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JUDY WOODRUFF: Two deadly 
accidents involving U.S. 
Navy ships last year 
could lead to severe

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consequences for the 
officers involved in 
the collisions at sea.

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John Yang has the details of 
the harsh charges against the 
commanders of the two vessels.

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JOHN YANG: Judy, last June, 
the USS Fitzgerald, a destroyer 
that's part of the U.S. Seventh

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Fleet in the Pacific, 
was broadsided off the 
coast of Japan by a 
massive container ship.

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The collision killed seven 
sailors aboard the Fitzgerald 
and crippled the vessel.

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Two months later, 
near Singapore, there 
was another incident 
involving a Seventh Fleet

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guided missile destroyer, the 
John S. McCain, named for the 
Arizona senator's father and

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grandfather, both admirals.

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It collided with 
a merchant vessel.

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Ten sailors died 
in that accident.

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Now the former commanders of 
both vessels, Bryce Benson of 
the Fitzgerald, and Alfredo

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J. Sanchez of the McCain, 
face a battery of offenses, 
including negligent homicide.

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Both men had previously 
been relieved of command, 
part of a wave of 
disciplinary actions across

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the Seventh Fleet.

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For more on the unusual nature 
of these charges, I'm joined by 
retired Lieutenant Colonel Gary

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Solis.

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A Marine Corps combat veteran 
of Vietnam, he is an expert 
in military law and teaches

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law at Georgetown University and 
George Washington University.

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Gary, thanks for joining us.

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You were a lawyer in the 
Marines, a judge in the Marines.

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How unusual is it to 
have charges like this, 
negligent homicide, 
filed against -- pending

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against two officers?

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LT.

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COL.

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GARY SOLIS (RET.), U.S. 
Marine Corps: It's more 
than extremely rare.

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It's never happened before.

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I can find -- I can 
think of no precedent 
for the court-martial 
of an officer for an

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incident like this.

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JOHN YANG: The top command or 
higher-up command, would the 
brass be involved in a decision

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like this?

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LT.

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COL.

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GARY SOLIS: Yes, definitely so.

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This is not your ordinary 
court-martial, of course.

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And so the drafting of 
charges would be something 
that would be of interest 
to the higher command

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and something that they would 
and lawfully can take a hand in.

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They want to ensure that there 
is -- there is a price to 
pay and that justice is done.

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JOHN YANG: What do you 
think's going on here?

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LT.

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COL.

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GARY SOLIS: I think that a 
message is being sent to the 
Seventh Fleet and the rest of

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the United States Navy, 
and particularly commanding 
officers of ships 
everywhere, that they are

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going to have to take a closer 
hand in the training and the 
drilling and the oversight

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of their ships and their seamen.

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JOHN YANG: And has 
this been a problem?

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After the second collision 
of the McCain, there was a 
stand-down to review safety.

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There have been a number of top 
commanders relieved of command.

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Are they Gray -- what are 
they trying to address here?

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You said they're trying to tell 
them to pay more attention.

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LT.

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COL.

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GARY SOLIS: Right.

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Clearly, there is something 
wrong when you have not only 
these two collisions, but you

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also have a grounding of the 
Antietam, and you have the 
Lake Champlain colliding with

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a fishing boat all in 2017.

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So, what this is addressing is 
a need to pay closer attention 
to the training of these

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crews, to the manning of the 
conn, to the watch officers who 
are overseeing the lookouts,

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and to the officer of the deck 
who is overseeing everyone when 
the captain isn't on the bridge.

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JOHN YANG: So, are these 
charges against the commanders 
of these ships not necessarily

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for things they may have done 
or not done, but maybe things 
that their crew didn't do?

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LT.

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COL.

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GARY SOLIS: Well, that's true.

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But, as you know, in the 
military, commanding officers, 
particularly commanding officers

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of ships, are responsible 
for, as I say, everything 
that goes on during their 
watch and everything

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that fails to go on 
during their watch.

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So this is not all that 
unusual in the military.

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At My Lai, for example, there 
was -- the commanding general of 
the division was also referred

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to trial, although he 
never went to trial.

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But commanding officers will 
always be taking the hits, 
legal hits, for the substandard

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performance of their units.

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JOHN YANG: These two commanders 
relieved of duty already, 
their careers probably over.

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LT.

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COL.

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GARY SOLIS: Definitely.

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JOHN YANG: What 
could happen now?

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Could they go to military 
prison if they're convicted?

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LT.

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COL.

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GARY SOLIS: Absolutely.

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Absolutely.

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These are serious charges.

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The maximum punishment 
for negligent homicide 
is three years.

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And they are also charged with 
dereliction of duty, which is 
three months is the maximum,

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and hazarding a vessel 
through negligence, two years.

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So, were they convicted of those 
three things, they could be 
looking at years' confinement,

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but I don't think 
that's going to happen.

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JOHN YANG: Why not?

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LT.

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COL.

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GARY SOLIS: Because the 
message has been sent merely 
by preferral of charges.

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And when they go to trial, 
actually go to court-martial, 
which I assume will happen,

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I would anticipate a pretrial 
agreement and a guilty plea.

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But it's hard to envision 
the commanders of these ships 
actually going to prison.

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The purpose of these 
court-martials, in my 
estimation, is as much 
as to send a warning

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to other commanders, as 
we have already said, 
as it is to address the 
shortcomings, alleged

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shortcomings, of these officers.

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JOHN YANG: Gary Solis, thanks 
so much for joining us to 
help us understand this.

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LT.

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COL.

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GARY SOLIS: My pleasure.

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Thank you.