Navy Leaders Recommend Reinstating Roosevelt Captain Fired Over Virus Warning

Navy Leaders Recommend Reinstating Roosevelt Captain Fired Over Virus Warning

thehill.com...

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday and acting Navy Secretary James McPherson made the recommendation to Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Friday when briefing him about the results of the investigation into the coronavirus outbreak aboard the aircraft carrier, according to the Times.

After a week or so of study into the actions of Capt. Brett Crozier , Navy leadership believes that Crozier's return to the carrier would be in the best interests of the Navy.


www.sandiegouniontribune.com... board-reach-700

There was at the time a strong debate over Modly's dismissal of Crozier with claims that Crozier had gone out of rank in reporting the covid cases onboard his ship. However that now is in greater quesion.

The San Diego-based Theodore Roosevelt left home port at Naval Air Station North Island in January for a routine deployment. The Navy announced the first known cases of COVID-19 on board March 24, two weeks after the ship visited Vietnam.

Two days later, the number of affected sailors on board had increased exponentially and the ship pulled into Guam.

Four days later, Crozier sent a letter, attached to an email, to Pacific Fleet commanders, predicting that unless the Navy moved the majority of its crew off the ship that sailors would needlessly die. A copy of the email obtained by The Washington Post shows it was sent to ten people — three admirals and seven Navy captains.

The emails apparently leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle and that leak was attributed to Crozier by Acting Secretary Modly and was the basis of his dismissal. Now it seems that the Navy has found that the ''leak'' was not do to any incorrect actions on the part of Capt. Crozier.

And oh yes. Modly resigned on April 7th after saying that Crozier was either too naive or stupid for command.
www.sandiegouniontribune.com... rrier-crew

a reply to: TerryMcGuire

Good news. It sounds like he didn't leak the email. Not sure and the story doesn't confirm it it was 100% chain of command correct but hopefully he will get back his job.

But a copy of the letter obtained by The Washington Post last week showed Crozier sent it to the three admirals and copied it to seven captains.

Also couldn't open the san diego tribune links

a reply to: TerryMcGuire

If its one thing the US Navy needs, its good Captains well versed in their discipline and by all accounts Captain Crozier fits that bill.

Many years of experience lead to Captaincy and it is a monumental task guiding crew in all facets of life when aboard ship. These crews spend months and months at sea, confined to the dimensions of their vessel(s) and having a strong character leading that team is paramount in its effectiveness to execute its required duties.

'Navy Leaders' knows he's a good Captain, hence the call for reinstatement.

It was the head of the Navy that removed this guy from his position, not Trump. So if the head of the Navy reverses his decision, I do not think Trump will say not to. Trump lets these people running the military make decisions and he will back the decision if it is appropriate. I myself do not think that the guy should be put back at his old job, he broke their rules, he should remain behind a desk somewhere. He was not fired, just reassigned.

Sounds to me like they are leaving the final decision to the Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper. I believe it was the Acting Secretary of the Navy that first fired the Captain. The next higher up guy is the Secretary of Defense, so it would take him to reverse the decision. It is a little confusing because the CNO, Chief of Naval Operations, Michael Gilday, is also often called the "Head of the Navy." He is the ranking guy in uniform and the Secretary of the Navy, who resigned, is the Civilian head of the Navy. The Acting Secretary of the Navy is now James McPherson, appointed last month by Trump. Thomas Modley is the guy who resigned recently after an ill-fated trip to Guam to criticize the Captain.

The Captain was, indeed, fired, i.e.: relieved from his position as Captain of the USS Roosevelt. In these cases the person involved is ALWAYS "reassigned" to a desk job, but the "firing" is seen as "career ending," meaning a person in that position would normally just retire. They are never separated from the Navy outright unless what they did was subject to an Admiral's Mast or Court Martial,

originally posted by: schuyler
Sounds to me like ....snip!

Sounds to me like they need all the Captain's they can get with things heating up right now.

It would be a bad decision to have someone of such experience anywhere but on the bridge of this incredibly important ship.

Not good for morale also with other Captains and crew knowing they're out there and he's falling apart in frustration at sailing a desk.

originally posted by: nerbot

originally posted by: schuyler
Sounds to me like ....snip!

Sounds to me like they need all the Captain's they can get with things heating up right now.

There are plenty of qualified Captains in the US Navy, including deep draught, air-qualified Captains, which are qualifications for this billet. If this had not turned political, he would be done regardless. The fact that he did not personally leak the memo is the only thing that may save him because he quite clearly did an end run around the chain of command here and he admits that he knew the risk. IMO reinstating him would be a tremendous "positive" for morale and a good thing to do. The perceived "Bad Guy" in this scenario has resigned, so there is no one left who needs to "save face." Thank God Trump stayed out of this one. I do hope Esper puts him back in.

PR play and nothing more, the Navy has shown time and again that they hate a black eye in the media more than just about anything.

It doesn't prove the captain was right in his actions, it just proves that the fall out in the media is worse than the navy wants to deal with right now.