[Onkel Neal]

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/0...gn-navy-172625

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned on Tuesday following an uproar over a profanity-laced address to the crew of the coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt on Sunday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced.

Modly submitted his resignation letter to Esper on Tuesday after meeting with his boss one-on-one, a defense official with knowledge of the meeting said.

"He resigned on his own accord, putting the Navy and Sailors above self so that the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and the Navy as an institution, can move forward," Esper said in a statement.


Army Undersecretary James McPherson will be tapped to temporarily lead the Navy Department, Esper said. McPherson was confirmed to be the Army's No. 2 on March 23, a little more than two weeks ago.

In his resignation letter, a copy of which was obtained by POLITICO, Modly thanked Esper and President Donald Trump for their "confidence" in him.

"More than anything, I owe every member of the Navy and Marine Corps team a lifetime of gratitude for the opportunity to serve for them, and with them, once again," Modly wrote in the brief letter, which was addressed to Esper. "The men and women of the Department of the Navy deserve a continuity of civilian leadership befitting our great Republic, and the decisive naval force that secures our way of life."

Modly was more loquacious in a memo to the force, in which he acknowledged that he “lost situational awareness” during his address to the Roosevelt’s crew.

“You are justified in being angry with me about that,” Modly wrote in the memo, which was obtained by POLITICO. “There is no excuse, but perhaps a glimpse of understanding, and hopefully empathy.”