Several days ago, U.S. Navy Captain Brett Crozier was relieved of duty.
The Captain reportedly sent out a letter regarding his concerns over the coronavirus running rampant on his ship.
The problem was not the letter itself but rather the fact he sent it over unsecured email channels as well as the fact the letter ended up in the hands of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Due to the fact he went outside the chain-of-command and made the public aware that his ship was more or less crippled, Capt. Crozier was relieved of his command by Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly.
After Capt. Crozier was relieved, Modly stated, “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 the alarm of the families of our sailors and Marines with no plans to address those concerns.”
He later added, “The responsibility for this decision rests with me.
“I expect no congratulations for it. Captain Crozier is an incredible man.”
The Controversial Comments
Secretary Modly later made a trip to the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt to address the dismissal of Capt. Crozier directly with the crew of the ship.
Modly broke the number one rule in speaking badly of a leader that was both liked and respected among his men.
He surely never thought his comments were going to be made public, which is rather ironic because he specifically calls out Crozier for the same mistake while making his address.
Here is his speech in full to the crew of the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt…
After those comments were made public, rather than contribute to the chaos we have right now, Modly submitted his resignation.
Rep. Crenshaw (R-TX), who is a former Navy SEAL, fell short of saying Crozier should have lost his command, but it was clear he did not approve of his actions, nor did he approve of the comments made by Modly.
Crenshaw stated, “This one situation has caused so many people to react emotionally, when in reality, what you really need to do is stop and pull back a few layers, and see what happens.
“The captain is a … very good captain. It’s rare that you actually garner the support of so many of your sailors the way he has.
“He was clearly good-hearted and taking care of his people. That is true.”
“Another thing is also true: There was no reason to send that email out the way he did. Help was already on the way, they were already in communication with the chain of command, yet he sent that letter out which created a firestorm, and made it seem like there was this injustice going on when in fact, there wasn’t, and everybody jumped on that. He should know better.”
He would go on to say, “We just need to be better … the people winning here are our adversaries, because we do have a nuclear [aircraft] carrier that’s not capable right now.”
Almost 300 of the crew of the Teddy Roosevelt have now tested positive for the coronavirus, as has Capt. Crozier after having departed.
Sources: Fox News, Task & Purpose, NBC News, and The Hill
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