Mac's deposition.
"Petty Officer Coates and I went to the bridge, where we found the XO Commander Hiltman in charge. I asked what was going on. He informed me that it was a drill and then they were arranging to send the squadron of tomcats up. I asked why they were running the drill at night. He informed me that they ran drills at all times of night and day." Mac continued.
"You've served on ships of various types Colonel; surely you know they run drills?" Restrick questioned.
"Of course. But this one seemed out of the blue and I hadn't been informed. So I asked him where Captain Thornton was. He informed me that he was in his quarters, Commander Hiltman had been ordered to run the drill as if the Captain had been incapacitated."
"So he told you that he was in charge?"
"Yes. I then asked how close we were to Italy because I could see the outline of buildings on the horizon. He informed me and I knew that we were too close for the rules specified for drills. I then asked if they had alerted the relevant people in Italy and the rest of Europe so that they didn't pick up on the F-14's out of nowhere. He informed me that they had sent a fax three days prior but hadn't received an acknowledgement."
"What then?"
"I asked if he'd followed it up with a phone call to make sure that they were aware of what happened, he said he thought that Captain Thornton had done it. I then asked if the CNO's office had authorised the drill because of the location. He again thought the Captain had taken care of it. So I went over what had gone wrong including the ships JAG not being on the bridge or even having gone over the paperwork to make sure it was all in order before the drill went ahead."
"What did you do next?"
"I sent Petty Officer Coates to find and secure the members and then I left the bridge after the Italians had called to ask what was going on and instructing Commander Hiltman to get Captain Thornton to then bridge. I then went and placed a call to Admiral Chegwidden to inform him of what happened."
"Why did you place that call?" Restrick asked.
"Because I knew it was going to be an international incident and I wanted him to contact the SecNav and CNO and brief them."
Jen's deposition.
"Colonel Mackenzie was still on the bridge after I went to secure the members." Jen replied after Greenburg had had her run through what had happened on the bridge.
"Where were the members when you found them?" Greenburg asked.
"They had all been horded into a room. They informed me that someone they weren't sure who had woken them all up and asked them to go to the room. The evidence for the case had also been left unattended when we located it had been tampered with. Which led to Colonel Mackenzie throwing the case out."
"Then?"
"When I had them secured back in their rooms. I was ordered to go back to bed."
Mac's deposition.
"I was ordered to conduct an investigation by the SecNav and spent the whole night trying to placate the Italians. Commander Turner arrived the next morning to help me carry out a formal investigation."
"What else happened during the time from the incident to Commander Turner's arrival?"
"Captain Thornton and Commander Hiltman were relieved of command by order of the SecNav and the third in command ops was placed in temporary command but all command decision had to be run by me because I was the highest ranking officer until the new Captain and XO arrived. I also received calls in addition to those from the SecNav from the CNO, Secretaries for Defence and State and from Admiral Chegwidden."
"And after Commander Turner's arrival?"
"I briefed him and we interviewed the CAG Commander Merriweather, which the notes for which are included in the information you were given. I then asked Commander Turner to relay orders to Petty Officer Coates to retrieve information related to the F-14's that went up."
Jen's deposition
"After receiving the orders from Colonel Mackenzie, I along with Peterson, Johnstone and Markson went and interviewed the plane captains about the information Colonel Mackenzie asked me to retrieve."
"But you went and talked to the CAG as well." Greenburg remarked.
"I don't know that much about Tomcats apart from what I've learnt from Commander Rabb and during the court martials and Article 32 hearings. But something about the fuel levels struck me as odd so I went to ask the CAG as the best source of information, I asked him a few questions but he was hostile. I mentioned that I was having a few concerns and Colonel Mackenzie called Commander Rabb and I spoke to him and he helped me out with information I needed about calculating what the fuels should be and compare them to what they were when they went, for how long they were in the air and when they came down. I found some startling concerns which I explained to Colonel Mackenzie and Commander Turner."
"Why call Commander Rabb?" Greenburg asked. "He's a lawyer."
"Commander Rabb is a qualified current Tomcat pilot sir, he knows how to obtain the information I need and to calculate what I needed to know and to answer my questions. He's listed as an expert witness on the Colonel's report."
"A lawyer and a tomcat pilot strange mix Commander." Greenburg commented.
"Not to me. But that isn't relevant. Move on." Harm instructed.
