If the Navy Secretary is so concerned about the chain of command, why isn’t he letting uniformed officers over Captain Crozier handle this? He’s a jerk not worthy of his position, either too naive or stupid to be there at the Pentagon. I would almost bet my mortgage that this outburst comes back to bite the SecNav in the butt.
“If the Navy Secretary is so concerned about the chain of command, why isn’t he letting uniformed officers over Captain Crozier handle this? He’s a jerk not worthy of his position, either too naive or stupid to be there at the Pentagon.”
He did address this through the chain of command, but obviously decided to let everyone know it was his decision and why he did it.
From the SECNAV statement of 4/2:
“Once I read the letter, I immediately called the Chief of Naval Operations, ADM Gilday, and the Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, ADM Aquilino. ADM Gilday had just read the letter that morning as well, and ADM Aquilino had it the day before. We had a teleconference within minutes of my reading of that article, including the Commander, SEVENTH Fleet, VADM William Merz, ADM Aquilino, ADM Gilday, the Department of the Navy’s Surgeon General, RADM Bruce Gillingham, and others. That evening, we held another teleconference with the entire chain of command.”