The Navy’s top officer, Chief of Naval Operations Mike Gilday, should resign over President Trump’s undermining of Navy command authority and discipline.
While Adm. Gilday has only been CNO for a little more than a month, he is ultimately responsible for the Navy’s effective stewardship. And by tweeting orders to undercut the Navy’s special warfare community, President Trump has undermined the Navy’s steady course.
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 21, 2019
That tweet signals Trump’s overturning of a Navy command action on Wednesday to remove Gallagher from the SEALs following his court-martial trial and limited conviction for war crimes.
Trump, of course, has every right to this action.
He is the commander-in-chief, vested with the authority to govern the military as such. But Gilday has day-to-day responsibility to lead the Navy as a professional combat force. In the context of a near-term threat of war with China, the Navy needs to be ready to fight. That means Navy commanding officers and senior noncommissioned officers must be vested with the clear authority to lead, including on matters of discipline. There is abundant cause to believe that Gallagher should not be serving in the SEALs or the Naval Special Warfare community. His supervising commanding admiral, Collin Green, was thus wholly justified to seek his removal from the elite maritime special operations force. This is especially true in light of recent discipline problems that have plagued the SEALs.
But with Trump now overruling Green, the president has introduced a principle of politicized justice and acceptable ill-discipline to the force he commands. It’s thus up to the Navy’s most senior officer to stand up for the Annapolis principles that all naval officers are sworn to serve. Always and rightly loyal to the civilian leadership headed by Trump, Gilday should quietly resign in protest.
If not, Adm. Green and the commanding general of Special Operations Command, Richard Clarke, should do so.
