The Navy has relieved the commanding officer of its reserve center in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a statement announced Tuesday.
Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Bourque was removed as commander of Navy Reserve Center Cheyenne by Capt. Christopher Peppel, the commander of Navy Reserve Region Readiness and Mobilization Command Everett in Washington state.
The Navy maintains 122 reserve centers around the country, and they typically serve as the first and primary point of contact between reservist sailors and the service for anything from administrative tasks to drill days.
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Bourque's relief, which was officially over a "loss of confidence in his ability to command," marks at least the 13th firing of a commanding officer this year for the Navy.
Loss of confidence is the boilerplate reason provided for firings by the military services, including the Navy, that can encompass anything from consistent poor performance by a command on key evaluations to personal actions like sexual assault or drunk driving.
Just this year alone, the sea service fired three commanders -- two submarine skippers and one Navy SEAL commodore -- for drunk driving incidents.
A military official told Military.com that Bourque was relieved over a matter of personal conduct, which did not involve allegations that impacted any other sailors, and that an investigation was involved.
Navy officials have previously said the sea service relieved 15 commanding officers over loss of confidence in 2023. However, Navy officials have said that commanders can also be relieved for medical reasons or ask to be relieved themselves, and those removals are not made public.
There are currently around 1,600 commanding officers in the active-duty Navy across all communities.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Bourque joined the Navy in 2009 after graduating from George Washington University. He served as a surface warfare officer aboard the destroyer USS Ramage and the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.
In 2017, Borque completed his department head course and proceeded to serve aboard the cruiser USS Princeton and the destroyer USS McFaul as a plans and tactics officer, according to the profile.
He assumed command of NRC Cheyenne in December 2023 after having been assigned to the office that oversees deployments of individual reservists.
According to the Navy's statement, Lt. Cmdr. Margaret Nichols has been temporarily assigned as NRC Cheyenne's commanding officer while Bourque has been temporarily reassigned to Navy Reserve Forces Command.
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