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"Leadership vacuum" cited in Navy divers' deaths
http://hamptonroads.com/2014/01/leadership-vacuum-cited-navy-divers-deaths"Leadership vacuum" cited in Navy divers' deaths
By Dianna Cahn
The Virginian-Pilot
© January 13, 2014
NORFOLK
The top officer of the unit that lost two Navy divers in a training accident last year said the command's leadership was deeply fractured long before he'd arrived - and morale plunged when he tried to make needed changes.
Cmdr. Michael Runkle was sacked as commanding officer of Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2 last spring after the Feb. 26 deaths during a training dive at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.
Runkle, now assigned to administrative duty, has not spoken publicly but is slated to testify this week at the trial of the first of three men charged in the case.
In the written response to his dismissal, obtained by The Virginian-Pilot through the Freedom of Information Act, Runkle described a broken chain of command in which he was perceived as distant and disengaged. He said his executive officer and the command master chief used intimidation, bullying and fear to prevent sailors from approaching him.
