Kenneth Braithwaite, the navy secretary below President Donald Trump, spent greater than $2.3 million on air journey for the roughly eight moths he was in workplace.
Braithwaite served because the Navy’s most senior civilian from Could 29 till Joe Biden took workplace on Jan. 21. Throughout that point, Braithwaite launched into 22 overseas and home journeys – greater than every other senior Pentagon civilian, USA Today reported.
The navy secretary was touring at the same time as different Protection Division officers stayed grounded due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He defended his journeys, saying they have been essential to bolster the Navy.
‘I’m extraordinarily pleased with the report of accomplishments of Our Sailors and Marines throughout my tenure as Secretary, particularly following such a tumultuous chapter within the Navy’s latest historical past of disaster following disaster as in comparison with our different providers,’ Braithwaite wrote to USA As we speak in an electronic mail. ‘I submit it is unimaginable to guide women and men deployed world wide from behind a desk in Washington.’
Kenneth Braithwaite, the navy secretary below President Donald Trump, spent greater than $2.3 million on air journey for the roughly eight moths he was in workplace – above he visits Her Majesty’s Ship Queen Elizabeth at sea off the coast of Flamborough, United Kingdom, on October 1, 2020
His home journeys included the Military-Navy annual soccer recreation; above Secretary of the Navy Kenneth Braithwaite, left, speaks with Performing the Duties of Below Secretary of the Navy, Gregory Slavonic in the course of the Military-Navy soccer recreation on Dec. 12, 2020
Braithwaite speaks with Col. Anthony Mastalir, thirtieth Area Wing commander and Dr. Scott Bailey, thirtieth SW historian, on Dec. 8, 2020, after arriving at Vandenberg Air Pressure Base, Calif., to fulfill with thirtieth Area Wing management
Braithwaite’s worldwide journeys included Norway, Italy, Greece, Japan and India.
His home travels included greater than $24,000 to attend the Military-Navy soccer recreation along with his household and a couple of go to to Hawaii.
Over the identical interval, then-Protection Secretary Mark Esper and his successor, performing Protection Secretary Christopher Miller, took 15 journeys. Military Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers, took 4 journeys.
Former President Donald Trump nominated Braithwaite for Navy secretary on November 24, 2019, after performing Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned. He was confirmed by the Senate on Could 21 and took the oath of workplace on Could 29, 2020.
One in every of Braithwaite’s journey that stood out was the $232,000 he spent the week earlier than Biden’s inauguration to fly to Wake Island, a tiny Pacific cease the place no sailors or Marines are stationed.
The Air Pressure, not the Navy, controls Wake Atoll, a string of islands usually not accessible to civilians. Navy F-18 pilots use the strip and ranges close by for coaching and refueling stops.
He recorded his farewell message to the Navy and Marine Corps on Wake Island, showing in a flight jacket on a gravelly seashore with the water within the background.
Danielle Brian, the chief director of the federal government watchdog Challenge On Authorities Oversight, mentioned the journey was ‘an costly abuse of energy.’
In January Secretary Braithwaite spent $232,000 to fly to Wake Island to report his farewell tackle to the Navy – above a nonetheless from his recorded speech
Secretary of the Navy Kenneth Braithwaite with Cdr. Phillip Sylvia aboard USS Hampton (SSN 767) in his first journey to San Diego as secretary on July 27, 2020
Secretary of the Navy Kenneth Braithwaite renders honors as he passes by means of sideboys upon arrival aboard USS Gerald R. Ford on June 11, 2020
Former President Donald Trump nominated Braithwaite for Navy secretary on November 24, 2019 and Braithwaite was confirmed by the Senate in Could
Moreover, for his travels, Braithwaite requested for and obtained a waiver from a 2018 Pentagon coverage for moral use of navy plane that cracked down on using a number of crews and planes in an effort to ‘be peerless stewards of taxpayers’ {dollars}.’
For his January journey to Wake, he took off from Joint Base Andrews and arrived in Hawaii. From there, he boarded a separate aircraft with a brand new crew for the flight to Wake Island.
In his waiver, he wrote that utilizing two planes and crews would guarantee he can be again on the Pentagon for a full day of labor on Jan. 15 the place he was serving to with the transition to the Biden administration.
Braithwaite graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1984 and served as a naval aviator. He left energetic obligation in 1993 as a one-star rear admiral and continued his service within the Navy Reserve. He beforehand served because the U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway.
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