Civilian visits won't be casualty of fishing boat-sub accident
By Dan Nakaso and Susan Roth
Advertiser Staff Writers
Influential and well-connected visitors can still tour Navy ships, planes and submarines even after the fatal crash between a Japanese fishing vessel and a U.S. fast-attack submarine with civilians at its controls.
The visitor program was among those spared by a Navy court of inquiry that investigated the Feb. 9 crash south of Diamond Head.
But military analysts wonder whether the visitor program was ever truly scrutinized.
"It's startling that any decision is being made not only on policy, but also on punishment without taking testimony from any civilians," said Eugene Fidell, a former Coast Guard lawyer and president of the National Institute of Military Justice in Washington. "It's all wrapped up with the Navy's deep commitment to the visitors' program."
John Isaacs, president of the Washington-based Council for a Livable World, an arms control lobbying group, said, "the temporary moratorium is temporary cover. They want to do what they've always done, which is to get civilians on board to help build support for the military. They'll do anything they can to win support for high military budgets."
The military believes that visitors' programs are critical to maintaining public support in a time of peace, with a volunteer force and questions raised about the ever-increasing costs of military technology.
Three civilians were at the controls of the USS Greeneville when it blasted out of the ocean and smashed into the Ehime Maru fishing vessel, killing nine Japanese men and boys.
In direct violation of Navy policies, the USS Greeneville left Pearl Harbor on Feb. 9 for the sole purpose of taking 16 civilians on a tour. The ship's captain revealed classified information about the Greeneville's speed and depth capabilities. And six hours after they got underway, three of the civilians were at the Greeneville's controls when it slammed into the Ehime Maru.
A preliminary National Transportation Safety Board investigation found that the civilians interfered with the operations aboard the USS Greeneville. And the three admirals who presided over the subsequent court of inquiry, armed with the power to subpoena civilians, promised to fully investigate the visitor program.
The admirals did not call any of the civilians as witnesses.
Some of the Navy admirals who testified praised the visitor program for preserving military financing and allowing sailors and officers to show off both their professionalism and their ships.
In their report, the admirals concluded that the civilians "indirectly affected the performance of key" Greeneville crewmen in the sub's control room. They criticized the absence of guidelines restricting classified information and cited the lack of oversight of the program.
Despite the criticisms, the admirals concluded, guests should still be allowed because "they are instrumental in increasing public awareness of the Navy and its mission and provide value to both the Navy and U.S. citizens."
Their recommendations went to Adm. Thomas Fargo, the commander of the Pacific Fleet, who agreed:
"The Distinguished Visitor embarkation program is extremely valuable to a nation like ours," Fargo said. "The public has a right to know and understand how the Navy operates and the service it provides to the country."
Last year, 307 guests went on 21 trips aboard fast-attack submarines throughout the Pacific Fleet — an average of 15 visitors per trip. The entire fleet of fast-attack and ballistic submarines and surface ships conducted 158 civilian tours involving 7,836 guests.
After the Greeneville crash, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ordered a moratorium on allowing civilians to directly operate military equipment.
On Feb. 22, Rumsfeld set the moratorium on "permitting civilian visitors to operate any item of military equipment when such operation could cause, or reasonably be perceived as causing, an increased safety risk." He said the policy was effective regardless of how closely military personnel supervise the civilian visitors. Rumsfeld also asked the military services to review their visitor policies.
Fidell was skeptical the review would lead to substantive reform.
"I think it's certainly a minimalist fix for the most startling aspect of this case, the fact that the (Greeneville's) voyage would never have taken place but for the civilians," he said.
