New Delhi: US Navy chief Richard Spencer was abruptly forced to resign by Defence Secretary Mark Esper Sunday over the former’s dealing of a case involving alleged misconduct by a Navy SEAL officer, Edward Gallagher.
While the top Navy leadership wanted an independent review of Gallagher’s case, which might have seen him stripped off his coveted Navy SEAL badge, US President Donald Trump wanted to pardon the officer.
The case has brought to light the growing concern among the top officials of the US military, regarding Trump’s unusual interference in military affairs.
What is the Navy SEAL case all about?
The US Navy SEAL is the primary special operations unit of the American Navy. The SEAL in the name stands for Sea, Air, and Land Teams. The core function of this unit is to perform small-unit overseas special operations in unconventional scenarios. The Navy SEAL has had prominent engagements — from the Vietnam War to Operation Desert Storm to the more recent war on ISIS.
This summer, the Navy SEAL officer in question, Edward Gallagher was acquitted of murdering a wounded Iraqi captive of ISIS in Iraq but was convicted for posting a photo with the dead body of that captive. Coincidentally, it was Gallagher’s own platoon that had reported him to the authorities last summer. Following the trial, Gallagher was demoted from his position on 2 July this year.
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How did it lead to the Navy-Trump standoff?
After Edward Gallagher’s demotion, President Donald Trump intervened on 15 November to reverse the decision. According to reports, this presidential intervention has irked some senior members of the US military.
Following the presidential order, the Navy executed Trump’s orders and Gallagher’s demotion was reversed.
However, the Navy also started disciplinary proceedings against the officer to determine whether Gallagher should continue to have his coveted Trident pin — the sign of a Navy SEAL. If the panel decided to take away Gallagher’s Trident pin — “marking him as a SEAL” — this would have ousted him from the Navy SEALs commando unit.
Two former partners of Trump’s personal attorney Rudolph Giuliani are representing Gallagher in the case.
The Navy’s decision to continue with the disciplinary proceedings irked Trump. Last Thursday, he took to Twitter to announce, “The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s Trident Pin. This case was handled very badly from the beginning. Get back to business!”
The Navy’s decision to carry on with the disciplinary proceedings led to the stand-off between Trump and the Navy.
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Spencer’s threat and then compromise with White House
Richard Spencer publicly disagreed with Donald Trump’s stand and also told his associates at the Pentagon, the department of defence, that if the President pressurised him to end the disciplinary proceedings, he would resign.
Given Spencer’s stand, Defence Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chief of Staffs Gen. Mark Milley went to Trump, requesting him to let the disciplinary proceedings carry on, reported the New York Times.
Meanwhile, Spencer was also working on a compromise with the White House.
He suggested a way to avoid this military-executive stand-off In case the Navy disciplinary panel decided to strip of Gallagher of his SEALs badge, and the US President once again reinstated him.
“Spencer feared that a direct order from Trump to protect Gallagher, who is represented by two former partners of Trump’s personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani, would be seen as subverting military justice,” reported the Washington Post.
To avoid this scenario, Spencer suggested Gallagher retire at the end of November, with his SEALs badge. In return, Trump would not intervene in the matter.
However, this secret deal with the White House irked Defense Secretary Esper. “After arguing Mr. Spencer’s public case to Mr. Trump, Mr. Esper was furious to discover that the Navy secretary had tried to make a side deal with the White House without informing him, the official said,” reported the New York Times.
Navy secretary asked to resign
Finally on Sunday, Mark Esper asked the Navy Secretary to resign. In his statement, Esper has said that he has lost confidence in Spencer as his public position contradicted his private statements.
The New York Times also reported that by threatening to resign, “Mr. Spencer had also provoked Mr. Trump’s ire.”
In his resignation letter, Spencer claimed that he and President Trump differed on the idea of “good order and discipline”. “The lives of our Sailors, Marines and civilian teammates quite literally depend on the professional execution of our many missions,” noted Spencer’s letter.
Meanwhile, Trump cleared his position through a series of tweets. Beyond the Gallagher trial, Trump also expressed his displeasure with Spencer over other matters as well.
“Likewise, large cost overruns from past administration’s contracting procedures were not addressed to my satisfaction. Therefore, Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer’s services have been terminated by Secretary of Defense Mark Esper,” tweeted Trump.
I was not pleased with the way that Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s trial was handled by the Navy. He was treated very badly but, despite this, was completely exonerated on all major charges. I then restored Eddie’s rank. Likewise, large cost overruns from past administration’s…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 24, 2019
Reflecting on Spencer’s forced resignation, Washington Post wrote, “One former SEAL commander noted that maintaining discipline among these elite units is so important that the SEAL peer-review panels have removed more than 150 Trident pins since 2011, or more than one a month.”
“That’s the process of internal accountability that Spencer was trying to defend, and that Trump sabotaged,” added Post.
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