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Sean Spicer reports to Pentagon for Navy Reserve duty, sporting his uniform

White House spokesman Sean Spicer takes questions during his press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., Jan. 30, 2017. 

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer reported for U.S. Navy Reserve duty at the Pentagon Friday, donning his uniform, to fulfill his time in the public affairs office.

Spicer, a commander in the Navy Reserve, is currently assigned to the Joint Staff’s naval reserve contingent in D.C. He joined the reserve in 1999, and graduated with a master’s degree in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College in 2012. Spicer in the past has worked as a media planner for joint exercises in Guam, Germany and Sweden, and oversaw media coverage of Navy operations at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, according to the Military Times

The Spicer sighting comes as President Donald Trump is away at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, weighing the possibility of intervening in North Korea if that country tests its nuclear program in the days ahead. 

Spicer has increased the visibility of the daily White House press briefings since he joined Mr. Trump’s administration, making a reputation for himself with curt responses to the press. Most recently, Spicer made headlines for claiming Adolf Hitler, unlike Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, never used chemical weapons, a false statement that revoked immediate and harsh backlash. Republican Rep. Mike Coffman of Colorado even called for his resignation

  • Kathryn Watson

    Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital.