Posted on 11/27/2019 4:39:06 PM PST by Retain Mike
Acting on orders from Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and President Trump, the Navy has formally canceled the SEAL-led review board that would have evaluated if Chief Edward Gallagher would remain a SEAL, Navy officials confirmed to USNI News on Tuesday. “The Navy has canceled the Naval Special Warfare designation review board for SOC Edward R. Gallagher,” read a Navy statement provided to USNI News. “He will retire from active duty. We will not provide additional details due to privacy concerns.”,p> Last week, Trump tweeted that the process should be stopped.
“The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s Trident Pin. This case was handled very badly from the beginning. Get back to business!” Trump wrote.
The fallout of the President’s involvement in the case resulted in the removal of former Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer from his position by Esper. On Monday Esper said Spencer proposed a deal, without Esper’s knowledge, to the White House that would allow Gallagher’s board to move ahead but result in Gallagher retaining his SEAL rating.
It’s unclear if three SEAL officers that were also named last week will also be subjected to a similar board.
When asked on the status of boards for SEALs Lt. Jacob Portier, Lt. Cmdr. Robert Breisch and Lt. Thomas MacNeil a Naval Special Warfare Command spokesperson referred USNI News to comments Esper made to reporters on Monday.
The three SEAL officers were part of SEAL Team 7 during a deployment to Iraq in 2017 and were involved in the Navy’s failed prosecution of Gallagher. Portier was also charged criminally for actions during the deployment.
Their review boards were initiated by WARCOM commander, Rear Adm. Collin Green.
Esper said he had asked Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday and Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly for input on how to proceed with the other review boards.
“It is also my view that the issue should not be thrown in the laps of a board of senior NCOs to sort out. As professional as they are, no matter what they would decide, they would be criticized from many sides, which would further drag this issue on, dividing this institution,” Esper said. “I want the SEALs and the Navy to move beyond this now and get fully focused on their warfighting mission.”
USNI News understands a recommendation to Esper could come in the next few days.
The cancellation of the review board, “is the final acknowledgment that the saga of Eddie Gallagher is finally at an end,” his lawyer Timothy Parlatore told USNI News. “I hope that WARCOM will do some internal reflections on how they can improve from this.”
The purpose of the military is to kill people and break things.
If you don’t want them to do that, don’t send them.
Send pajama boys.
bust the admirals.....
tone deaf
“When it absolutely positively must be destroyed overnight. Navy SEALS.”
I don’t know about the other 3 but he should have been given an oral reprimand, nothing else.
During WWII, my Father’s battalion commander caught Daddy trading a German kid, candy for eggs. Lt. Col. Scott gave him a dressing down but it did not go on his record.
For some reason, eggs were forbidden because they could be booby trapped somehow.
For some reason, eggs were forbidden because they could be booby trapped somehow.....Easy. The fertilized eggs could hatch chicks that came out with machine guns blazing.
I am not sure but I think they were easy to poison.
This on RADM Green's shoulders. It was his vindictive pursuit of Gallagher that caused this whole mess. As critical as I have been of RADM Green, he is a SEAL, a badass and a killer. He has no problem killing the bad guys, it's just he screwed the pooch in his approach to changing the culture of the SEALs to one with a more polished and professional military image. He let his ego and desire for retribution cloud his judgement, and brought discredit on himself and the men he is supposed to lead.
How is that not "social engineering"?
or --- as Chesty would say: "Show me to the brig. I want to see the real Marines".
Because there IS a cultural problem in the SEALs, and it IS Green's job to correct that problem. He might not be the man for the job, and during a war that is overwhelmingly depending on Special Operations Forces like the SEALs might not be the right time to jerk the reigns. We shall see.
Spencer made a bad mistake when he insinuated that a tweet from the President did not carry the weight of an official order. The message the remainder of the military got is that if Trump sends a message by pony express, telegraph, carrier pigeon or twitter, they better do what it says without inserting their own comments.
Should have probably been a “Letter of Instruction”, which is a reprimand that goes away when the superior transfers, and is never placed in the official record. An LOI is a CYA letter, and as long as the person doesn’t screw up again, it just sits in the Commander’s desk drawer. An LOI has no effect on your eligibility for advancement or retention. If Chief Gallagher received an LOI, he would be a Senior Chief right now.
A “Letter of Reprimand” is official, goes in your permanent record, and is considered an adverse disciplinary action. In the case of Chief Gallagher, an LOR would have resulted in forced retirement.
RADM Green should be packing his seabag.
For what?
I think Daddy said they could insert a really tiny needle. It left a tiny hole which could be covered somehow.
The only SEALS I knew were creatures in the Mekong Delta. They were truly predators. If professionalism means losing the edge, then I’ll take predators. They were different people.
The only SEALS I knew were creatures in the Mekong Delta. They were truly predators. If professionalism means losing the edge, then I’ll take predators. They were different people.
“Gen. Mattis and Mr. West draw a sharp line between tactical leadership—in which risk-taking and front-line initiative are vital—and strategic leadership, which, if left to its own devices, breeds caution and groupthink. At the lower levels, the authors advise, “Leave the ‘how’ to your subordinates, who must be trained and rewarded for exercising initiative.” A commander “must be tolerant of mistakes. If the risk takers are punished, then you will retain in your ranks only the risk averse.”
Book Review: Learning to Lead
https://www.wsj.com/articles/book-review-learning-to-lead-11574443199
I can recall from my AF days thousands of years ago that an order is an order regardless of how it was transmitted.
The military wants to persecute and prosecute soldiers for doing their jobs. Bowe Bergdahl, deserter and murder, is free as a bird: “dishonorably discharged, reduced in rank, and fined $1,000 per month from his pay for ten months, with no prison time.”
Anyone who doesn’t recognize the problem here is retarded.
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