{"id":37509,"date":"2018-02-01T23:23:46","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T23:23:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/02\/01\/navy-to-reverse-guilty-verdict-for-officer-in-fitzgerald-collision\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:38:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:38:51","slug":"navy-to-reverse-guilty-verdict-for-officer-in-fitzgerald-collision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/02\/01\/navy-to-reverse-guilty-verdict-for-officer-in-fitzgerald-collision\/","title":{"rendered":"Navy: 17 sailors disciplined for Fitzgerald and McCain collisions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Seventeen sailors from the destroyers Fitzgerald and John S. McCain have received nonjudicial punishment for their roles in last summer\u2019s West Pacific collisions that killed 17 sailors, officials confirmed Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy also plans to reverse a guilty verdict it handed out to an officer from the warship Fitzgerald<\/a> for involvement in the June 17 collision off Japan that killed seven shipmates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prior ruling against the officer in a nonjudicial punishment hearing was reversed by the head of the \u201cconsolidated disposition authority,\u201d an entity established in October to review all prior punishments meted out for last summer\u2019s disasters involving the Fitz and the destroyer John S. McCain<\/a>, which collided with a tanker in August, killing another 10 sailors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy\u2019s announcement Thursday does not specify the charge for which that officer was originally found guilty, nor when that guilty verdict was first rendered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also remains unclear how many more cases the consolidated disposition authority, or CDA, is reviewing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ten Fitz sailors and seven McCain sailors have been disciplined via nonjudicial punishment, or NJP, to date, according to Navy officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy declined to specify the nature of the charges levied against those 17 sailors and generally cites privacy regulations when declining to disclose the identities of those facing NJP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Fitz\u2019s captain at the time, Cmdr. Bryce Benson<\/a>, was named as one of the sailors facing NJP this summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He and the McCain\u2019s leader at the time, Cmdr. Alfredo Sanchez<\/a>, now face court-martial for negligent homicide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NJP is supposed to be reserved for less-severe violations of military law, but critics say it is overused, opaque to the public and offers the accused fewer rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\t