Carrier Captain Removed, Blasted for 'Naive' or 'Stupid' Reaction Amid COVID-19 Outbreak - Do You Agree?

UPDATE - 4/7/20 (3:45pm EDT): Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly submitted his resignation to Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Tuesday. The move follows Modly's inflammatory comments about, and subsequent apology to Captain Brett Crozier, who was removed as commander of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt last week after sending an email about the coronavirus outbreak aboard the ship outside his chain of command that was ultimately leaked to the media.

UPDATE - 4/6/20 (9pm EDT): Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly issued an apology Monday evening for his comments about Captain Brett Crozier following his removal as commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt:

"I want to apologize to the Navy for my recent comments to the crew of the TR. Let me be clear, I do not think Captain Brett Crozier is naive nor stupid. I think, and always believed him to be the opposite. We pick our carrier commanding officers with great care. Captain Crozier is smart and passionate. I believe, precisely because he is not naive and stupid, that he sent his alarming email into the public domain in an effort to draw public attention to the situation on his ship. I apologize for any confusion this choice of words may have caused. They, and the entire Navy, have my full commitment that I will continue to help get the TR back to full health and back to sea where we can move forward beyond this unfortunate situation."

Countable's original article appears below.

What’s the story?

The captain of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt was relieved of his command last week, following the leak of his memo about the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak aboard the ship and the ensuing firestorm it created, and now there are calls for his reinstatement.

Captain Brett Crozier wrote a four-page memo about the need to address the outbreak, which began after a five-day port call in Vietnam last month, that was emailed through an non-secure platform not only to his chain of command ― but also to more than 20 other servicemembers. While it’s unclear who did so, the email was ultimately forwarded to the San Francisco Chronicle which reported the story. The memo written by Crozier, a Bay Area native, called for his sailors to be quarantined ashore on Guam and read in part:

“We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset ― our sailors.” 

In his statement relieving Captain Crozier of his command, Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said the Navy was already responding to the captain’s concerns when he wrote the letter and that it was sent outside the chain of command. Modly concluded “Captain Crozier had allowed the complexity of his challenge with COVID breakout on the ship to overwhelm his ability to act professionally, when acting professionally was what was needed most,” and added:

“I have no doubt in my mind that Captain Crozier did what he thought was in the best interest of the safety and well-being of his crew. Unfortunately, it did the opposite. It unnecessarily raised alarms with the families of our Sailors and Marines with no plan to address those concerns. It raised concerns about the operational capabilities and operational security of the ship that could have emboldened our adversaries to seek advantage, and it undermined the chain of command who had been moving and adjusting as rapidly as possible to get him the help he needed.”

Democratic leadership of the House Armed Services Committee, including Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA), wrote a joint letter following the announcement that read in part: 

“The COVID pandemic presents a set of new challenges and there is much we still do not know. Captain Crozier was justifiably concerned about the health and safety of his crew, but he did not handle the immense pressure appropriately. However, relieving him of his command is an overreaction.”

As captain left the ship after he was relieved of command, members of the crew chanted “Captain Crozier! Captain Crozier!” More than 100,000 people have signed an online petition calling for Crozier’s reinstatement, who has himself reportedly tested positive for coronavirus.

Presidential politics have also come into play:

• President Donald Trump responded to a question about the situation during a weekend press briefing that while he didn’t initiate the decision to remove Crozier, he supported the move and that to write the letter was “not appropriate.” He added on Monday that Crozier's career, aside from the mistake of sending the letter, was exemplary and that he will see if he can find a way to "make that mistake not destroy his life."
• Former Vice President Joe Biden, who is running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, said in a press event of his own that “it’s close to criminal the way they’re dealing with this guy,” and that Crozier should “have a commendation rather than be fired.” 

Secretary Modly visited the USS Theodore Roosevelt in Guam on Monday, and delivered a speech to crew members who haven’t been quarantined ashore that harshly criticized Crozier’s actions, which the secretary said came as a surprise after Crozier “waved me off” after the secretary offered to help:

“If he didn’t think that information wasn’t going to get out into the public, in this day and information age that we live in, then he was A, too naive or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this. The alternative is that he did this on purpose. And that’s a serious violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice which you are all familiar with. That message and all the contents of that message was perfectly fine for him to send to people in his chain of command in a confidential way so they could get acting on it. He in fact could have given it to me, either my Chief of Staff, or to me, as I asked him to do when I first reached out to him on the ship when we first found out that there COVID cases here.”

After 15-minute audio and a four-page transcript of Acting Secretary Modly’s speech became public, first reported by The Daily Caller, he released a statement that, “The spoken words were from the heart, and meant for them. I stand by every word I said, even, regrettably any profanity that may have been used for emphasis.”

As of Sunday, half of the crew has been tested for COVID-19 and 155 Sailors have tested positive. The Navy released a statement that 1,825 Sailors have moved ashore, there have been zero hospitalizations, and that enough Sailors will remain aboard to sustain essential services & sanitize the ship in port.

Why does it matter?

The U.S. Navy’s fleet of 11 active aircraft carriers ― with their complement of 90 aircraft and roughly 5,000 sailors & aviators apiece plus the other warships that comprise a carrier strike group ― are among the most important tools for maintaining security & responding to crises around the world. Former President Bill Clinton described their importance during a visit to the USS Theodore Roosevelt by saying:

“When word of crisis breaks out in Washington, it’s no accident the first question that comes to everyone’s lips is: where is the nearest carrier?”

As a result, there are often carrier strike groups patrolling the seas near potential hotspots. For example, the strike groups accompanying the USS Harry S. Truman and the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower were recently in the Mediterranean Sea & the Persian Gulf to deter aggression by Iran, while the USS Theodore Roosevelt was in the South China Sea to deter China.

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: U.S. Navy via Flickr / Public Domain)