Navy Is Removing Captain of Coronavirus-Stricken Aircraft Carrier
WASHINGTON—Navy leaders have relieved the captain of a U.S. aircraft carrier after a memo to military officials pleading for help with a coronavirus outbreak at sea was leaked to a newspaper, officials said.
Capt. Brett Crozier, the commanding officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, now at port in Guam, was relieved Thursday after superiors lost confidence in his ability to lead, the officials said.
Capt. Crozier had written a memo recently demanding that superiors allow him to take the carrier to the port in Guam to offload sailors stricken with Covid-19. At least 114 of the vessel’s crew have tested positive for the new coronavirus in recent days.
“We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die,” Capt. Crozier wrote in his March 30 memo, which was reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. “If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset—our sailors.”
The decision to remove the Roosevelt commander came as a surprise to some Navy leaders, who said their focus had been getting resources to the ship.
Military officials said there was evidence that Capt. Crozier had leaked the memo to his hometown newspaper, which led to his firing. Despite the leak accusation, some of his commanders recommended against the decision to remove him, Navy officials said. His removal was reported earlier Thursday by Reuters.
Thomas Modly, the acting secretary of the Navy, said at a Pentagon news briefing Thursday that Capt. Crozier was relieved of his command “at my direction.” At a news conference on Wednesday, Mr. Modly said that leaking the memo to a news organization would constitute a violation of Navy policy, and he wouldn’t rule out disciplinary action.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/navy-re...er-11585860735
Acting secretary of the navy Thomas Modly ( a trump piss boy) ordered the Captain relieved because he made the great leader look bad. It isn’t a good career move to be concerned about your men’s lives under the trump regime.