The Navy relieved the commanding officer of a littoral combat ship deployed to the Middle East, 5th Fleet officials announced.

Cmdr. Adam Ochs was relieved as the commanding officer of USS Santa Barbara (LCS 32) on Thursday “due to a loss of confidence” in his ability to command, Navy officials said in a release. He has been temporarily reassigned as commander of Naval Surface Group Southwest.  

Officials said the ship is currently on a scheduled deployment in the Navy’s 5th Fleet area of operations which covers 2.5 million square miles of water and 21 nations including the Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean and “critical choke points” at the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal and the Strait of Bab al Mandeb.

 ”The relief does not impact the ship’s

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