Navy Fires Captain Of SD-Based Ship Who Sought Help: Coronavirus

SAN DIEGO, CA — The captain of a San Diego-based nuclear aircraft carrier was relieved of duty Thursday by the U.S. Navy in the wake of his request in a highly-publicized letter for more resources and "decisive action" from Navy leadership as the ship's crew battles a coronavirus outbreak while docked in Guam.

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly and Adm. Michael M. Gilday said during a Pentagon news conference that the Navy "lost confidence" in Capt. Brett Crozier's leadership following his letter to Navy brass asking to immediately offload the majority of the ship's crew once COVID-19 cases began cropping up onboard.

Though Modly credited Crozier for voicing his concerns, he said Crozier's letter misrepresented the state of the situation onboard, incited panic, and created the perception that the Navy was only responding to assist the sailors because of his letter.

The Navy Secretary said, "I can reach no other conclusion than Capt. Crozier had allowed the complexity of his challenge with the COVID breakout on the ship to overwhelm his ability to act professionally, when acting professionally was needed most at the time. We do and we should expect more from the commanding officer(s) of our aircraft carriers."

Modly said the Navy immediately began directing resources to help the ship and its crew upon receiving Crozier's previous requests for assistance, prior to the letter dated Monday.

The Navy is currently working to move nearly 3,000 of the ship's sailors off the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

Currently, 114 sailors from the Roosevelt have tested positive for COVID-19, Modly said. He said most are displaying mild symptoms and none have required hospitalization.

Don't miss the latest coronavirus updates in San Diego County. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.

On Wednesday, Modly said Crozier was unlikely to face retaliation for requesting help from leadership, but on Thursday, he said Crozier sent his letter out "pretty broadly" and not securely enough to prevent the possibility of it being leaked to the public.

Modly said Crozier copied the email to "20 or 30 other people," which may have been conducive to its eventual leak to the media.

Modly said he has no information to suggest Crozier directly leaked the letter, which first appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on Monday, but he did note that the letter was first publicized in Crozier's "hometown paper." Crozier is a Santa Rosa native.

Modly said the decision was solely his and he received no direction from the White House to relieve Crozier, who he said "raised alarm bells unnecessarily" and "demonstrated extremely poor judgment in the middle of a crisis."

Gilday said an investigation would be launched into what occurred aboard the ship, adding, "Nobody cares more about our sailors and those aboard the Theodore Roosevelt than our leadership in the Navy. Our sailors deserve the best leadership that we can absolutely provide."

Modly said he hoped the decision would not give other commanding officers the impression that they cannot report problems or issues to their superiors.

"This decision is not one in retribution. It is about confidence. It is not an indictment of character, but rather of judgment," he said.

The secretary called Crozier "an honorable man," but said relieving him of command was in the "best interests" of the Navy, which he said required more focused leadership in the face of various threats, including COVID-19.

"I did not come to this decision lightly. I have no doubt in my mind that Captain Crozier did what he thought was in the best interests of the safety and wellbeing of his crew. Unfortunately, it did the opposite," Modly said.

To the USS Theodore Roosevelt's crew, Modly said: "I am entirely convinced that your commanding officer loves you and that he had you at the center of his heart and mind in every decision that he has made. I also know that you have great affection and love for him, as well. But it is my responsibility to ensure that his love and responsibility for you is matched, if not exceeded by, his sober and professional judgment under pressure."

Crozier's letter stated the COVID-19 infection aboard his ship would spiral if immediate action was not taken. Modly said similar concerns were also expressed by the ship's medical team.

Though most of the sailors will be moved off the ship, about 1,000 sailors will need to remain onboard to maintain certain critical functions and security for the ship, Modly said.

In his letter, Crozier recommended that about 10% of the sailors remain onboard "to run the reactor plant, sanitize the ship, ensure security, and provide for contingency response to emergencies."

Modly said Wednesday that the Navy "cannot and will not remove all of the sailors from the ship and that's not what the commanding officer requested either, nor the medical team. Our plan has always been to remove as much of the crew as we can while maintaining for the ship's safety."

In his letter, Crozier said the crew had undertaken some measures to slow the virus' spread, including moving a small percentage of the crew off- ship, increasing cleaning of the ship and attempting social distancing wherever possible.

However, he warned, "The current strategy will only slow the spread. The current plan in execution on TR will not achieve virus eradication on any timeline."

Crozier wrote that the ship had only two courses of action: immediately reduce the number of sailors onboard or "maximize warfighting readiness and capacity as quickly as possible."

Related coverage:

• Face Coverings Urged As Coronavirus Cases Rise In San Diego
• San Diego Authorities To Crack Down On Stay-At-Home Violators
• Listen To Stay-Home, Social-Distance Mandates: San Diego County Sheriff
• Supervisors Put Moratorium On Evictions For Residents, Small Businesses
• California Coronavirus Latest: Updates On Cases, Orders, Closures

– City News Service