{"id":68986,"date":"2020-10-16T23:24:50","date_gmt":"2020-10-16T23:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/10\/16\/navy-fires-fitzgerald-xo\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:55:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:55:01","slug":"navy-fires-fitzgerald-xo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/2020\/10\/16\/navy-fires-fitzgerald-xo\/","title":{"rendered":"Navy fires Fitzgerald XO"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The executive officer of the guided-missile destroyer Fitzgerald<\/a> was relieved late last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cmdr. Chris Kennedy was relieved on Sept. 29 \u201cdue to a loss of confidence in her ability to serve as executive officer,\u201d Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman, a Naval Surface Forces<\/a> spokeswoman, said in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The relief was not based on any investigation and was a matter of commanders losing confidence \u201cin her abilities due to a review of her performance,\u201d Schwegman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kennedy became the Fitz\u2019s XO in December, while the ship was still in a Mississippi shipyard undergoing massive repairs after a 2017 at-sea collision that killed seven sailors on board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fitzgerald has since arrived at its new home port<\/a> in San Diego.<\/p>\n\n\n