Navy fires top commanders of ship repair facility in Japan

The Navy over the weekend fired both the commanding and executive officers of a U.S. naval ship repair facility in Yokosuka, Japan, citing "a loss of confidence in their ability to command," according to a service statement.

Capt. Zaldy Valenzuela and Cmdr. Art Palalay on Sunday were relieved of their duties as commanding officer and executive officer, respectively, at the U.S. Naval Ship Repair Facility and Japan Regional Maintenance Center (SRF-JRMC).

Capt. Dan Lannamann, former commanding officer of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center in Norfolk, Va., has temporarily taken over as head of the facility, and Cmdr. Timothy Emge, the center’s operations officer, has assumed the position of executive officer until a permanent replacement is selected.

“The Navy holds commanding officers and others in authority to the highest standards,” the statement noted. “Naval leaders are entrusted with significant responsibilities to their Sailors and commands.”

The release did not include further details as to why the two officers were fired, as the Navy rarely reveals why it makes such decisions other than noting a “loss of confidence.”

The Navy this year has had a number of high-profile dismissals, including the SEAL commodore for Navy Special Warfare Group Eight, fired in March; the removal of the commanding officer of the USS Ohio guided missile submarine that same month; the Feb. 6 firing of the head of the Japan-based Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Howard; and the commanding officer of the submarine USS Georgia’s blue crew, relieved in January.   

Prior to his last role, Valenzuela was ship superintendent and carrier type desk officer at SRF-JRMC.

And Palalay, who enlisted in the Navy in 1993 and was commissioned as an officer in 2006, previously was readiness officer at Commander Naval Surface Forces Pacific before taking over as executive officer at SRF-JRMC in 2023.

Equipped with six dry docks, SRF-JRMC provides intermediate- and depot-level repair for Navy ships across the U.S. 7th Fleet, the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. fleets, with 50 to 70 ships and submarines.