Admiral set to lead Navy to retire over judgement lapse
Counsel from an accused ex-Navy officer costs Moran.
WASHINGTON— The fourstar admiral set to become the Navy’s top officer on Aug. 1 will instead retire, an extraordinary downfall prompted by what Navy Secretary Richard Spencer called poor judgment regarding a professional relationship.
The sudden move by Adm. William Moran, announced Sunday, may add to the perception of turmoil in the Pentagon’s senior ranks, coming less than a month after Pat Shanahan abruptly with- drew from consideration to be defense secretary after serving as the acting secretary for six months.
Leaders of the individual military services, both civilian and uniformed, play less critical roles in national secu- rity than the defense secre- tary, and they are not in the chain of command. But they are responsible for ensuring the armed forces are trained, equipped and prepared for combat and other roles.
Moran had been vetted for promotion to the top uniformed position in the Navy, nominated by Pres- ident Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate in May to succeed Adm. John Richardson as chief of naval operations and as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Instead, Moran said in a written statement Sunday that he told Spencer he decided to decline his appointment as the next chief of naval oper- ations and requested to be allowed to retire.
“As painful as it is to submit my request to retire, I will not be an impediment what- soever to the important ser- vice that you and your families continue to render the nation every day,” Moran wrote.
Spencer said his vision for the Navy includes “an urgent resolve by all” to live up to high standards.
“Adm. Bill Moran recently brought to my attention that over the past two years he maintained a professional relationship with an individ- ual who was held account- able and counseled for fail- ing to meet the values and standards of the Naval profes- sion,” Spencer said in a writ- ten statement Sunday. “While I admire his faithful service and commitment to the Navy, this decision on his part to maintain that relationship has caused me to call his judgment into question. There- fore, today I accepted Adm. Moran’s request to retire.”
Senior Navy officials said Spencer learned of this relationship only after Moran’s Senate confirmation in May. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.
Sp e ncer provided no details about the unnamed individual, but other officials said Spencer was referring to Moran having recently taken public affairs counsel from Chris Servello, who was removed from his position as public affairs adviser to Rich- ardson in 2017 and given a non-punitive letter of reprimand for drinking and frat- ernizing with junior officers during and after a December 2016 Navy Christmas party.
Servello was accused of making unwanted sexual passes while dressed as Santa at the party. No charges were filed. He retired from the Navy last May at the rank of commander. Servello had previously worked for Moran as a public affairs officer.
In an interview Sunday, Servello said he was aware of Moran’s decision to retire.
“It’s hard not to feel disap- pointment and disbelief,” he said. “This is terrible news for the Navy, and beyond that, I don’t have anything to add.”
Moran said his decision to decline his appointment and to retire was based also on what he called an open investigation into “the nature of some of my personal email correspondence over the past couple of years.” He also cited the Servello relation- ship, without using his name.
“To be c lear,” Moran added, “my decision to main- tain this relationship was in no way an endorsement or tacit approval of ” the kind of misconduct Servello was disciplined for. “I under- stand how toxic it can be to any team when inappropriate behavior goes unrecognized and unchecked.”