Capt. Geoffry Patterson, a Navy captain who was recently discharged from command of a guided-missile submarine, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol close to Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base a few days before he was dismissed, as per local jail documents.
Patterson was taken into custody by local police in St. Marys, Ga., and was put in the Cumberland County jail shortly after midnight on Jan. 8. He was indicted on charges of DUI, improper lane usage, and lack of insurance, according to jail records.
Patterson, 53, was relieved from command of the submarine on Jan. 12 by Rear Adm. Thomas “T.R.” Buchanan, who cited a lack of faith in Patterson’s ability to command. The Navy has not provided any specific details about Patterson’s dismissal, nor have they mentioned his arrest. A Navy spokesperson declined to comment about Patterson’s arrest and his dismissal’s connection to the incident.
Since May 2022, Patterson was in command of the blue crew of the boat, one of the two teams assigned to the submarine. Now, the submarine is managed by Capt. Christopher Osborn, the commander of the USS Georgia’s gold crew.
The USS Georgia is one of four ballistic-missile submarines equipped to carry conventional land-attack Tomahawk cruise missiles and transport special operations forces. The USS Georgia was retrofitted for this purpose in 2007. The guided-missile submarines can transport up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles and up to 66 special operations personnel.
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