Sestak Wouldn't Have Been Eligible for the Navy Job, Anyway

While perusing the fantastic Naval policy blog Information Dissemination, I came across a post by resident Navy hobbyist Galrahn, which puts a new dimension onto the story of Rep. Joe Sestak and his adventures with the White House honeypotting.

To put it plainly, even if Joe Sestak had wanted the job of Navy Secretary, even if Rahm Emanuel or someone else offered him the job directly, there was no legal way for him to accept it.  Why? U.S law, which says that, among other things:

A person may not be appointed as Secretary of the Navy within five years after relief from active duty as a commissioned officer of a regular component of an armed force.

Sestak had been forcibly sheep-dipped by the now chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen and decided to retire as a three star in May of 2005. He would thus be eligible ... right now. Not last year, when the offer was allegedly tendered.

By the way: Sestak has plenty of enemies who currently occupy positions of power in the Department of Defense. It has not gone unnoticed that he is potentially going to be a senator. And therefore I would not be surprised if unflattering depictions of his conduct begin to leak in the press.