Army secretary jabs Navy ship program

10

Army Secretary John McHugh gave the Navy — and in particular, its ship acquisition strategy — a poke in the ribs Monday at the annual Association of the U.S. Army meeting in Washington. According to CNN reporter Lisa Sylvester, McHugh took his shot in the context of the Columbus Day holiday:

“But I’m a little confused as to why we’re kicking this great Army celebration off on Columbus Day,” McHugh said. “Frankly, I always thought of Columbus Day was kind of more of a Navy holiday. And I don’t mean it because of that 1492 ocean blue stuff, but in my mind, Christopher Columbus was the quintessential Navy man. After all, when he left, he didn’t know where he was going. When he got there, he didn’t know where he was. When he came back, he really didn’t know where he had been. But before he left, he had to have three new ships.”

The punch line elicited guffaws from the soldier-rich audience, and might add a little icing on the cake for the annual Army-Navy game Dec. 10.

If Columbus Day is more of a Navy holiday, what would be a good Army holiday, and why?”

Share.

About Author

Hampton Roads Bureau Chief

10 Comments

  1. “After all, when he left, he didn’t know where he was going. When he got there, he didn’t know where he was. When he came back, he really didn’t know where he had been. But before he left, he had to have three new ships.” Sounds like the quintessential Democrat to me!

  2. Navy man or not, he’s still my hero. He introduced the Chili to the known world. Just that since his Op Orders said go to India and get pepper, he tried to tell folks that a Chili was Pepper.

Reply To Rich McKinney Cancel Reply

css.php