Looks like Admiral Papp is going to drop the hammer on Capt. Triner. As if he wasn't already in enough trouble now the Dec. 17 Cheboygan incident.

Permanent Relief Recommended for (new) Mackinaw Captain

1/12 - Cleveland

Rear Adm. Robert Papp, Commander of the Ninth Coast Guard District, has recommended to the Commandant of the Coast Guard that Capt. Donald Triner, commanding officer of the new Mackinaw, home ported in Cheboygan, Mich., be permanently relieved of command.

Papp temporarily relieved Triner of his command Dec. 15 after the cutter hit a break wall in Grand Haven, Mich. Papp made the decision to recommend permanent relief, citing loss of confidence in Triner’s ability to command. He reached this conclusion after reviewing investigations concerning the collision and subsequent reports of inappropriate use of alcohol by Triner and some members of his crew at an event in Cheboygan on Dec.17.

“After reviewing both investigations, I have concluded that Capt. Triner gave insufficient attention to navigation and ship-handling training during the ship’s shakedown cruise, thus contributing to the collision in Grand Haven,” said Papp. “With respect to the event in Cheboygan, Capt. Triner has exhibited personal behavior and conduct inconsistent with service norms and expectations for the commanding officer of a Coast Guard cutter.”

Triner is temporarily assigned to Sector Lake Michigan in Milwaukee. Capt. Michael Hudson is now in command of the cutter, a position he assumed following Triner’s temporary relief.

USCG News Release

Talk about a major "spanking"...

Heavy is the head that wears the crown...

Bob

Not unexpected. "A collision at sea can ruin your entire day"

What is sad is the amount of tax dollars (and scarce CG funds) that went into sending Capt Triner to many locations for the past 2 years so that he could learn how to use the azipod system and effectively crunch ice with the new ship.

Disappointing is his apparent lack of judgement at the "welcome to Cheboygan" party.

Hopefully the new skipper will be able to quickly get up to speed on driving the new ship, a significant investment of our tax dollars.

Talk about lack of judgement!!

These may be dumb questions, but I know nothing about the workings of the military. Won't the new skipper have to undergo the same training Capt.Triner had to go through? If it took a couple of years to train Capt.Triner on the azipod system and other "new" ship systems (to him), how can that be accomplished when Capt. Hudson is already in command of the ship? Or did he receive backup training for the eventuality of having to take over the command?

Not knowing his pedigree, Capt Hudson may be an experienced Great Lakes cutter CO. He may also not be the one permanently assigned. He may actually just be "on loan" from his normal duty assignment. This kind of situation tends to throw a major monkey wrench into the assignment process as some of these spots are slotted way in advance. Educated guess is that whomever they assign as permanent CO at this point will be a well seasoned skipper and will have to learn the special capabilities of Baby Mac on the job.

From the sounds of the article it could also be that some of the crew ends up reassigned. When you have a small crew and make significant changes the turmoil is multiplied.

What a mess! Initially, the big concern was whether Baby Mac could hold up to Big Mac's standards. Who would have thought?

Perhaps they also were training relief captains at the same time as Triner. Usually, isn't there a captain and a relief captain, who takes control of the ship while the head captain is on break? (I know there's a military word for break, but it has momentarily slipped beyond the realms of my mind.) Regardless of whether the head captain gets drunk and drives the ship into a breakwater, he also can't be expected to be solely in command of the ship 24/7/365.

Of course, now, a new relief may have to be trained...but let's hope that this guy's a little better.

Greg, you are confusing the world of the luxury liner with the real world. Only one CO on a ship. (With the exception of the Navy's boomers which have two complete crews and switch out.)

The Captain is the Captain 24/7/365. If his/her crew fails it is his/her responsibility. All too often in today's world there is too little personal responsibility. Being the Captain of a ship in the Navy / CG is an awsome responsibility. Once at sea not only is their responsibility awesome, so is their power. Torque off the Captain at sea and they can put you in a very small brig on bread and water.....

I'm sure Capt Triner was heavily vetted and was chosen because of past performance and skills he possessed. He screwed up, which is something the Captain is not allowed to do.