This is the military group with the aircraft that allows the president and the secretary of defense to directly contact all the submarines, bombers and missiles that are part of the US nuclear force.
Navy officials would not say why they’re removing Capt. Heather Cole from such a high-level position other than to say that they had “lost confidence in her ability to lead.”
Spokeswoman Jeannie Groeneveld told the Navy Times that the Navy had been evaluating her performance for a few months now and concluded that she had “not performed up to the high standards demanded of an officer in command.
The relief (of her command) was due to deficiencies in her performance that were identified in the findings of the investigation,” said Groeneveld, declining to get into any further details.
Cole has been temporarily assigned to desk duty at the naval station in San Diego pending the outcome of an investigation.
She did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment by Thursday.