USS Wyoming pulls into Norfolk, Va., in February 2024. (Cameron Stoner/U.S. Navy)
The Navy fired the commander of one of its ballistic missile submarine crews at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia this week, service officials said Friday.
Cmdr. Robert Moreno, who led the USS Wyoming’s Blue Crew, was relieved Wednesday by Rear Adm. Bob Wirth, Submarine Group 10’s commander, “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command,” according to a Navy statement. The military routinely cites loss of confidence in leaders it removes from duty without providing specific information about the reason for their removal.
The Navy statement on Friday did not provide additional information about the decision to remove Moreno, and a service spokesperson declined to provide further details.
“Navy commanding officers are held to high standards of personal and professional conduct,” the statement reads. “They are expected to uphold the highest standards of responsibility, reliability and leadership, and the Navy holds them accountable when they fall short of those standards.”
Moreno took command of the Wyoming’s Blue Crew in May 2024. Ballistic missile submarines, which can carry nuclear weapons, are each assigned two crews under separate commanding officers, a Blue and Gold crew. Those crews take turns manning the vessel when it is deployed.
Moreno was commissioned as a submarine officer in December 2005, according to his Navy records. He had previously served aboard the USS Pennsylvania ballistic missile submarine, the nuclear-powered attack submarines USS North Carolina, USS Dallas and USS Cheyenne, according to his records.
He has been reassigned to another position at Kings Bay, the Navy said.
Capt. David Burke will temporarily replace Moreno as commander of the Wyoming’s Blue Crew, officials said. Burke had been serving as Kings Bay-based Submarine Squadron 20’s deputy commodore for training.
Navy officials said the USS Wyoming is currently in port for prolonged maintenance and repair, and Moreno’s firing “does not impact the ship’s mission or schedule.”
Moreno’s removal comes amid a string of high-profile firings in the Navy this year.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the Navy’s Chief Naval Officer, Adm. Lisa Franchetti, in February. The commanders of the Navy Reserve, Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore, and Naval Special Warfare Command, Rear Adm. Milton “Jamie” Sands III, were fired in August. Last month, the commander of the USS Santa Barbara, Cmdr. Adam Ochs, was relieved from leading the littoral combat ship’s Blue Crew. Hegseth this month fired the Navy’s civilian chief of staff, Jon Harrison.
Hegseth and service officials have not provided specific reasons for most of the firings in 2025.
