I joined the Department of the Navy because I believed in public service, in the mission, and in the people. After serving nine years on Active Duty — including multiple deployments — I was fired six months into my civilian career, not for failing at my job, but for sending a limerick in response to Elon Musk’s new requirements.
Beginning on February 24, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has directed federal civilians to provide five bullets responding to the prompt, “What did you do last week?”. On March 17, I answered the fourth round of emails with five lines of rhyme – a limerick sent on St. Patrick’s Day. When leadership reduced our work to unclassified and meaningless bullet points, they got a response commensurate with the assignment. I was subsequently terminated for poor conduct; my termination letter cited the limerick as the only evidence.
My supervisor, who was cc’d on all of my weekly emails to DOGE, was blindsided by my termination too. I was fired without counseling. I had not received a negative performance review. My entire chain of command had stated repeatedly I was doing a great job and that I was an asset to the team.
The morning after I was fired, I opened my grandfather’s 1935 Watch Officer’s Guide which he had when he was a young Naval Officer in 1942, and in which he had underlined, “Complaints – In hearing complaints exercise patience; hear both sides of the story fully before deciding on action.”
The Navy that my grandfather and I joined in the spirit of service is currently buckling to Musk, sacrificing its long-held principles for the sake of political deference. A military department that ostensibly values leadership and fortitude is currently led by men rewarded for falling in line with Musk, heedless of the cost to their staff, or their mission.
I have given my life and career to the Navy. I graduated from Stanford with a degree in Political Science. I then joined the Navy as an intelligence officer. After my nine years on active duty, I transitioned to the Reserves. I went to Harvard Kennedy School, and graduated with my Master of Public Policy in May 2024. I was hired as a civilian by the Department of the Navy in August 2024.
Six months into the role, I still was a probationary employee. With this status I lacked job protection and the right to appeal, should I be fired. My resume and prior service shouldn’t make me immune to disciplinary action, I offer my qualifications simply as additional context to illustrate the talent and commitment that the federal government is losing because of DOGE.
It’s hard to keep track of everything Musk has done in his unelected role as part of the Trump administration. With the endless barrage of news coming from Washington, my friends outside of the government were shocked to learn that the request that we provide bullets was real. It was real. This is what Musk wants – to sow confusion amongst the American people so he can operate without oversight.
For those weekly bullets, I was told directly by my leadership: “We have not received any indication that these are being read.” Furthermore, we were told to keep the bullets short, and were given an example of one response that was only five words long.
The security threat posed by nearly 1 million DoD civilian emails going to a single email address is immense. Aggregating seemingly unclassified information can result in collected information that is classified – which is why I won’t publish my full bullets from the preceding two weeks.
Here’s the email I sent which led to my termination. (Replicator is the DoD initiative to field thousands of autonomous systems.)
OSD PR Overlords,
- I coordinated across the field,
- Ensured that our plans were well-heeled.
- I synced with the teams,
- Pushed Replicator schemes,
- And pondered why bullets won’t yield.
V/R,
Grace
Civilians in the intelligence community (IC) are allowed to submit their bullets via a higher classification. Those of us who work on classified information but outside of an IC organization, however, were not given that option.
The Department of the Navy provided no written guidance for fulfilling the requirement to provide five unclassified bullets. Instead, it left its employees to fend for themselves against Elon Musk. The morning I was fired, I compiled and sent my entire team’s actions for the week via top secret channels, a practice I had established long before the DOGE-mandated emails. I believe wholeheartedly in accountability and the need for a supervisor to be aware of an employee’s actions.
Morale and esprit de corps are core to the success of our military. Ask any veteran about their service, and–sure–it will be about sacrifice. But it will also be about the stories, the pranks, and the laughter that made it bearable. Service members have stolen goats and mules for the Army-Navy rivalry, snuck little memes into slides for senior briefings, and routinely hidden ID cards in the ceiling. Yes, I wrote a rhyme for levity during these dark times, but it was hardly conduct unbecoming of a defense official.
Musk’s approach to attempted spending cuts is preposterous. Don’t get me wrong, there does need to be a cut in defense spending. Pouring millions into outdated systems and bloated programs weakens—rather than strengthens—our national security. DOGE’s cost-cutting efforts in the department, however, have been neither systematic nor thorough. Rather, they are firing workers who lack protections. Workers willing to sacrifice everything for their country are instead being sacrificed for expediency.
I was fired because I dissented in the most minor of ways. It was dissent nonetheless. In these Orwellian times, the truth continues to be extinguished by tyranny.
To federal employees: I see you. Do not live in fear. Semper Fortis.
To Musk and DOGE: History will not be kind. There’s still time to jump ship in favor of whatever honor remains. Non sibi sed patriae.
The opinions and views expressed here belong solely to the author and do not reflect those of the Department of Defense (DoD) or the Department of the Navy.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
