December 4, 2003
Secretary of the Navy's Office – The Pentagon
0858 Eastern
AJ sat in the SECNAV's waiting room, uncomfortably aware that the next few minutes were destined to be his last as a serving officer. When he'd received the summons last night, he had had a very good idea as to the subject of the meeting: Harmon Rabb Junior. The fire that was between the two of them just kept getting higher as more fuel was added to it and AJ was damned if he knew how things had reached this point. Where he resented Rabb and the cult of hero worship that followed the younger man around. Where he almost hated the man for the way in which Rabb continually disobeyed his orders. And that morally superior attitude was almost unbearably childish, as if the man didn't understand that not everything was black and white. Sometimes, what was right had to give way to what was necessary.
Finally, the door to the SECNAV's inner office opened and AJ was told to enter. Squaring his shoulders, he walked through the door and approached the desk. He had immediately noticed that the man was not alone. There were two other Admirals in the office, both of whom he recognized. Vice Admiral McCloskey was the Inspector General, while Admiral Parker was the Chief of Naval Operations. AJ had known both men for almost 30 years, but he was also well aware that this would not be of any assistance to him today.
"Admiral Chegwidden, reporting as ordered," AJ said to the SECNAV.
"Sit down, Admiral," SECNAV told AJ, before turning to the IG. "Admiral McCloskey, would you tell the others what you reported to me last night?"
"Yes, Sir. As a result of a call to the IG complaint hotline on 28 November, the office had been conducting a preliminary investigation into very serious allegations concerning both Admiral Chegwidden and JAG Headquarters. With regards to you, Admiral, the allegations included secretly investigating your officers personal lives, making false official statements in regards to those investigations and conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman. As for the situation at JAG Headquarters, the allegations include cases not being properly handled at lower levels. These relatively minor cases were therefore creating backlogs at Headquarters, because senior lawyers were having to deal with these in addition to the major cases that the office was established to handle. Also, there were questions raised regarding the Imes case review, in that you ordered a large number of these reviews to be redone by an officer you had involuntarily recalled to active duty. This, despite that fact that it was your Chief of Staff would had done the initial reviews."
Admiral McCloskey closed the folder he had been reading from and picked up a second, much larger folder.
"This contains the results of almost 70 different interviews my staff has conducted in the last week. These interviews were with both current and former members of the JAG Headquarters staff, officers and enlisted. There are also a number of interviews with SJAs, FJAs and officers commanding the various JAG offices around the country as well as several civilians and non-Navy officials. The picture painted by these interviews not only confirms the allegations, but points to a much more serious problem," McCloskey said, before giving way to the CNO.
"Too many of your senior officers have been in their positions for entirely too long, meaning that other officers assigned elsewhere have also been stuck where they are. This lack of new and different assignments means that these officers are handicapped with regards to potential future promotions. Look at Commander Rabb and Colonel MacKenzie, both of whom have been at JAG Headquarters for 6 years or more. The average posting elsewhere in the Navy and Marine Corps is 3 years, maybe 4. I have here 22 different requests for these officers, a number of them in positions that would have ensured promotion as well as providing valuable command experience. All of these requests were denied by your office, Admiral."
At this point, the ball was squarely in the SECNAV's court. A lifetime in politics had ingrained a simple truth within him that applied to this situation. The storm that would result once word got out that the Navy's chief lawyer had been responsible for this mess would probably destroy the credibility of the Navy's JAG Corps for years to come. The hearings alone would probably consume a year or more, depending on which Congressmen and Senators wished to get involved in digging through the dirt. There was also the inevitable trial that would result from the filing of charges against Admiral Chegwidden, with more dirt potential unearthed then.
'No,' the Secretary thought with a sigh. 'This needs to be quietly buried, for the good of the Navy and the Country.'
"Admiral Chegwidden, you are relieved of your post as the Judge Advocate General of the Navy effective immediately. For the good of the Country, I will accept your request for immediate retirement," SECNAV said.
"I thought you might request that, Mr. Secretary," AJ said, fighting to keep a tight grip on his emotions as he pulled an envelope from his inside jacket pocket and handed it across the desk. The SECNAV opened the envelope and removed the letter, then read through the two paragraphs it contained. Nodding in satisfaction, he sat back.
"Admiral, let me be perfectly clear here. I am accepting your request for retirement not out of any respect for you. By your actions, you have brought disgrace upon yourself and forever tarnished a once brilliant career. My sole goal with this action is to end this as quickly as possible, while limiting the damage done to the JAG Corps and the Navy. Personally, I would prefer to see you charged, tried, convicted and sentenced to the maximum allowed. You are dismissed."
AJ stood and walked from the office, his once proud shoulders slumped. Regardless of what the SECNAV might hope for, the scuttlebutt would still get passed around. Too many people had little pieces of information that would be whispered around. And once his surprise retirement was announced, even more rumors would swirl. Maybe it would be good to get out of town for a while, visit his daughter in Italy. Definitely leave his cell phone behind.
JAG Headquarters – Falls Church, Virginia
1305 Eastern
A buzz had been flowing through the entire building for much of the morning. It had begun when Admiral Chegwidden hadn't arrived for staff call, leaving it to Mac to pass out the few new cases while also receiving updates on the current ones. Then had come the call from the SECNAV's office for an all-personnel briefing at 1300. So, now everyone was jammed into the bullpen, including the judiciary staff. It was incredibly crowed, with very little room to maneuver.
"Attention on deck," came the bellow for one of the Marine bailiffs who had spotted the heavy brass arriving. "SECNAV and CNO on deck."
