Secretary of the Navy Ray Nabus
Posted on 04/14/2016 5:48:24 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Ray Mabus again accused of politicizing process
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus is under fire for bending service rules in order to name the next Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer after a retired Democratic politician.
Mabus, who has previously been accused of politicizing the ship-naming process, announced Monday that the destroyer will be named after Carl Levin, a former Democratic U.S. senator from Michigan who is still alive and did not serve in the U.S. military.
Mabus disregarded Navy ship-naming rules stipulating that destroyers should be named for deceased members of the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, including secretaries of the Navy.
The announcement prompted a hasty inquiry from Rep. Duncan Hunter (R., Calif.), a former Marine, who asked Mabus to explain the decision. Hunter expressed concern in a Tuesday letter to the Navy secretary that the decision could constitute a “politicization” of the ship-naming process.
“I would like an explanation as to how this decision properly reflects Navy ship-naming rules,” Hunter wrote, citing a new report from the Congressional Research Service laying out the service’s ship-naming rules. “It is important that the Navy adhere to its own ship naming rules and take every effort necessary to avoid politicization of this process.”
Hunter cited recent exceptions that Mabus has made to name destroyers after Thomas Hudner, a living retired Navy officer, Paul Ignatius, a living former secretary of the Navy, and former Sen. Daniel Inouye, a Democrat who served in the Army and died in 2012.
Historically, the Navy has rarely named military ships for living people. According to the report released this month, at least 18 U.S. ships have been named for living people, seven of which have been announced since 2012 and three just this year. Mabus, who was appointed secretary by President Obama in May 2009, has broken tradition by naming seven naval ships after living people.
Mabus came under fire in 2011 for naming a supply ship in memory of labor leader Cesar Chavez. Hunter at the time argued that the decision seemed to be “more about making a political statement than upholding the Navy’s history and tradition.”
A July 2012 Navy report to Congress on the naming of ships reaffirmed the tradition of naming destroyers for deceased U.S. naval leaders, though it also stated that “a Secretary’s discretion to make exceptions to ship-naming conventions is one of the Navy’s oldest ship-naming traditions.”
The Navy secretary has traditionally selected and announced the names for naval ships under the direction of the president. The secretary also takes nominations and suggestions from the Chief of Naval Operations and Naval Historical Center and invites input from Congress.
“There have been exceptions to the Navy’s ship-naming rules, particularly for the purpose of naming a ship for a person when the rule for that type of ship would have called for it to be named for something else,” the CRS report explains. “Some observers have perceived a breakdown in, or corruption of, the rules of naming Navy ships.”
Capt. Patrick McNally, a spokesman for Mabus, told the Washington Times that the secretary can “deviate” from the ship-naming rules, which he described as “guidelines.”
“He names ships for American heroes and considers Senator Levin’s long commitment to the nation worthy of recognition …. The naming conventions are guidelines set by the secretary. He can deviate from them if he desires,” McNally stated.
Mabus called the naming of the the USS Carl M. Levin a “great honor” in a statement Monday.
“It is a great honor to name this ship in recognition of such a dedicated public servant. I have no doubt that all who serve aboard her will carry on the legacy of service and commitment exemplified by Carl Levin during his storied career,” Mabus stated.
Levin served 36 years in the U.S. Senate and chaired the Senate Armed Services Committee for nine years. Hunter noted in his letter that Levin served “honorably” as “a strong advocate for our men and women in uniform.”
Secretary of the Navy Ray Nabus
Hard to see why he insists on naming ships after living people when there are so many dead people he admires he could choose instead: Che Guevara, Karl Marx, Nat Turner, Benedict Arnold, Yasser Arafat, Vladimir Lenin, Pol Pot, Ayatollah Khomeini, Ho Chi Minh...
Why doesn’t the Obama-compromised Navy Secretary just cut to the chase and name a ship the U.S.S. Caitlyn Jenner?
Is nothing sacred anymore?
I knew Adm. Burke and I know he’s puking in his grave about Mabus the commander of the HSM Fairy Fleet and Carl Levin, a stupid communist KGB dupe.
Rules are made for everyone except for the proglodytes. They’re insulated from rules and laws that the rest of mere humanity are subject to.
Is this close enough?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USNS_Cesar_Chavez_(T-AKE-14)
No.
Barney’s Frank would be more appropriate. Tradition is just one more thing they can spit upon. They are the spawn of the Father of lies. From the Democrat Bible:
whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—despise such things.
A nation headed by perverts will not stand long.
USS Barry K Atkins...For Rear Admiral Barry Atkins, USN...Navy Cross, Silver Star, Purple Heart...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_K._Atkins
Battle of Surigao Straits, W/Cdr Atkins in command, The Melvin DD-680 (Fletcher Class) torpedoed and sunk the Japanese battleship Fuso...My Dad’s destroyer skipper...
BTW, petition has been made, and Rear Admiral Atkins qualifies under the standing rules...
Under consideration...
But the Progs just make it up as they go...
Surely they have a garbage scow they can name after Hanoi Boi Kerry.
that the secretary can “deviate” from the ship-naming rules, which he described as “guidelines.”
Isn’t that line out of a “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie?
Give him time.
I wonder how the guys feel serving on a sub nicknamed Peanut.
I can see Barney Franks as a rear admiral, lower half.
save us from Mabus. The rallying cry that got Curt Fordice elected to Governor replacing that democrat. And while not perfect in many ways, Fordice managed to undo a lot of the crookedness that the smarmy, smartass who now sits in oBamma’s lap did. certainly Mabus must not believe in a God that judges.
A submarine named the USS Weiner?
It fires torpedoes randomly and some are programmed to circle back on the ship.
Well, the navy being what it was back then and becoming more so no, now. No shocker.
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