UNDER FIRE, MODLY RESIGNS: Just five days after he fired the skipper of the USS Theodore Roosevelt for loss of confidence, acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly found himself out of a job over an emotional address to the ship’s crew in which he disparaged the aircraft carrier’s now-former commanding officer, Capt. Brett Crozier, and vented his anger over Crozier’s now-famous letter warning that sailors would die if they weren’t quickly evacuated from the virus-infected ship.
“He resigned on his own accord, putting the Navy and the sailors above self so that the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and the Navy as an institution, can move forward,” said Defense Secretary Mark Esper in a letter released late yesterday. “We must now put the needs of the Navy, including the crew of the Teddy Roosevelt, first, and we must all move forward together.”
MODLY’S NONAPOLOGY: The resignation capped an embarrassing saga for the Navy, which saw Modly at first defiantly insisting he stood by “every word” of his angry tirade delivered over the ship’s PA system while it was pierside in Guam. As sailors gasped in disapproval, Modly said the popular Crozier was either “too naive or too stupid” to understand that his plea for help would become public or he leaked the letter on purpose.
In an apology issued Monday night, Modly had settled on the latter criticism, accusing Crozier directly of improperly leaking the letter. “I believe, precisely because he is not naive and stupid, that he sent his alarming email with the intention of getting it into the public domain in an effort to draw public attention to the situation on his ship,” he said. “I apologize for any confusion this choice of words may have caused.”
THE NEW ACTING SECNAV: Modly was elevated to acting Navy secretary last November, when then-Secretary Richard Spencer was fired for his handling of the case of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, who President Trump had ordered be allowed to retire at his full rank and with his SEAL Trident despite his conviction for dishonoring the uniform by posing with the corpse of an ISIS fighter.
With the Navy bench now depleted, Esper has turned to Army Undersecretary Jim McPherson to fill in until Trump’s nominee, retired Rear. Adm. Kenneth Braithwaite, can be confirmed by the Senate. Braithwaite is the current U.S. ambassador to Norway.
“Jim is a retired admiral with a distinguished 26-year naval career, serving ashore, afloat, and overseas during his time in uniform,” Esper said. “I know Jim McPherson well. He is a smart, capable, and professional leader who will restore confidence and stability in the Navy during these challenging times.”
TRUMP — ‘I WOULD NOT HAVE ASKED HIM’: “I had no role in it,” Trump said of Modly’s resignation. “I don’t know him, but I’ve heard he was a very good man, and it was — the whole thing was very unfortunate.”
“He wouldn’t have had to resign. I would not have asked him. I don’t know him. I didn’t speak to him,” Trump said during his daily coronavirus briefing at the White House. “But he did that I think just to end that problem. And I think in one — in, really, many ways, that was a very unselfish thing for him to do.”
‘DIDN’T HAVE TO BE ERNEST HEMINGWAY’: At the same time, Trump backed Modly’s criticism of Crozier for writing a letter to Navy officials in an unclassified email.
“He didn’t have to be Ernest Hemingway. He made a mistake, but he had a bad day. And I hate seeing bad things happen. A man made a mistake,” he said. “But you know, you shouldn’t be writing letters, and you’re in the military, you’re the captain of a great ship, and you shouldn’t be writing letters and sending them to many people.”
CREW COMES FIRST: As of Tuesday, 230 of the Roosevelt’s 4,865-member crew have tested positive for COVID-19, including Crozier, its former commanding officer.
In his first conversation with the new acting Navy secretary, McPherson, Esper said he stressed his first priority is to “protect our people,” which he said “means putting the health, safety, and welfare of the USS Theodore Roosevelt’s crew first. The second priority, Esper said, is to maintain the warfighting readiness of the U.S. military, “which means getting the Roosevelt back to sea, and on patrol, as soon as safely possible.”
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WHERE YOU STAND DEPENDS ON WHERE YOU SIT: As word reached Capitol Hill of Modly’s departure, the reaction split along partisan lines. Democrats tended to be sharply critical of Modly, while Republicans were more focused on what comes next. The difference in tone was evident in the statements from leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees.
INHOFE — EXPEDITE THE NOMINATION: Oklahoma Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said while he wants to know more about the events that led to Modly’s resignation, he is also concerned about what he called “turmoil at the top of the Department of the Navy.”
“Once the Senate is back in session, I will make sure the Armed Services Committee considers the nomination of the next Secretary of the Navy quickly, and I ask my fellow committee members to help me expedite this nomination as well,” said Inhofe in a statement. “In this difficult time, the Navy needs leaders now more than ever who can provide continuity and steady, insightful leadership.”
THORNBERRY — TIME TO MOVE ON: “All of our service members, including our sailors, deserve to be able to do their best on the tasks assigned to them without unnecessary distractions,” said Texas Republican Rep. Mac Thornberry, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee. “The change in the office of the Secretary of the Navy should allow the country to put this episode behind us and allow sailors to focus on the very important missions at hand.”
REED — ACTIONS ‘INAPPROPRIATE’: “It is my understanding that Acting Secretary Modly removed Captain Crozier against the advice of senior Navy uniformed leadership and without completion of a proper investigation. Also troubling was the manner in which he addressed the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt,” said Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Jack Reed, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “These actions were inappropriate for the leader of the U.S. Navy at any time, particularly in a crisis, and did a disservice to Captain Crozier, the sailors of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and all Navy personnel.”
