
experienced in high-profile
military casesBy Gregg K. Kakesako
Star BulletinHe has been retained to defend Cmdr. Scott Waddle, who was in charge of the 360-foot nuclear attack submarine USS Greeneville when it rammed a Japanese fishing vessel on Feb. 9, sinking it. Nine men and high school students who were aboard the Ehime Maru are still missing.
Gittins, a Marine Corps Reserve lieutenant colonel, has handled a string of military courts-martial, including one involving Sgt. Maj. of the Army Gene McKinney.
In previous media reports, he has been called a "bulldog," and his legal strategy described as "attack, attack, attack."
Honolulu attorney Eric Seitz, who has handled some high-profile military cases here, said although he has never met Gittins, the Virginia lawyer is highly regarded for his work.
The 1979 Naval Academy graduate maintains an office in Alexandria, Va., which he commutes to in his own twin-engine Cessna.
His cases have taken him around the country, from the McKinney case in 1998 to the Navy officers who were accused in the 1991 Tailhook scandal, to defending a woman who said she had been sexually abused by an Army general.
He defended Navy Cmdr. Bob Stumpf, a Gulf War veteran and former Blue Angel flight leader, whose promotion to captain was hung up in the Senate.
In 1998, McKinney -- who became the Army's highest-profile case since the Vietnam War's My Lai killings -- was acquitted of 18 of 19 charges of sexual misconduct.
That same year, Gittins defended Donnamaria Carpino, who accused Maj. Gen. David Hale of forcing her into a sexual relationship.
Hale later pleaded guilty to eight criminal offenses connected to the alleged consensual sexual affairs he had with wives of four of his subordinates.
He was demoted to brigadier general, losing one star and retirement benefits.
Star-Bulletin reporter Debra Barayuga
contributed to this report.