Modly out; McPherson on deck

WASHINGTON – Acting Navy Secretary Thomas B. Modly resigned April 7 after his response, to an outbreak of the novel coronavirus aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, engulfed the Navy in a command crisis and a public relations snafu. SECDEF Mark T. Esper accepted Modly’s resignation Tuesday morning. “He resigned of his own accord,” Esper wrote in a letter, “putting the Navy and the sailors above self so that the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and the Navy as an institution, can move forward.” SECDEF said he had briefed President Trump on the resignation. Next up for the Navy’s top civilian job, Esper said, will be Jim McPherson, current Army undersecretary. (Source: Washington Post 04/07/20)