The Navy secretary who was recently fired for his handling of a SEAL war crimes case championed by US President Donald Trump has criticised the Commander-in-Chief, accusing him of having "very little understanding" of how the military works.

Key points: Richard Spencer said Mr Trump involved himself in the case "from the start"

Richard Spencer said Mr Trump involved himself in the case "from the start" The Navy SEAL was cleared of murder but convicted of posing with a corpse

The Navy SEAL was cleared of murder but convicted of posing with a corpse Mr Spencer said the President's intervention was "shocking and unprecedented"

The assertion was made by Richard Spencer in an opinion piece published in The Washington Post on Wednesday, three days after he was sacked from his role.

Mr Spencer labelled Mr Trump's intervention in the case of Navy Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher "shocking and unprecedented".

Mr Spencer was fired on Sunday by Defence Secretary Mark Esper for working on a private deal with the White House to ensure that Officer Gallagher could retire without losing his SEAL status.

Officer Edward Gallagher was convicted of posing with the corpse of an IS fighter in Iraq. ( AP: Gregory Bull )

In his article, Mr Spencer acknowledged his mistake but said Mr Trump's actions were detrimental to the military.

Mr Spencer said the President involved himself in Officer Gallagher's case "almost from the start", and that his interest stemmed partly from the way Officer Gallagher's defence lawyers and others "worked to keep it front and centre in the media".

After Officer Gallagher was acquitted of most charges, including one of murder, but was convicted of posing with the corpse of an Islamic State extremist in Iraq, he requested to retire.

Military jury wanted to demote officer

That request raised questions about whether the convicted officer should be allowed to retire at his current rank, Mr Spencer wrote.

The military jury said Officer Gallagher should be demoted.

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Mr Trump, who tweeted support for Officer Gallagher and said his case had been "handled very badly from the beginning", circumvented the Navy's administrative review of Officer Gallagher's status by ordering Mr Spencer to restore his rank.

"This was a shocking and unprecedented intervention in a low-level review," Mr Spencer wrote.

"It was also a reminder that the President has very little understanding of what it means to be in the military, to fight ethically or to be governed by a uniform set of rules and practices."

Mr Spencer's commentary echoed the thrust of an opinion piece published two days earlier by two of his predecessors, Richard Danzig and Sean O'Keefe.

Mr Trump was interested in Officer Gallagher's case from the start, Mr Spencer wrote in his opinion piece. ( AP: Pablo Martinez Monsivais )

'Not our values'

Mr Danzig, who led the Navy under president Bill Clinton, and Mr O'Keefe, his predecessor in the administration of president George HW Bush, wrote in The New York Times that Mr Trump has politicised the military to its detriment.

"His values are not those of our military," they wrote.

Last week, Mr Trump tweeted that Officer Gallagher must be allowed to keep his Trident pin, the medal that designates a SEAL member.

Officer Edward Gallagher reacted with "tears of joy" when he was found not guilty of murder in July. ( AP: Julie Watson )

The Navy had planned to let an administrative board review the question, but Mr Esper decided to stop that process and let Officer Gallagher retire as a SEAL, as Mr Trump had ordered.

On Wednesday, the Navy announced it had cancelled the peer-review boards for three SEAL officers who supervised Officer Gallagher during his deployment in Iraq.

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said the case was becoming a distraction for the commando force, which is otherwise known for its quiet professionalism.



AP