The military has always been and always will be a place where ethical orders and complex moral issues collide. It's the nature of the beast when humans are responsible for the life and death of other humans.
https://www.usna.edu/Ethics/_files/d...t%20Thomas.pdf
Captain Crozier ignored the Constitutional Paradigm that he was taught in officer training.
https://www.public.navy.mil/netc/nro...0Encl%2008.pdf
https://www.coursehero.com/file/p54n...oyalties-2-If/
Let's say Crozier thought he was following the prescribed method of resolution and he felt that the issue was too important or too immediate to resign as described in principle III.
Principle IV, prerequisite 3.
Disobedience is to be done in public He did that..Kind of.
Prerequisite 4.
You must be willing to accept the consequences. He put his command are risk. He had to know he was doing that as well.
Modly made a decision that would have been even worse had he not been a civilian. His resignation could not come fast enough. However, Modly's resignation does not exonerate Crozier from his actions. Crozier may be able to assume another command(maybe behind a desk where his decisions can be scrutinized for a while) but it shouldn't be on that ship. If for no other reason his officers would know what he did and that will give room for doubt the next time he issues a "questionable" command. There has to be 100% buy in on all orders or commands. 1 person questions it because of previous transgressions and all hell can break loose. That is no way to operate the most lethal conventional weapon on the planet.
Crozier put the Country, the Navy, the mission, his ship and ultimately the crew at more risk by publicly announcing the that a ship on a patrol mission in a volatile area was operating at less than peak capacity. He apparently made what he felt was the best moral decision to protect his crew but he failed to look at the broader picture and return to the moral compass of the Constitutional paradigm. That's the dilemma and that's why CJCoS wants a thorough investigation before reinstatement is even considered. Anything less would set a precedent that could change the entire ideology/paradigm of moral development in all branches of the military.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/04/a-captains-duty/