Vice Adm. Scott Stearney, commander of US Naval Forces Central Command and of the US Navy’s Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet, was found dead on Saturday in his residence in Bahrain. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and the Bahraini Ministry of Interior are investigating Stearney’s death, the Navy said, but foul play is not suspected. CBS News reports that Defense officials are calling the death an “apparent suicide.”
Admiral Stearney took charge in May of the Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, as well as a broader naval coalition there that includes more than 20,000 United States and allied maritime forces.
“This is devastating news for the Stearney family, for the team at 5th Fleet, and for the entire Navy,” Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson said in a video statement.
“Scott Stearney was a decorated naval warrior. He was a devoted husband and father, and he was a good friend of all of us,” Richardson said.
Rear Adm. Paul Schlise, the deputy commander of Fifth Fleet, has assumed command of the U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet.
Extremely sad. Alone in so much company.
Keep an eye out for one another.