Navy Cmdr. Michael P. Ward II has ended his career as the captain of a nuclear submarine with something of a crash dive. Ward reportedly first had an affair in violation of Navy rules and then tried to end his affair by sending a fake email from a friend informing the mistress that Ward, 43, had died. When the woman went to his house to give her condolences, she learned that he had moved with his family to Connecticut to assume control over the USS Pittsburgh.

Ward lasted only a week as captain of the nuclear submarine when he was relieved of his duties.

For the misconduct, Ward received a letter of reprimand for adultery and other military violations, and he is being mustered out of the Navy. There is no clear crime in these actions since he did not commit fraud to gain any financial or economic benefit. Indeed, this is the opposite of the usual military pick line — he is lying to end a relationship.

Ward had previously worked for the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, but appears to have passed all testing (and presumably a lie detector) to assume control of a billion dollar nuclear submarine. He reportedly met the woman on a dating site and he had learned that the twenty-something woman was pregnant. She later lost the baby due to complications.

It would be interesting to see if the mistress wanted to pursue a lawsuit for emotional distress due to the claimed fatality.

Source: Ny Daily News