more comments from people who served under her
http://navycaptain-therealnavy.blog...n-our-countdown-is-captain.html?commentPage=1
> As a former JO on that crew, this judgment is a long time coming
> As a female sailor who served under her when she was the XO of CDW, it was very de-motivating and sad to see a women who is in that kind of leadership position be so mean to the crew
> This situation was about her putting her hands on an officer's throat in a fit of anguish, thus the IG investigation. Not a forgivable act for any CO, but eerily explicable if you know this CO and her negative temperment (as many, including former reporting seniors, did).
> Long time coming...
from an FDNF Sailor
> As a former crew member of WSC I can say she treated EVERYONE that I knew with absolute disrespect and often belittled officers in front of enlisted personnel, breaking down her own chain of command. Basically she is a horrible person and this should have happen 5 years ago.
> I know Holly and her career. Crisco is full of crap. Holly was a Navy Poster-child for advancement of women...at any cost. Her poor-temperment is well known and she was advanced regardless.
> I served with then, LCDR Graf, during her XO tour. I was one of her department heads. For 18 months we endured her incompetence and disrespect for her fellow sailor. She did not care about the crew or morale. In fact, she flat out told me, and I quote, "I don't give a f**k about the crew's morale!!" She was downright mean and sadistic. Being sworn at was the routine, not the exception. Being belittled was commonplace. Having items thrown at you happened. If she didn't like you, watch out, as she held a grudge...forever. If she was mad at you, you got the silent treatment. That may sound appealing, but it is difficult to get ship's business done if the XO refuses to acknowledge your presence or accept your paperwork. Did we complain? You bet we did, but it fell on deaf ears because she was seen as this rising star. She had zero shiphandling skills. I could go on and on with countless stories that still make me shake today when I think about them. In my eyes, she should have NEVER had command. She pulled the wool over someone's eyes. This dismissal is long overdue and she should be forced to resign and just fade away. I am not surprised by this in the least. She has negatively effected thousands of officers and sailors, including myself.
> With her wardroom, it seemed as though she was a female Captain Bligh, minus the Cat O nine tails. I hated seeing Ensigns and JGs frightened all to hell when they were pulling OOD.
> I observed her closely for nearly two years. She had no respect for anyone.
She was the worst officer I ever served with in 24 years. I mean that literally.
> As a Leader on COWPENS, I can tell you she thrived on keeping people in fear. You could always feel the tension when she walked into a room and feel it go away when she left. Her leadership style cannot be described because she has no idea how to lead or motivate . . . She was completely incompetent at every level. She was a disaster on bridge, she knew nothing about Engineering, Combat Systems or Weapons. She is a hateful person who only focused on the negative. . . . She was a diplomatic disaster during COWPENS port visit to Australia last year where she completely disrespected a senior Australian officer. For her actions, she was ordered to personally hand write a letter of apology.
> Having been on the receiving end of her water bottle on several occasions, there was no excuse for her lack of leadership.
> I remember sitting on a SWO board with her. Her only questions for the young Ensign was, "Which way do the screws turn?" After that board, she asked me for a list of questions she could ask at future boards. I thought she was kidding. She wasn't After the flame spraying I received for not providing the list, I gave her one. At the next board, she had her list. Her next question was, "Which questions should I ask?" This is not a joke or exaggeration.
> All I can say is it is pretty bad when you are on another FDNF ship, and you hear bad things about another ship's CO.
> I had the severe misfortune of serving as a JO under CAPT Graf and will not belabor the point of discussing her atrocious "leadership," as others have already made that point more eloquently than I can
> Full disclosure: I didn’t serve with or under CAPT Graf.
Those who did, and told me about it, painted a picture of an out-of-control screamer who compensated for her deep-seated incompetence by throwing off chaff clouds of vitriol. On a regular basis. This goes all the way back to her XO tour on CDW, where she first came up on my radar as an FDNF MCPO.
Big Navy knew that she was a psycho-chick, but none of her superiors had the moral courage to either rein her in or throw her out. Probably because the word was out that she was a pre-designated woman-in-command success story.
> She was not fired for one specific incident, it was a pattern of abuse far beyond what anyone needs to experience. I know, I was on the receiving end many a days during her reign of terror on the COWPENS. Like I said, I am glad that the whole world now knows who she really is.