Making as much room as they could, people got out of the way as SECNAV and the CNO walked to the area immediately in front of AJ's office door. They were followed by two other officers, a Marine Colonel and Commander Tracy Manetti. Knowing both that his statement would be short and shocking, SECNAV did not release the personnel from the attention position.
"I have an announcement to make. Effective at 1000 this morning, Admiral Chegwidden has retired. Acting on the recommendation of myself, the CNO and the CMC, the President has selected Colonel Cresswell to serve as the acting JAG until the Senate can hold hearings and confirm both his promotion to Major General and the appointment," SECNAV said, noting the stunned looks the crossed those faces visible.
"I'll need to see Colonel MacKenzie, Commander Rabb, Lieutenant Roberts and Commander Turner immediately following dismissal in the conference room," SECNAV added, nodding to Colonel Cresswell.
"Room, dismissed," he bellowed in a voice that would have done a Marine drill instructor proud.
As the room began to clear, the selected officers followed the SECNAV's group towards the conference room. Commander Manetti held the door open for the group before following them in. Once inside, the SECNAV sat at the head of the table. The CNO was on one side of him, while Colonel Cresswell took the other side. Harm and Bud sat next to each other on the same side as the CNO, while Mac and Sturgis were across from them. Manetti opened up the briefcase she had been carrying and handed a stack of folders to the Secretary.
"What is said in this room does not leave this room, understood?" SECNAV said, looking around the table.
"Understood, Sir," came the swift response from all present.
"During a recent investigation by the office of the Inspector General, something tangential to that investigation came to light. It is something that I believe needs to be addressed immediately, which is why we are all here."
SECNAV took a moment to open the first folder in the stack in front of him, then began reading from the papers in front of him.
"Commander Harmon Rabb Junior, assigned to JAG headquarters in 1995. Apart from a brief change of designator, you have remained here until 6 months ago when you resigned your commission. Over seven years. Colonel MacKenzie and Lieutenant Roberts, both assigned to JAG headquarters in 1996. With the exception of brief sea duty assignments, you've both been here over six years. That's twice as long as your normal tours here should have been," SECNAV said, closing the first folder. "It's time for you to move on and it's time for new people to get the experience that comes from working at headquarters."
Picking up three folders, each with a name written across the front, he handed one to each of the three officers he'd named before opening a fourth folder.
"I've worked with the CNO, the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the Bureau of Personnel for most of the morning. Inside each of your folders are a list of three potential new assignments, designed to give you more experience. Your decisions will be relayed to me through Commander Manetti and your new orders will be cut. At that time, other orders will be cut to re-staff JAG headquarters."
"Think your choices through, but let us know ASAP," CNO added.
"Commander Turner, with the departure of Colonel MacKenzie, you'll be the new Chief of Staff. You, Colonel MacKenzie and Colonel Cresswell will need to get together for the transition. Also, you and Colonel MacKenzie will need to clear out Admiral Chegwidden's office and arrange for his personal effects to be sent to his home," SECNAV said before standing. "I know you all have a lot to do and now, also a lot to think about, so we'll leave you."
Everyone had stood when the SECNAV rose and then watched as the man left the room followed by the CNO and Commander Manetti.
"Why don't we get together tomorrow morning and get started on the transition, say after staff call?" Colonel Cresswell asked.
"Aye, aye, Sir," both Mac and Sturgis said, recognizing an order even when posed as a question.
Colonel Cresswell looked around the room, acknowledging each officer before leaving.
"Well, that was certainly interesting," Sturgis said, with heavy irony lacing his voice.
"What the hell just happened?" Mac asked, before turning to face Harm as did Bud and Sturgis.
"This wouldn't possibly have anything to do with certain IG investigators asking questions about you and a certain retired Admiral, would it?"
"Based on the timing, I would assume so, but I don't know," Harm replied. "SECNAV was right about one thing, though. We've all been assigned here for far too long. Mac and I both need command or general staff experience if either of us is going to have a chance of getting promoted to 0-6 level or beyond. Simply staying here is actually leaving us behind other JAG officers serving as FJAs and SJAs, no matter how many cases we solve or how great our legal expertise."
"And maybe this is the fresh start that some of us need. You know, new people, new places," Mac put in, trying to make the best of a world turned upside down.
"Well, I've still got some work to do," Harm said, desperately wanting to check the contents of the folder, but also desperately wanting to avoid reading his potential fates. He was also conscious of a swirl of emotions flowing through him right now that all but precluded deep thought. So, he walked out of the conference room and into his office, closing the blinds and locking the door before settling in behind his desk. Picking up the phone, he quickly dialed a number.
"Lieutenant Commander Hawkes, Sir," Beth answered, although she had a very good idea who was calling her.
"Hello, beautiful," Harm said softly into the phone, wishing he could see her face.
"Harm! How are you?"
"That's what I was calling about. I really need you, darling."
Beth quickly thought through her schedule and what she absolutely needed to get done. She'd just finished her last class of the day and was now in her office. Tomorrow was Friday, so she had only office hours from 1400 to 1700. There were some quizzes to grade and a little laundry to do, but she could take the quizzes with her and the laundry could await the weekend. Looking at the clock, she did some quick math.
"I'll be at the house around 1600. Are you alright?"
"Physically, I'm fine. Just need some TLC after today," Harm told her. "And we need to talk about something important."
"You know, you're really starting to worry me, Harm."
"Beth, please. I promise we'll talk tonight. It's just a lot to talk about and I'd rather do it face to face than over the phone."
"All right, but you had better have a damned good story, Mister," Beth said before hanging up the phone.