NORFOLK, Va. (Tribune News Service) — An investigation blames top leadership on the destroyer USS James E. Williams for a toxic command climate that led to a sailor's suicide.
The investigation into the atmosphere on board the Norfolk, Va.-based ship began in June, less than a month into the vessel's deployment, after a female sailor ingested a lethal dose of the over-the-counter sleep aid Unisom. The Navy Times identified that sailor as Boatswain's Mate Seaman Yeshabel Villot-Carrasco.
More than a month after her death on June 19, the Navy said the 23-year-old from Parma, Ohio, died as a result of a "non-hostile incident" while the ship was underway in the Red Sea.
Cmdr. Curtis B. Calloway, former executive officer Cmdr. Ed Handley and Command Master Chief Travis Biswell were removed from the ship in September amid the Navy investigation. In October, all three faced non-judicial punishment for dereliction of duty. Biswell was also found guilty of drunk and disorderly conduct, according to a previous release from U.S. Fleet Forces Command.
The 313-page report described a ship out of control under abusive chief petty officers and a frequently intoxicated Biswell, while Calloway and Handley did little to address those and other issues, including an alleged sexual assault and inappropriate fraternization.
In his endorsement of the investigation, Command of Carrier Strike Group 12 Rear Adm. Andrew Lewis said Calloway failed to hold chief petty officers accountable for inappropriate behavior that "enabled a culture that empowered CPOs (chief petty officers) to target, belittle, and bully junior sailors."
"As the CO (commanding officer), Cmdr. Calloway owned the culture on board USS James E. Williams," Lewis wrote.
As for Biswell, Lewis said, "his failures are too many, and our sailors deserve better." He recommended that Biswell be "detached for cause" and receive treatment for alcohol abuse.
The investigator, Navy Capt. Anthony Simmons, interviewed 65 individuals and said the example set by the top enlisted officers and other leaders sent the message that "obnoxious and unprofessional conduct is the acceptable standard on board James E. Williams."
Simmons said Villot-Carrasco reached out for help the day she took her own life but was rebuffed. It was rumored that though married and regularly in contact with her husband, who was a sailor deployed on a different ship, Villot-Carrasco was perceived to be in a romantic relationship with another sailor on the Williams, according to the investigation.
"She was having trouble integrating with her division aboard JWS, and she believed that she was being singled out because of her gender and her small size," Simmons said.
She even filed an equal opportunity complaint but was written up — a clear act of reprisal, noted Lewis.
The James E. Williams departed Naval Station Norfolk on May 30 for an eight-month deployment in the Sixth Fleet. While at sea, the crew has been participating in security operations and exercises in conjunction with U.S. Africa Command.
©2014 the (Newport News, Va.) Daily Press. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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