Navy public affairs CO canned for loss of confidence

The commander of Joint Public Affairs Support Element at the Joint Enabling Capabilities Command was fired Friday amid concerns about his abilities to command, the Navy said.

Capt. David Waterman, the top public affairs officer at the Norfolk, Va.-based command, was dismissed by Air Force Brig. Gen. Sam C. Barrett and has returned to the Navy to await reassignment. He is temporarily at Military Sealift Command, the release said.

Waterman was relieved for poor leadership, according to a Navy source who spoke on background, but declined to provide further details.

Waterman, who had worn a command ashore pin at the JPASE job, did not immediately return an email seeking comment Friday.

He is the seventh CO fired to date in 2016.
Waterman is a 1989 University of Idaho grad who was commissioned out of ROTC. He was a naval flight officer and flew A-6E intruders, but transitioned to public affairs after being injured in an aircraft ejection, according to his biography.

He has served at Bureau of Naval Personnel, the U.S. Navy Office of Information in the Pentagon, was the PAO for the carrier Carl Vinson and has worked for the commander of Naval Forces Japan.