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The overthrown chief of the U.S Navy attacked the U.S President Donald Trump in his resignation letter. He told the president they don’t hold compatible views on Good Order and Discipline in the military. The secretary of the navy, Richard Spencer told the president as he was fired on Sunday by Mark Esper (the defense secretary). He said, “The rule of law is what sets us apart from our adversaries”. Spencer had allegedly proposed a backroom deal with the White House aimed to resolve a public spat over disgraced Navy Seal Edward Gallagher, without informing Esper. This was the official reason for his sacking. Chief Petty Officer Gallagher was convicted in a court-martial earlier this year of having posed with the corpse of a teenage Isis member during a 2017 deployment but was cleared of murder.

The navy was planning a review to determine whether he should be expelled from the elite Seal force. Spencer made clear his resistance to the president’s stance, on Saturday. At a security conference in Canada, he said he didn’t interpret Trump’s tweets. He insisted that the Navy will not be taking away War-fighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s Trident Pin, as a formal order. Esper said he lost confidence in Spencer after finding out the navy chief had tried to end the dispute behind his back, in spite of the pair having held several conversations on the matter. Spencer’s supposed plan would have seen Gallagher retire with his Seal status intact.

Gallagher’s fate suddenly became a matter of the highest national importance when Trump intervened in his case and issued a pardon on 15 November. Trump reinstated Gallagher’s rank and tweeted noisily in opposition to plans to strip the operator of his elite Seal status. The president also pardoned former 1st Lt Clint Lorance (convicted in 2013 of the murder of two unarmed men in Afghanistan), and Major Mathew Golsteyn (he was due to face a murder trial in 2020). Spencer wrote in a letter to Trump on Sunday night, “The rule of law is what sets us apart from our adversaries. Good order and discipline are what have enabled our victory against foreign tyranny time and again. The constitution and the uniform code of military justice are the shields that set us apart, and the beacons that protect us all. I have strived to ensure our proceedings are fair, transparent and consistent, from the newest recruit to the flag and general officer level”.