binocularsSome people will do anything to get out of a relationship -- especially if it's a relationship they shouldn't be involved with in the first place. A commanding officer of a Connecticut-based nuclear submarine, Navy Cmdr. Michael P. Ward II, was recently relieved of his position when it was discovered that he concocted an elaborate plan to lead his mistress -- who he had gotten pregnant -- to believe the he died.

And the story only gets weirder.

Apparently, Ward, who had been working at the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, met the woman -- who hasn't been named -- through an online dating service last October and used a fake name to communicate with her via email. He would visit her when he was in the Norfolk, Virginia, area for training, and at one point, she became pregnant from him. According to the investigation report, in late July, he met with her to discuss how to handle the pregnancy, and soon afterward she lost the baby due to complications.

Anyway, turns out that Ward sent his mistress an email from a fictitious person named "Bob" in July -- saying that Ward had died. When the woman went to Ward's former home to offer her condolences, she learned that Ward wasn't dead at all. In fact, he had just moved to Connecticut to take command of a submarine. Bus-ted.

A spokeswoman for the submarine group said that Ward has received a letter of reprimand for adultery and other military violations, and paperwork has now been filed to remove him from the Navy.

Wow. Seems like a pretty elaborate way to get out of a relationship. Would have been better for everyone -- Ward and his lady-friend -- if he would have told her he just wasn't that into her. Or better yet, if he hadn't cheated at all. That would have been best for his wife. Now, he's being stripped of his title and job that he surely loves -- for what? An inability to resist his urges, and a big, fat lie to try to undo what he already had done. Bad idea.

What do you think of this?

 

Image via wave-rider/Flickr