TBC
"Petty Officer Coates and I went to the bridge, where we found the XO Commander Hiltman in charge. I asked what was going on. He informed me that it was a drill and then they were arranging to send the squadron of tomcats up. I asked why they were running the drill at night. He informed me that they ran drills at all times of night and day." Mac continued.
"You've served on ships of various types Colonel; surely you know they run drills?" Restrick questioned.
"Of course. But this one seemed out of the blue and I hadn't been informed. So I asked him where Captain Thornton was. He informed me that he was in his quarters, Commander Hiltman had been ordered to run the drill as if the Captain had been incapacitated."
"So he told you that he was in charge?"
"Yes. I then asked how close we were to Italy because I could see the outline of buildings on the horizon. He informed me and I knew that we were too close for the rules specified for drills. I then asked if they had alerted the relevant people in Italy and the rest of Europe so that they didn't pick up on the F-14's out of nowhere. He informed me that they had sent a fax three days prior but hadn't received an acknowledgement."
"What then?"
"I asked if he'd followed it up with a phone call to make sure that they were aware of what happened, he said he thought that Captain Thornton had done it. I then asked if the CNO's office had authorised the drill because of the location. He again thought the Captain had taken care of it. So I went over what had gone wrong including the ships JAG not being on the bridge or even having gone over the paperwork to make sure it was all in order before the drill went ahead."
"What did you do next?"
"I sent Petty Officer Coates to find and secure the members and then I left the bridge after the Italians had called to ask what was going on and instructing Commander Hiltman to get Captain Thornton to then bridge. I then went and placed a call to Admiral Chegwidden to inform him of what happened."
"Why did you place that call?" Restrick asked.
"Because I knew it was going to be an international incident and I wanted him to contact the SecNav and CNO and brief them."
Jen's deposition.
"Colonel Mackenzie was still on the bridge after I went to secure the members." Jen replied after Greenburg had had her run through what had happened on the bridge.
"Where were the members when you found them?" Greenburg asked.
"They had all been horded into a room. They informed me that someone they weren't sure who had woken them all up and asked them to go to the room. The evidence for the case had also been left unattended when we located it had been tampered with. Which led to Colonel Mackenzie throwing the case out."
"Then?"
"When I had them secured back in their rooms. I was ordered to go back to bed."
Mac's deposition.
"I was ordered to conduct an investigation by the SecNav and spent the whole night trying to placate the Italians. Commander Turner arrived the next morning to help me carry out a formal investigation."
"What else happened during the time from the incident to Commander Turner's arrival?"
"Captain Thornton and Commander Hiltman were relieved of command by order of the SecNav and the third in command ops was placed in temporary command but all command decision had to be run by me because I was the highest ranking officer until the new Captain and XO arrived. I also received calls in addition to those from the SecNav from the CNO, Secretaries for Defence and State and from Admiral Chegwidden."
"And after Commander Turner's arrival?"
"I briefed him and we interviewed the CAG Commander Merriweather, which the notes for which are included in the information you were given. I then asked Commander Turner to relay orders to Petty Officer Coates to retrieve information related to the F-14's that went up."
Jen's deposition
"After receiving the orders from Colonel Mackenzie, I along with Peterson, Johnstone and Markson went and interviewed the plane captains about the information Colonel Mackenzie asked me to retrieve."
"But you went and talked to the CAG as well." Greenburg remarked.
"I don't know that much about Tomcats apart from what I've learnt from Commander Rabb and during the court martials and Article 32 hearings. But something about the fuel levels struck me as odd so I went to ask the CAG as the best source of information, I asked him a few questions but he was hostile. I mentioned that I was having a few concerns and Colonel Mackenzie called Commander Rabb and I spoke to him and he helped me out with information I needed about calculating what the fuels should be and compare them to what they were when they went, for how long they were in the air and when they came down. I found some startling concerns which I explained to Colonel Mackenzie and Commander Turner."
"Why call Commander Rabb?" Greenburg asked. "He's a lawyer."
"Commander Rabb is a qualified current Tomcat pilot sir, he knows how to obtain the information I need and to calculate what I needed to know and to answer my questions. He's listed as an expert witness on the Colonel's report."
"A lawyer and a tomcat pilot strange mix Commander." Greenburg commented.
"Not to me. But that isn't relevant. Move on." Harm instructed.
TBC
