The San Diego Union-Tribune is one of the few mainstream media organs to comment on a pre-election fringe furor over the mysterious reassignment of Adm Charles Gaouette ten days ago, removing him from command of the John C. Stennis carrier strike group in the Persian Gulf.  --  On Wednesday Jeanette Steele reported that not only has the Navy official denied his reassignment had anything to do with the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, as numberless far-right and militarist blogs are actively alleging in a scurrilous attempt to stir up anti-Obama sentiment, but Rear Adm. John Kirby, chief of naval information at the Pentagon, said that the rumor is prima facie "ridiculous."[1]  --  The facts bear him out:  "Research of the Stennis’ location indicates that the aircraft carrier was oceans away from the scene on Sept. 11.  --  Deploying four months early, the flattop left its home port of Bremerton, Wash., on Aug. 22 and headed south to pick up the San Diego-based cruiser Mobile Bay and two North Island Naval Air Station helicopter squadrons.  --  The group sailed out of San Diego Bay on Sept. 1.  --  On Sept. 11, the ships were still in the Pacific, according to a Facebook video of a Sept. 11, 2001, remembrance ceremony held that day in the Stennis hangar bay."  --   COMMENT:  Perhaps because our postings on the matter seem to be almost the only sane comment on the Internet, two UFPPC postings (see here for an Oct. 29 posting and here for an Oct. 30 posting) have had hundreds of hits....

1.

NAVY DENIES ADMIRAL REMOVED OVER LIBYA
By Jeanette Steele

San Diego Union-Tribune
October 31, 2012 (updated Nov. 1)

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/nov/01/tp-navy-denies-admiral-removed-over-libya/

The Navy on Wednesday said that the abrupt removal of an admiral commanding a Mideast aircraft carrier group was not related to the Sept. 11 U.S. consulate attack in Libya, refuting Internet rumors in the week leading up to the U.S. presidential election.

Speculative reports have said that the head of the John C. Stennis carrier group wanted to send help during the deadly attack and disobeyed orders to stand down.

Rear Adm. Charles M. Gaouette, a San Diego native, was reassigned from his job atop the Stennis group pending the results of a Navy inspector general investigation, according to a Navy news statement Saturday.

Gaouette, 53, is a 1977 graduate of Point Loma High School.  He also commanded the San Diego-based destroyer Oldendorf from 2001 to 2003.

The reason given for the investigation was allegations of “inappropriate leadership and judgment.”  Officials have stressed that the accusations are not about personal misbehavior, such as drinking or sexual harassment.

On Wednesday, Rear Adm. John Kirby, chief of naval information at the Pentagon, called the speculation about the consulate flat wrong.

“Rumors of this having anything to do with Libya and the Benghazi attack are simply false and ridiculous,” Kirby said.

Research of the Stennis’ location indicates that the aircraft carrier was oceans away from the scene on Sept. 11.

Deploying four months early, the flattop left its home port of Bremerton, Wash., on Aug. 22 and headed south to pick up the San Diego-based cruiser Mobile Bay and two North Island Naval Air Station helicopter squadrons.

The group sailed out of San Diego Bay on Sept. 1.

On Sept. 11, the ships were still in the Pacific, according to a Facebook video of a Sept. 11, 2001, remembrance ceremony held that day in the Stennis hangar bay.

On Sept. 15, the ship posted a Facebook video in which Gaouette said that the carrier group was in the Pacific, heading toward the Indian Ocean.

On Oct. 17, the strike group first entered U.S. Fifth Fleet region, which is the Arabian Sea and surroundings.

A naval official familiar with the area said that only a warship located in the Mediterranean or Red seas might have helped the Americans attacked in Libya.

Gaouette was sent back to his base in Bremerton to await the results of the investigation, which may take two or three months.

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