{"id":35949,"date":"2017-10-24T21:07:31","date_gmt":"2017-10-24T21:07:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/10\/24\/crew-surveys-suggest-fitzgerald-relatively-stable-before-fatal-june-collision\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:31:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:31:09","slug":"crew-surveys-suggest-fitzgerald-relatively-stable-before-fatal-june-collision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2017\/10\/24\/crew-surveys-suggest-fitzgerald-relatively-stable-before-fatal-june-collision\/","title":{"rendered":"Before the fatal collision, command climate on the Fitzgerald was good"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-smg-jwplayer-video\"><atype-video-jwplayer nostick=\"true\" playlisturl=\"https:\/\/cdn.jwplayer.com\/v2\/playlists\/fCzRqMW8?tags=27af72a9-fe0a-4e04-a6fb-09c9a9e0fc92\" poster=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/video-poster-27af72a9-fe0a-4e04-a6fb-09c9a9e0fc92.jpg\" aspectratio=\"16 \/ 9\" mute autostart=\"false\"><\/atype-video-jwplayer><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Before fatal collision, morale on the Fitzgerald was good<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the Navy has yet to provide answers for how a hulking merchant vessel struck the destroyer Fitzgerald in June, killing seven sailors, command climate surveys from a few months before the disaster depict a crew proud of their ship and its mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Navy Times obtained the surveys, a mandated annual gauge of crew morale, via a Freedom of Information request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The last survey was dated in March, before Cmdr. Bryce Benson took command of the Fitz two weeks before the June 17 collision off Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Benson was injured when his quarters were crushed by the MCX Crystal, and he was found dangling off the side of the ship by his crew after they pried their way into his berthing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Benson was relieved of command this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2017\/08\/17\/fitzgerald-co-other-sailors-to-be-disciplined-in-connection-to-fatal-collision\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fitzgerald-arriving-in-yokosuka.JPG.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Fitzgerald\u2019s CO and sailors standing watch face discipline in fatal collision<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Navy plans to discipline up to 12 Fitzgerald sailors, including the commanding officer, in connection to the destroyer\u2019s fatal June collision with a commercial ship that led to the drownings of seven sailors in their berthing.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Fitz incident \u2014 and another involving the destroyer John S. McCain in August that killed 10 sailors \u2014 have spawned questions about readiness and operational tempo in the Navy\u2019s 7th Fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most recent survey was completed by only about 122 crew members of the ship\u2019s roughly 320 sailors. But among those ranks, and despite the fast pace of 7th Fleet life, 90 percent of responding Fitz sailors reported being proud of their ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under Benson\u2019s predecessor, Cmdr. Robert Shu, about 83 percent of sailors were motivated to do their best, and 90 percent rated their ship\u2019s performance highly compared to other ships, according to the survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Survey sections where sailors can share thoughts in their own words were entirely redacted from the documents the Navy provided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Navy Times is appealing those redactions on the basis they were improperly applied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">March\u2019s survey shows the opinions of responding sailors hewed with Navy averages on things like organizational commitment, trust in leadership and job satisfaction, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Roughly 86 percent of responding Fitz sailors said they trusted their fellow crew members to get the job done, while 88 percent affirmed that the destroyer\u2019s shipmates look out for each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a February 2016 survey of the crew, 75 percent of sailors said they liked their job. That number grew to 83 percent by March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shu received high marks for his leadership in the most recent survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About 87 percent said they were comfortable approaching the CO with any issue, and 94 percent characterized Shu as accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2017\/08\/17\/water-on-deck-get-out-the-navys-official-report-of-the-fitzgeralds-catastrophe-at-sea\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"209\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screen-Shot-2017-08-17-at-5.48.43-PM.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">\u2018Water on deck!\u2018 \u2018Get out!\u2018 \u2014 The Navy&#8217;s official report of the Fitzgerald&#8217;s catastrophe at sea<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Sailors had less than a minute to escape as seawater blasted through a massive hole in the destroyer Fitzgerald after a container ship struck its starboard side on June 19.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All but one of 119 responding sailors characterized him as a competent leader, while 93 percent said he took steps to ensure sailors were treated with respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the March survey suggests things were relatively stable aboard the Fitz earlier this year, they offer little insight into life under Benson, the skipper who took command only 18 days before the deadly collision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lone record reflecting Benson\u2019s command tenure is his response to a comment left in the CO suggestion box by an anonymous sailor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It came after Benson hosted a \u201cWaffle House Wednesday\u201d meal for his crew on May 31, the day after he took command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCommand Master Chief and I really enjoyed sponsoring the event as it is one small token we can give back to the crew for the hard work and dedication you put into our great warship everyday,\u201d Benson wrote in response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After a sailor asked for the special meal to be a regular occurrence, Benson noted such special meals fall outside Navy regs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cRealizing that we love \u2018WHW\u2019 for the good food aka \u2018CMC Special\u2019 and the boost in morale, CMC and I paid for the food,\u201d Benson wrote. \u201cUnfortunately, we can not afford to pay for it every Wednesday, but other groups, associations, and\/or clubs may sponsor a future WHW.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A crew morale survey from the Fitzgerald shows sailors were in good spirits in the weeks before the June 17 collision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":32968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,12,26,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3355],"class_list":["post-35949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"BMCPMRI2SJD3ZERGLA5JLGUKSI","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-navy\/2017\/10\/24\/crew-surveys-suggest-fitzgerald-relatively-stable-before-fatal-june-collision\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"remove-feature-image","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Before the fatal collision, command climate on the Fitzgerald was good - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A crew morale survey from the Fitzgerald shows sailors were in good spirits in the weeks before the June 17 collision.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Before the fatal collision, command climate on the Fitzgerald was good\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A crew morale survey from the Fitzgerald shows sailors were in good spirits in the weeks before the June 17 collision.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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