Fired USS Ohio submarine commander had been arrested for DUI on I-5, reports indicate

Peiyu Lin, Kitsap Sun
·3 min read

Former USS Ohio commanding officer Capt. Kurt Balagna, who was recently removed from command, was arrested on suspicion of DUI on March 5 when driving on I-5, on a trip from Poulsbo to SeaTac airport, according to a Washington State Patrol report. The captain was booked in King County Correctional Facility and released around 9 p.m. that day. The Navy confirmed that the DUI arrest was the reason Balagna was removed from command of the Bangor-based Ohio-class guided-missile submarine.

Balagna was removed from command because of the arrest and his's case is under investigation, Lt. Corey T. Jones, a spokesperson of Submarine Group 9, where the captain is assigned, told the Kitsap Sun. It is unknown if the former CO will receive additional penalties from the Navy. In a statement released on March 13, the Navy said he was relieved "due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command."

Capt. Kurt D. Balagna, commanding officer of the Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Ohio (SSGN 726), Gold Crew, was removed from command due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command on March 8.
Capt. Kurt D. Balagna, commanding officer of the Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Ohio (SSGN 726), Gold Crew, was removed from command due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command on March 8.

Arrested for DUI after drinking vodka since 8 a.m.

The King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention's Portal shows that Balagna was arrested at 12:51 p.m. on March 5 and released at 8:58 p.m. that day.

Around 12:30 p.m., Balagna was seen driving a silver Chrysler 200 northbound in lane 1 on I-5 by a Washington State Patrol sergeant, according to reports from the Washington State Patrol the Kitsap Sun received via a public records request. Seeing the car drifting on the highway, the sergeant stopped the vehicle.

When Balagna rolled the passenger side window down, the sergeant "could immediately smell a strong odor of intoxicants coming from within the vehicle, even with the driver's side window open," according to WSP's investigative report.

More: Bangor-based submarine USS Ohio gold crew CO removed from command due to loss of confidence

Balagna told the sergeant that he was going to the airport, coming from Poulsbo, but was having some trouble finding it. At that time Balagna and the sergeant were northbound on I-5, well north of SeaTac Airport. Balagna's face was flushed and his speech was slurred, according to the WSP report.

The captain said he had been drinking vodka and "started drinking around 8:00 that morning," the report said. He conducted and failed the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests. When the sergeant asked if Balagna thought he should be driving, he said no, according to the report.

"Based on my training and experience it was obvious that he was extremely intoxicated and not safe to be driving," the sergeant wrote in the report. The sergeant placed Balagna under arrest for DUI.

Balagna did a breath test at the WSP Roanoke Detachment Office and the samples showed that his Blood Alcohol Content was about 0.24, which is three times more than Washington state law's limit of 0.08, according to the report.

He then was transported to the King County Correctional Facility and booked for DUI.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Fired USS Ohio commander suspected of DUI on drive to SeaTac airport