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Kenneth Braithwaite, the navy secretary beneath President Donald Trump, spent greater than $2.3 million on air travel for the roughly eight moths he was in workplace.
Braithwaite served because the Navy’s most senior civilian from Might 29 till Joe Biden took workplace on Jan. 21. Throughout that point, Braithwaite embarked on 22 international and home journeys – greater than another senior Pentagon civilian, USA Today reported.
The navy secretary was touring whilst different Protection Division officers stayed grounded due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He defended his journeys, saying they had been essential to bolster the Navy.
‘I’m extraordinarily happy with the report of accomplishments of Our Sailors and Marines throughout my tenure as Secretary, particularly following such a tumultuous chapter in the Navy’s latest historical past of crisis following crisis as in comparison with our different providers,’ Braithwaite wrote to USA In the present day in an e mail. ‘I submit it is unattainable to steer women and men deployed around the globe from behind a desk in Washington.’
Kenneth Braithwaite, the navy secretary beneath President Donald Trump, spent greater than $2.3 million on air travel 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 Beneath Secretary of the Navy, Gregory Slavonic throughout 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 together 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 Employees, 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 Might 21 and took the oath of workplace on Might 29, 2020.
Certainly one 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 typically 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 seaside with the water in the background.
Danielle Brian, the manager director of the federal government watchdog Challenge On Authorities Oversight, stated the journey was ‘an costly abuse of energy.’
In January Secretary Braithwaite spent $232,000 to fly to Wake Island to report his farewell handle 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 way 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 Might
Moreover, for his travels, Braithwaite requested for and acquired a waiver from a 2018 Pentagon coverage for moral use of army plane that cracked down on the usage of a number of crews and planes in order 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 could 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 lively responsibility in 1993 as a one-star rear admiral and continued his service in the Navy Reserve. He beforehand served because the U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway.
