Tag: Richard Spencer

Richard Spencer: I was fired as Navy secretary. Here’s what I’ve learned because of it.

Washington Post logoThe case of Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL who was charged with multiple war crimes before being convicted of a single lesser charge earlier this year, was troubling enough before things became even more troubling over the past few weeks. The trail of events that led to me being fired as secretary of the Navy is marked with lessons for me and for the nation.

It is highly irregular for a secretary to become deeply involved in most personnel matters. Normally, military justice works best when senior leadership stays far away. A system that prevents command influence is what separates our armed forces from others. Our system of military justice has helped build the world’s most powerful navy; good leaders get promoted, bad ones get moved out, and criminals are punished.

In combat zones, the stakes are even higher. We train our forces to be both disciplined and lethal. We strive to use proportional force, protect civilians and treat detainees fairly. Ethical conduct is what sets our military apart. I have believed that every day since joining the Marine Corps in 1976.

View the complete November 27 commentary by former Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer on The Washington Post website here.

Trump Is Violating a Key Military Rule in the Eddie Gallagher Affair—and the Military Is Suffering From It

In forcing the resignation of Navy Secretary Richard Spencer over his handling of the case of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, President Donald Trump has intruded upon the military justice process.

Spencer has acted honorably throughout the affair. In his resignation letter, he said he could not “in good conscience obey” Trump’s decision to reverse Gallagher’s demotion and allow him to keep his Trident pin.

“A generation of officers had to rebuild the war-fighting culture after Vietnam, which they did with great success, and the military is a rare institution that Americans say they still trust,” wrote the Wall Street Journal‘s editorial board on Monday. “As commander-in-chief, Mr. Trump will undermine the officers under his command if he runs roughshod over their effort to maintain good order and discipline.”

View the complete November 26 commentary by Thomas Kolditz and Jeffrey Sonnefeld on The Fortune Magazine website here.

‘Kill them’: Three men charged in shooting after Richard Spencer speech

The following article by Susan Svrluga and Lori Rozsa was posted on the Washington Post website October 20, 2017:

Protesters surrounded and shouted at Tyler Eugene Tenbrink, who attended Richard Spencer’s speech, as he tried to leave the University of Florida on Thursday. (Evelyn Hockstein for The Washington Post)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Three men were charged with attempted homicide after they argued with a group of people protesting a white nationalist’s speech and fired a shot at them, police said Friday.

About 90 minutes after Richard Spencer’s speech Thursday at the University of Florida — which generated so much controversy that the governor declared a state of emergency days before the event — a silver Jeep pulled up to six to eight protesters near a bus stop and confronted them, according to Gainesville Police Department spokesman Sgt. Ben Tobias.

The men, whom police identified as white nationalists, threatened the group, making Nazi salutes and shouting chants about Hitler, police said. Continue reading “‘Kill them’: Three men charged in shooting after Richard Spencer speech”