Navy carrier top enlisted resigns after telling crew to 'clap like we're at a strip club' to welcome Mike Pence

Navy Times staff, Military Times 5m

Seven days after urging the crew of the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman to "clap like we're at a strip club" to welcome aboard Vice President Mike Pence, Command Master Chief Jonas Doyle Carter stepped down from his post.

His bawdy reference ended up eclipsing the veep's visit as CNN and other news outlets seized on his gaffe. Pence had come aboard to announce the administration was abandoning cost-cutting efforts to decommission Truman and instead would mark the Nimitz-class carrier for a midlife Refueling Complex Overhaul in Norfolk.

In the wake of his strip club quip, Truman's spokeswoman, Lt. Cmdr. Laura Stegherr, called Carter's words "inappropriate" and said the issue was "being addressed by Truman's leadership."

Following a brief Tuesday announcement by Pentagon officials that Carter had resigned and was pursuing retirement, Truman's official Facebook page published prepared statements from both Carter, the flattop's senior enlisted sailor and his skipper, Capt. Nick Dienna.

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