> As one of the department heads, we, as a group, went to the CO (Fischer) on more than one occasion to complain about her. His only response was, "I support the XO." It does amaze me she got away with it
> I served with her and served her to the best of my abilities and did not break faith with my CAPT, my ship or the Navy and I will tell you that you're all lost. Get your facts straight before you speculate. The only joy that "CURTIS WILBUR SURVIVORS" or
HOLLYCAUST SURVIVORS" from WSC feel is that she won't be hurting anyone else. It isn't a joke, she had no business being a CO (especially one that carries weapons). This didn't surprise anyone.
> I am a sailor on the Cowpens, and have been for 2+ years (before Capt. Graf came aboard). As an E-6 (and an engineer to boot), let me tell you – the few times that I personally dealt with her were extremely unpleasant. She is extremely brash, demeaning, condescending, crude, crass, and very profane. Let me give one example that I personally witnessed
. . .
As I was standing by, she came up the ladder, opened the hatch, and proceeded to scream and belittle me for allowing zebra to be set (during a drill) when she had to refill her coffee cup in her stateroom. One of the ATG inspectors (an officer) was nearby and attempted to calm her down and explain that if the hatch wasn’t set, the zebra checks would be deemed ‘not effective.’ She then yelled up the ladder to the pilothouse to the JOOD, getting no response, she then threw her coffee mug (not a paper cup, mind you, a ceramic mug) at the officer, and ordered him to DC central to log the hatch near her stateroom open. Then, in front of several junior enlisted, cursed a storm and began throwing other things from inside her stateroom and into the passageway.
> I'm an FDNF officer and CAPT Graf's behavior is legendary in Yokosuka. I have never met an officer or enlisted man who has worked for her say anything good about her.
> You have no idea what she was like unless you worked for. NO IDEA!! For those of us who suffered, and I do mean suffered, this is closure for us. Therapy, if you will. Don't tell us how small minded we are.
> I was on another ship in the BG in 2003 when she was CO of the WSC and did not have direct contact with her... but the command climate on WSC and some of her antics were legendary even back then.
> To name a few things she was responsible for running the ship soft aground and breaking the STBD screw and then
covering it up by having the deck log rewritten, she failed to submit a SITREP for the IS2 who fell down a hatch on the aft missile deck 60 something feet. Almost killing him, the ship was underway and the Coast Guard came out and medevac'd him to the beach. She spit in the AOPS face, threw papers in the XO's face, and threw a temper tantrum during a brief in the wardroom concerning the thermostat.
> Personnally, I have served with this BITCH and she should have never been promoted past LT
> I see some bloggers have tried to dismiss Captain Graf's firing as the result of "whining, gutless J.O.'s;" I believe that is truly one of the most out of touch statements I've ever heard. As a junior officer who did his first sea tour on Cowpens, I served under CAPT Graf for her first 8 months of command before I finally transferred. I'm not being melodramatic at all when I say those were without a doubt the worst 8 months of my life. Her horrible cruelty has already been detailed in previous posts so I won't belabor the point (although I certainly have many stories of my own,) but more than being a horrible tyrant she was dangerously incompetent and negligent. She had absolutely no idea what she was doing on the bridge, in combat, or in engineering and I honestly feel that her severe insecurities regarding her lack of knowledge contributed to her horrible personality and leadership.
One quick story to illustrate my point: While standing watch as an Officer of the Deck, she would often call up to the bridge after the ship took a roll in heavy seas and ask, "why are you using so much rudder?" This was despite the fact we had been rudder amidships for the past 20 minutes. When I told her the rough seas were making the ship rock
(Even as a CAPT with over 20 years in the Navy, she couldn't grasp the basic concept that a ship rolls in the middle of the ocean...I know, what a crazy idea.,) she would scream at me and demand that I change out the helmsmen.
That story is par for the course and very tame compared to the other stories I and others could tell. Bottom line her firing was more than warranted and it should've happened years ago. Being cruel and treating your crew horribly is certainly a terrible thing, but even worse in my opinion was her gross incompetence. I shudder to think what would've happened if the COWPENS entered a no shit combat situation with her in Command. I have no doubt in my mind she would've gotten people killed...but thank God we'll never have to find that out.
That's not even half the comments, and the rest continue in the same vein, there is a LOT of hate out there for this 'lady'
