The Navy: The Secretary Jumps Ship

“This is not an attack per se on Frank Carlucci,” said Secretary of the Navy James Webb last week. Whereupon he launched a withering barrage at the Secretary of Defense for his decision to scrap 16 aging Navy frigates as part of this year’s budget cuts. The former Marine, in office only eleven months, vowed, “I’m not walking this budget over to the Hill.” Instead, he resigned.

Webb noted that the $299.5 billion defense budget had been cut by $33 billion “without clear strategic thought.” But he was angriest that Carlucci had brushed aside the Navy’s efforts to take cuts in maintenance and ^ operations rather than ships. Carlucci is determined to maintain the quality of defense forces, even by reducing the number of ships. He accepted the resignation “with regret,” then rapidly arranged for Webb to be replaced by William Ball III, 39, an ex-Navy officer and former senior Senate staffer.