He sho
So, will Trump step in and fire this guy?
He should fire the captain
Trump needs to stay out of Navy Personnel business
Actually, Trump as Commander in Chief can order the Navy to give someone a command. This is long in history. One example, the post December 7th order to send Nimitz to Pearl Harbor to take over CincPac.
There are a lot of other historical examples of the President issuing orders to give one person a job over another. Or to relieve someone. Admiral Halsey was ordered to relieve Admiral Gormley. The President had lost faith in Gormley. The orders went through the Chain of Command, but the fact remains that the President can and has relieved career officers many times through history. Truman and MacArthur come to mind, along with other notable examples.
So Trump has the authority as Commander in Chief, just as all Presidents do. He has the Historical Example with many instances where exactly that sort of thing happened. I would not claim that only Trump is limited beyond what is the norm.
Because let’s be honest. Promotions to Captain, and especially Admiral, are always heavily political. For Admiral the Senate must confirm, so the President picks his candidates carefully. The idea of an apolitical military is a joke. Every Four Star General or Admiral has been submitted to Congress at least three and probably four times. They are probably on first name basis with most of the Staff of the Senate and House politicians, especially those with oversight of the Military.
Crozier should be reinstated, I agree. But I do not feel that way because Trump is President, or in spite of it. I feel that way because he appears to be a competent officer who has had a long career with no mistakes to be entrusted to command an Aircraft Carrier. He followed regulations and was chastised for it by a Martinet who should never have been entrusted to his job. Often we don’t learn that a person is a fool until we find out how they abuse the trust we give them.
There is an old joke. A private can not lose a war. The private, should he make a mistake, is incapable of losing the war, he just does not have the position, or authority to do so. However, a General can lose a war with ease should he make a mistake. An apparently good on paper choice for Sec Navy turned out to be a very bad choice indeed. He is gone, as should happen whenever anyone demonstrates they can not handle the pressure or responsibility of a job.
One last thought comes to mind. Zell Miller when he was Governor of Georgia, required his appointees to prove him with a signed letter of resignation before they were confirmed to the jobs. Those letters lacked only the date. Zell Miller Believed it was important to have those in a file in his drawer. That way, when they went against him or did something he didn’t like, he did not need to ask them for their resignation, but just open the file and pull out their letter and add the date in.
Zell argued that he answered to the Voters, and his appointee’s answered to him. I have long thought that was a good idea, and wonder if others had adapted the process as well.
I have seen Presidents get involved in the appointment and reassignment of Flag Officers
Truman relieved MacArthur of command.
I have not seen Presidents involved in the appointment or assignments of Navy Captains or Army/Air Force Colonels and below. That is usually left to the individual service.
In Trumps case, he got involved in disciplinary action of a Navy SEAL
Sets a bad precedence
The Constitution grants the President, every single one since Washington, and every single one yet to come, the unilateral and uncheckable power of Pardons and Commutations. The Senate has no authority to overrule the Pardons and Commutations. The House can rail and climb on the soapbox, but can’t do anything either.
This authority includes Military Courts Martials. It always has. It has since Washington took the oath for the first time. Moreover, an unusual facet of Courts Martials is that the Commanders at each level above can set the Conviction aside. Or they can commute the sentence as well. Seriously.
Let’s say a Marine is charged with striking an officer at Pearl Harbor. The General in charge of the Marines has the responsibility to review the Courts Martial. He can let the conviction stand, or overturn it. That conviction can even be overturned later by someone else. Or that General can set aside the punishment.
There have been some cases where that happened, and Congress railed and ranted. Legal experts objected and wrote lengthy articles objecting to it. But nothing has changed in the Regulations. Congress apparently does not want to get rid of this Commanders Prerogative.
Now, the President is the Commander in Chief, and decides what the policy of the Military will be. Clinton for example, enacted Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Clinton unilaterally using his authority as Commander in Chief ordered the policy. I was in the Army when that policy went into effect. As a Sergeant, it was not only my duty to obey that order. It was my duty to support it with full throated endorsements. I had to behave and speak as if it was brilliant, because failure to do so would be dishonorable in my opinion.
Many people objected saying that Clinton was wrong and abusing his authority. But he had the authority, and again, I will not begrudge one person for using that authority, and then claim someone else was right for doing it.
President Trump got involved in a case, which is no different than any other Commander getting involved. Right or wrong, they have the authority to do so. And that authority has always existed.
Now, FDR also took care of his former Naval Aides. Young officers got plum assignments because they were liked by FDR. That sort of cronyism is normal in the world. Many officers are serving with subordinates whom they have served with many times, because they asked for them when given an assignment. So deciding who should be given a job, I am sure that for decades the White House was advised who the Navy wanted to give command of Carriers and Submarines. After all these are our most important and strategic assets. Knowing who is going to be in charge is probably important. I doubt that the President put a name on the list who was not already in the running, but he probably nudged one or two over the years, in every administration.
Again, it is often political. A Captain who has worked with the Senate, and done the Navy, and thus the administration proud, is probably going to be considered before a Captain who was in charge of a less prestigious job.
And the President has the right to know who is going to be getting those strategic commands. After all, those are the ships and Commands that are going to be carrying out policy when it really matters. So giving the right person the job, even at the level of Colonel or Captain, is likely to be vitally important.
Look at the book and movie We Were Soldiers. They picked Hal Moore at the Pentagon, and went to get approval from the Political folks before he was assigned. Four Star Generals and Political Figures were picking Hal Moore, a Lieutenant Colonel, to command a Battalion. What makes you think that the Sec Army or Sec Def didn’t mention to the President that this new unit was going to be commanded by Hal Moore? I am sure the same discussions go on when assigning someone to command the Combat Brigades of the 82nd Airborne. Those are Full Colonel Jobs.
The military is a lot more Political than you think it is. It always has been. What is unusual is that the political nonsense is getting out. But the behind the scenes actions? Those are pretty much status quo. It has never been as simple and clear cut as we might imagine it to be.
I refuse to hold Trump to a different standard than I would hold any other President. I refuse to claim that he is awful for conducting business as usual. I refuse to pretend that it is different because he is Trump. Favorites have always gotten pushed up, and good assignments. Crozier must have done well at the Pentagon, because there is no shortage of Pilots who are Captains and could be given command of a carrier.
www.cnn.com
