A sailor who was presumed to be lost at Sea, but was later found hiding in the concerned ship’s engine room.
What happened?
On July 5, the USS Shiloh sailor identified as Petty Officer 3rd Class, Peter Mims was presumed lost at sea and was later found hiding intentionally from his fellow sailors.
The hiding sailor has been charged with watch abandonment and dereliction of duty.
Proven guilty of abandonment:
7th Fleet spokesman Lt. Paul Newell reportedly told that the sailor admitted to have avoided his duty by avoiding searches conducted by the ship’s crew during his weeklong disappearance but the sailor did not provide a reason for his hiding.
Charged with code violation:
The sailor was charged charged with Uniform Code of Military Justice violations, including absence without leave for abandoning watch under Article 86 and failure to obey an order or regulation for dereliction in the performance of duties under Article 92, the spokesman said.
Violation details:
According to the Manual for Courts-Martial, violations of Article 86 that last longer than three days but less than 30 have a maximum punishment of six months confinement and forfeiture of two-thirds pay per month for six months. Violations of Article 92 that involve willful dereliction of duty carry a maximum punishment of “bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 6 months.”
Extensive search carried out:
U.S. and Japanese ships spent more than 50 hours searching for him, assisted by helicopters and other aircraft from the Shiloh, USS McCampbell, USS Barry, USS John S. McCain and the USS Ronald Reagan.
A massive sea search initiated to find the missing sailor was called off on June 11, with the presumption that he was lost at sea.
While the search was on, the sailors had planned to hold a memorial service for Mims when he was found in the ship’s engineering room on June 15.
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Source: Stripes
