Struck by a sexual misconduct scandal, the former governor of Missouri joins the Navy

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – The request to return to active service of the Navy by Governor Eric Greitens, former governor of Missouri, has been approved, but will no longer be considered an elite Navy.

The Greitens will be assigned to the Naval Operational Support Center in St. Louis as unrestricted general officers, which usually involves clerical work. Navy Command spokesperson, Cmdr. Karin Burzynski said.

Some have criticized Greitens' return to the navy, claiming he was sending the wrong message when the army was battling an upsurge in sexual assault, the Kansas City Star reported.

Representative Jackie Speier, a California Democrat who pushed Congress to fight sexual assault in the military, said it was "beyond pathetic" that the Navy even plans to allow the Greitens to resume their active service.

"It should be the subject of a court martial," said Speier, chairman of the Subcommittee on Military Personnel of the Army and Armed Forces. "Keeping him at his post sends a horrible signal about the Navy's values ​​and its refusal to hold the officers accountable."

A spokesman for the Navy Reserve said the navy had committed to fighting sexual misconduct.

"Sexual assault and sexual harassment are toxic threats that hurt us all and sexual assault and harassment are not tolerated in the Navy," said Captain Christopher Scholl.

Greitens, who has not commented on the media since his resignation, has been put inactive as a reserve for reserve in 2017.

He requested a transfer to selected reserves in April 2019 and the Navy confirmed last Wednesday that he had been allowed to return to active membership status.

However, during any reactivation process in the selected Navy Reserves, each community to which the Applicant postulates or could potentially return – such as, in the case of Greitens, the Special War Community – conducts its own analysis.

In the case of Greitens, the Special Warfare community decided he could not come back, said one official. The navy did not motivate its decision.