Navy electronic attack squadron commander relieved

The Virginian-Pilot © January 9, 2014

NORFOLK

The commanding officer of Electronic Attack Squadron 140 was relieved of command Wednesday, following an investigation, according to a Navy news release.

Cmdr. Joe V. Martinez has commanded the squadron, based at Whidbey Island in Washington and assigned to the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, since November 2012, the Navy said. He has been temporarily assigned to Electronic Attack Wing Pacific.

He was relieved, according to the news release, after a Judge Advocate General Manual investigation found he willfully ignored Navy instructions, knowingly submitted officer fitness reports with inaccurate information, made inappropriate racial comments, exercised undue influence on subordinates and made false or misleading statements.

Martinez enlisted in the Navy in 1988. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma and was commissioned in 1996. He completed flight training and was designated a Naval flight officer in 1998 and subsequently became an electronic countermeasures officer in the EA-6B “Prowler” aircraft, according to the release.

Cmdr. Scott Hardy has been named interim commanding officer. He previously commanded Electronic Attack Squadron 136.