The Commanding Officer for Submarine Group Ten out of Kings Bay, Georgia, Rear Adm. Thomas “T.R.” Buchanan, has relieved Captain Geoffry Patterson of his command of the "Blue Crew" for the Guided Missile Submarine USS Georgia (SSGN 729) on Wednesday, citing a "loss of confidence in his ability to command." 

In an official statement from Adm. Buchanan's office, he stated:

USS Georgia is commanded by Capt. Christopher Osborn, commanding officer of USS Georgia Gold Crew. There is no impact to operations.

Navy commanding officers are held to high standards of personal and professional conduct. They are expected to uphold the highest standards of responsibility, reliability, and leadership, and the Navy holds them accountable when they fall short of those standards.

While not citing any specific reason or incident to cause Capt. Patterson's relief and removal from command, a search of arrest records for the Camden County Sheriff's Office, where Kings Bay is located, shows that he was arrested early in the morning on January 9, 2024. According to the arrest records, Patterson was arrested for driving under the influence and an improper lane change, and he was released on a bond of over $1,800. 

All branches of the US military have a "zero tolerance" policy regarding alcohol-related crimes like DUI, regardless of the arresting agency. Any time a service member gets arrested for DUI, they are immediately punished for it. With enlisted, they get what is known as "Non Judicial Punishment," or an NJP — every service has a different name for it, but the process and results are the same. Usually, enlisted members are demoted one rank, restricted to barracks or ships for a length of time, as well as having their pay docked. Officers are dealt with differently, but usually, officers are relieved of their commands pending a further investigation into potentially more discipline. 

Capt. Patterson was in command of the "Blue Crew," which is a secondary crew of the submarine, with the "Gold Crew" being the primary crew with a separate Commanding Officer in charge. All ballistic and guided missile submarines in the US Navy have two crews assigned to each submarine. This is done to maintain a steady deployment cycle for the boats, as well as maintaining crew safety and rest between deployments. Deployments of these types of submarines typically range between three to four months, depending on the needs of the Navy.

The USS Georgia is an Ohio Class submarine and initially entered service in 1984 as a ballistic missile submarine, carrying 20 Trident C4 nuclear ballistic missiles, each carrying eight nuclear warheads at 100k kilotons each. In 2004, she was redesignated as a guided missile submarine and traded out her 20 Trident nuclear ballistic missiles for 154 Tomahawk guided cruise missiles. In addition to her guided missiles, she was also retrofitted to have a special dive trunk and a "piggy-back" attachment that holds a mini-sub for Naval Special Warfare needs. 

The submarine's "Gold Crew" Commanding Officer, Capt. Christopher Osborn has taken command of the boat, and operations have continued as normal, according to the Navy.