Sec Nav: Your fired.
Posted on 11/24/2019 2:10:40 PM PST by jazusamo
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper asked for the resignation of Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer on Sunday after losing confidence in him over his handling of the case of a Navy SEAL accused of war crimes in Iraq, the Pentagon said.
Spencer’s resignation came in the wake of the controversial case of Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL who was accused of war crimes on a 2017 deployment. He was acquitted of murder but convicted in July of posing with the corpse of a captive.
Esper asked for Spencer’s resignation after learning that he had privately proposed to White House officials that if they did not interfere with proceedings against Gallagher, then Spencer would ensure that Gallagher was able to retire as a Navy SEAL, with his Trident insignia.
Spencer’s private proposal to the White House — which he did not share with Esper over the course of several conversations about the matter — contradicted his public position on the Gallagher case, chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement.
Esper said in the statement that he was “deeply troubled by this conduct.”
“Unfortunately, as a result I have determined that Secretary Spencer no longer has my confidence to continue in his position," Esper said. "I wish Richard well.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Spencer’s big argument was that the board would be run by SEAL NCOs who make the call. Yet his purposed secret deal reveals that this was a complete sham, as Spencer claimed the ability to secretly direct the board’s decision. So not only did he go behind Esper’s back, he revealed himself as a liar.
That is an auto fail move right there. You don't have to like the order, you don't get to challenge it in the media.
Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said on Friday a Navy SEAL convicted of battlefield misconduct should face a board of peers weighing whether to oust him from the elite force, despite President Donald Trump's assertion that he not be expelled.
Sec Nav: Your fired.
POSing with a POS cOrPSe
Oh the horror.
[Spencer was on the record Friday opening defying the President. He is not the good guy here.
That is an auto fail move right there. You don’t have to like the order, you don’t get to challenge it in the media.]
Never jump the chain of command.
I work as a regional supervisor. Every now and then someone will bypass me and my supervisor and go directly to the top guy. It creates all kinds of trouble. They can tell the top guy all kinds of stories that I know are not true, and he believes it because he is not here.
I finally got permission to send a gentle note to the top guy to ask him not to allow these bypassers.
I agree never bypass the chain of command....always go to them first and each one up the chain. They are gate keepers for a reason.
Confusing.
Q: What’s the default position on this one here on FR again?
What is it we are supposed to think or say?
May the “Curse of Trump” haunt your a$$ forever Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer.
“no idea where esper stands but this is not Trump firing the guy. It’s Esper”
Nothing in the military at this level happens without the knowledge AND approval of the President.
If you were in the military or a student of military rules and procedures you would be aware of the importance of adherence to the chain of command.
The SECNAVY jumped the chain and his boss had no choice but to fire him.
However there is no chance this was not done without the knowledge and approval of POTUS.
You do not TELL your superior you are going over his head, you instead request permission to do so. In any and all cases this request will be granted. To not do so is itself a violation of protocol by the superior officer.
Good - the MSM falsely stated he was threatening to quit and he came out and said those stories weren’t true...I think he realized he stepped in it via the ultimate insubordination and was hoping to keep the job he proved unfit for.
I remember when politics so polluted the officer and senior NCO ranks that a Sec AF did quit in disgust - at one time it was normal to stand up for your folks and protect them (I stood in front of a few commanders pleading to let me handle issues with my troops) and then it became political suicide to not slam the troops whose shoulders the brass walked to their positions on.
I agree.
They already are gunning for Trump, along with most of the DC establishment.
I haven't followed this as closely as I would have liked, but it almost seems to me like a classic desk jockey bureaucratic resentment directed towards the guys who do actual warfighting, the Former Secretary's military service notwithstanding. I so wholeheartedly object to the Former Secretary of The Navy's behavior in this that I believe, regardless of what he may have done or might have been in the past, he completely shat himself in this business. When you serve as a leader in a government position in the military chain at the pleasure of the President, if his orders are not immoral or evil, you do his bidding...if not, you resign. Full stop. That this guy did what he did fills me with distaste for him.
Your use of Navy Chief is incorrect language. What you mean is Secretary of the Navy.
I am pretty sure that Gallagher is in fact the Navy Chief, Chief Petty Officer
Wasn't that the biggest problem we had in Vietnam?
Well no.
McNamara was a civilian who tried to run a war using the statistical evaluation of numbers. Systems analysis became the trendy guiding principle. Young systems analysts became heros
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