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Lt Col Charlie Brown
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Interesting read. I have mixed feelings about Trump's interventions but we all have to remember the Chain of Command and that his cabinet officers and many others serve by his choice.
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SSG Aircraft Pneudraulics Repairer
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Just because he holds the CIC title doesn't mean he should involve himself in these matters. The secretary makes several points that highlight Trump's misunderstanding of the military.
1. President Trump involved himself in the case almost from the start. Before the trial began, in March, I received two calls from the president asking me to lift Gallagher’s confinement in a Navy brig; I pushed back twice, because the presiding judge, acting on information about the accused’s conduct, had decided that confinement was important. Eventually, the president ordered me to have him transferred to the equivalent of an enlisted barracks. I came to believe that Trump’s interest in the case stemmed partly from the way the defendant’s lawyers and others had worked to keep it front and center in the media.

2. Shortly thereafter, I received a second call from Cipollone, who said the president would order me to restore Gallagher to the rank of chief. This was a shocking and unprecedented intervention in a low-level review. It was also a reminder that the president has very little understanding of what it means to be in the military, to fight ethically or to be governed by a uniform set of rules and practices.

3. The next day, the Navy established a review board to decide the status of Gallagher’s Trident pin. According to long-standing procedure, a group of four senior enlisted SEALs would rule on the question. This was critical: It would be Gallagher’s peers managing their own community. The senior enlisted ranks in our services are the foundation of good order and discipline. But the question was quickly made moot: On Nov. 21, the president tweeted that Gallagher would be allowed to keep his pin — Trump’s third intervention in the case.

I don't know how any senior enlisted can agree with him because throughout my time in the military I always heard NCOs complaining when officers involved themselves in "NCO business." I'm not sure how they cope with their cognitive dissonance. This is SEAL business. They should handle the trident affair not Trump.
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