Command Master Chief Jonas Carter spent nearly three decades in the Navy, but his 28-year career will likely be remembered for an indelicate comment that led to his resignation this month.
After he told sailors to “clap like we’re at a strip club” when Vice President Mike Pence visited the USS Truman, he stated that he had “taken full responsibility of my mistake” and “decided to retire.”
That decision, which many suspected was not voluntary, was met with widespread dismay within naval circles. One Navy veteran told the Washington Examiner that ending a career over one off-color comment was unnecessary. “That’s just overly sensitive. But I guess we don’t need grandmas to know sailors go to strip clubs.”
Lt. Cmdr. Jimmy Drennan, a naval officer with 15 years of experience and the curator of the Salty Herald blog, told the Washington Examiner, “There should have been some accountability, maybe a public apology and remediation, but a voluntary resignation is no accountability at all.”
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He stated on his blog: “In combat we will need leaders to take risks that will sometimes result in mistakes. They need to believe they won’t be fired for every mistake. If so, we’ll run out of leaders, or worse we’ll have leaders afraid to take risks.”
Carter, 46, is a Michigan native who enlisted in the Navy 28 years ago. He rose through the ranks swiftly, spending 17 years as a chief petty officer. He served in the USS Constant minesweeper, the Reagan and Stennis aircraft carriers, and was the command master chief of the USS Chancellorsville prior to taking his post on the Truman in November 2017.
Few rise to command master chief, the top enlisted rank in the Navy. Their seniority means they face added scrutiny, which sometimes leads to high-profile resignations and removals.
Command Master Chief Jason Pick was removed from a guided-missile destroyer in December “due to misconduct identified during an ongoing investigation.” Command Master Chief Brian Morris was removed from the Navy’s Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron Four this month due to “a loss of confidence in his ability to perform duties of a command master chief.”
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Many of those posting on Reddit’s Navy message board were furious. “Perfect way to raise the plummeting morale, low retention, and meet the need for manpower,” wrote one.
“Force a career guy into retirement over a joke. I guarantee the message to the lower enlisted guys that the navy is so desperately trying to keep is heard loud and clear. ‘You, Sailor, mean nothing to us. We will demand everything of you. We will chew you up, use you up, and then we will kick you to the curb the very instant it becomes convenient.’ How inspiring.”
Another chimed in: “Next visit … please clap moderately vigorously, at a rate not to exceed 35 claps per minute, but at least 20 claps per minute. Each individual clap should be at least 4 decibels but not to exceed 8. Those who are uncomfortable or fearful of clapping are now excused to the ‘safe’ room where they may sit and talk through their feelings.”
Other contributions were: “When it’s decided that corporate culture is more important than 500 years of traditional sailor behavior,” and, “have heard worse comments on every single smoke deck in the Navy.” Another added, “I hate this PC Navy.”
