The Navy relieved the commanding officer and top enlisted official of a small boat unit Friday, according to a statement from the service.
Cmdr. Brett Robblee and Command Master Chief Felix Phillips were relieved from leadership of Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron 4 by Capt. Christopher Milner, the commander of Maritime Expeditionary Security Group 2, headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The squadron is one of a handful of units that provide "anti-terrorism defense for American assets around the globe using well-trained and highly mobile security forces," according to the MESG 2 website.
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Robblee's relief, which was officially over a "loss of confidence in his ability to command," appears to be the Navy's third firing of a commanding officer this year.
The executive officer of the unit, Cmdr. Dan Ciullo, was not relieved.
Loss of confidence is a boilerplate reason provided by the military services that can encompass anything from consistent poor performance by a commander on key evaluations to personal actions like drunken driving.
A Navy official told Military.com on condition of anonymity that both Robblee and Phillips were fired over performance-based issues and not any misconduct on either of their parts.
Based on public announcements, it appears that the Navy fired 14 commanding officers in 2024. In 2023, the official relief total was 15. There are currently around 1,600 commanding officers in the active-duty Navy across all communities.
According to his now-removed official Navy biography, Robblee was commissioned after graduating from the Naval Academy in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in economics.
Robblee went on to serve aboard the destroyers USS Sterett and USS Stethem, as well as a mine countermeasure ship and the cruiser USS Princeton.
Robblee's biography does not list his awards beyond noting that he has "received various personal, unit and campaign awards."
Phillips' now-removed official biography says that he enlisted in the Navy from Greenwood, Mississippi, in August 1996.
After completing boot camp, Phillips was assigned to Naval Activity Support Adak, Alaska, before moving on to tours aboard the aircraft carriers USS Carl Vinson and USS Harry S. Truman, as well as the amphibious assault ships USS Iwo Jima and USS Ponce.
His assignment as command master chief was at Airborne Command and Control Squadron 121 in Norfolk, Virginia.
Phillips' personal awards include two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals and five Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, as well as numerous other unit and campaign awards.
According to the Navy's statement, Capt. Jason Labott, deputy commander for MESG 2, will temporarily serve as MSRON 4's commanding officer. Similarly, Command Master Chief Clayton Alek-Finkelman, former command master chief for MESG 2, is assuming the duties of command master chief for the squadron.
Both Robblee and Phillips have been temporarily reassigned to the staff at Navy Expeditionary Combat Command.
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