He’s SecNav, not SecDef
HIS boss should have been on top of things, assuming SecDef is still in his chain of command
Matters might not have gotten so far out of hand had the basic Department culture been a bit less ‘touchy-feely’ and more “let’s kill the enemy and break his things”
Esper is the Secretary of Defense. The "Department ‘formerly known as” WAR." Before the combination in 1947 the Secretary of the Navy was known as...the Secretary of the Navy.