SECDEF: Reset ethics, conduct

A day after Defense Secretary Mark Esper asked SECNAV Richard V. Spencer to resign, he told reporters that Spencer had broken crucial rules of trust and was publicly dishonest on multiple occasions about his plans and intentions. Speaking to reporters on Nov. 25, SECDEF said Spencer's termination was not ultimately about the handling of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, who was publicly championed by President Trump, but faced a review board and the loss of his prized trident pin after being found guilty of taking a photo with a corpse in a war zone earlier this year. It was about Spencer's honesty regarding the matter, Esper said. "A senior White House official took [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and me] aside and said, 'Oh, by the way, did you know that ...' and then told me what had happened, that this proposal had been brought by Secretary Spencer, and we had no knowledge whatsoever," Esper said. "We were flabbergasted ... and quite surprised, and caught completely off guard." According to Esper, Spencer had approached Trump with a deal regarding Gallagher: He would be guaranteed to keep his trident if the president allowed the Navy to proceed with a review board on the matter in a nod to proper procedures and protocol. "This proposal was completely contrary to what we agreed to, and contrary to Secretary Spencer's public position," Esper said. When approached, Esper said Spencer had been "forthright" and acknowledged his proposal. Spencer, who has not yet spoken in public, maintained in a termination letter that his resigning was based on a principled stand. "Unfortunately it has become apparent that ... I no longer share the same understanding with the Commander in Chief who appointed me, in regards to the key principle of good order and discipline," Spencer wrote. "I cannot in good conscience obey an order that I believe violated the sacred oath I took in the presence of my family, my flag and my faith to support and defend the Constitution of the United States." While SECNAV publicly and vocally denied that he had threatened to resign over Trump's intervention in Gallagher's case, Esper said Spencer's comment "was not true." (Source: CBS News 11/25/19) UPDATE: Esper wants the "SEALs and the Navy to move beyond this now and get fully focused on their war-fighting mission" ... and resetting professional standards, ethics and conduct, after asking for SENNAV's resignation and citing several rules of conduct he'd violated. (Source: DoD 11/25/19)