SMITH — A ‘HALF-ASS IMITATION’ OF TRUMP: “After mismanaging the COVID-19 outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, it became obvious that Acting Secretary Modly had forfeited his ability to lead the Navy, said Washington state Democratic Rep. Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
In a conference call with reporters earlier in the day, Smith was even more critical of Modly, reports my colleague Abraham Mahshie, who was on the call. “When I listened to the speech that acting Secretary Modly gave, it was almost like he was trying to do sort of a half-ass imitation of how Donald Trump would have given a speech,” Smith said. “The most chilling aspect of that is what he seemed to be saying is, ‘Look, I know what I should have done, but what I had to do was I had to say, ‘What would President Trump want me to do?’’”
WATCHDOG OR LAPDOG?: Trump has sparked howls of protest that he’s trying to neuter oversight of the recently passed $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package by replacing acting Pentagon Inspector General Glenn Fine, and naming Sean O’Donnell, the Environmental Protection Agency inspector general, as his temporary successor, while nominating Jason Abend to fill the position on a permanent basis.
Fine was poised to become the chairman of the new Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, designed to oversee how the government doles out the $2.2 trillion in federal commitments. But Fine, who will resume his old job as principal deputy inspector general for the Pentagon, will no longer qualify to lead the PRAC.
New York Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney, chairwoman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, called the replacement of Fine “a direct insult to the American taxpayers — of all political stripes — who want to make sure that their tax dollars are not squandered on wasteful boondoggles, incompetence or political favors.”
Related in the Washington Examiner: ‘Honest, competent’: Mattis pushes back on Trump over decision to remove inspector general
OPEN SKIES: Democrats in Congress are also alarmed at reports that the Trump administration is ready to ditch the 1992 Open Skies Treaty, which permits short-notice, unarmed, reconnaissance flights over signatory nations to collect data on military forces and activities.
“We are deeply troubled by the Trump Administration’s sustained push to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty and we reject the Administration’s arguments for pursuing withdrawal,” said a group of Democrats from House and Senate Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees in a statement.
“The Administration’s effort to make a major change to our national security policy in the midst of a global health crisis is not only shortsighted, but also unconscionable,” said Reps. Adam Smith and Eliot Engel and Sens. Jack Reed and Bob Menendez.
“This decision would have far-reaching, negative repercussions for our European allies, who rely on this Treaty to keep Russia accountable for its military actions in the region. During a time when we need to push back against Russian aggression, we cannot continue to undermine our alliances — which is exactly what U.S. withdrawal from this Treaty would do,” they argue. “We urge the Administration to reverse course on this reckless policy decision rather than ramming it through while our country and the entire world grapples with an unprecedented crisis.”
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: National Guard in support role across the country, from standing up field hospitals to running testing sites
Washington Examiner: Coronavirus is rationale for more assets to military’s drug-battling efforts in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific
Military Times: Defense Department COVID-19 Death Toll Rises To Seven
USNI News: USNS Comfort Prepared For 500 COVID-19 Patients
Washington Post: Pentagon considers new moves, including stop-loss policy, to maintain force amid coronavirus crisis
Politico: Sailor Aboard 4th U.S. Aircraft Carrier Tests Positive For Coronavirus
Defense One: Battle of the USS Theodore Roosevelt: a Timeline
Talk Media News: Pentagon shifts to pro-active role in trying to get ahead of COVID-19 firestorm
Reuters: In Apparent Swipe At China, Pompeo Calls For Transparency In Coronavirus Fight
Virginian-Pilot: The Helpers: USS Bataan Sailors Wrote Letters About Low Morale. A Norfolk Nonprofit Is Sending Care Packages
Marine Corps Times: The Basic School Struggles To Weather COVID-19 As Outbreak Hits Marine Officer Training School
Washington Post: Afghan-Taliban talks over prisoner swap collapse, threatening to upend U.S. peace deal
Stars and Stripes: AFRICOM Kills Senior Terrorist Leader In Somalia As Airstrikes Intensify
Air Force Magazine: Space Force Refining Doctrine, Deterrence Documents
The Diplomat: Russian Navy Stealth Frigate To Test Fire Hypersonic Missile
Forbes: Despite Coronavirus, Textron’s Defense Business Got Two Big Boosts In March
Calendar
NOTE: Many events in Washington have been canceled or moved online in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Pentagon has been conducting almost-daily pop-up briefings, which are often only announced at the last minute. Check https://www.defense.gov for updates to the Pentagon’s schedule.
WEDNESDAY | APRIL 8
2:30 p.m. — Atlantic Council webinar on “Spheres of influence: Outdated relic or renewed reality?” with Steven Pifer, fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and former deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs; former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst, director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center; Graham Allison, government professor at Harvard University; Paul Saunders, senior fellow at the Center for the National Interest; and Melinda Haring, deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/spheres-of-influence
THURSDAY | APRIL 9
8 a.m. — Defense Writers Group audio conference call with Gen. Timothy Ray, commander, Air Force Global Strike Command and commander, Air Forces, U.S. Strategic Command. https://nationalsecuritymedia.gwu.edu/
WEDNESDAY | APRIL 29
8 a.m. — Northrop Grumman Corporation webcasts its first quarter 2020 conference call, with Kathy Warden, chairman, chief executive officer, and president, and Dave Keffer, chief financial officer. http://investor.northropgrumman.com
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“He didn’t have to be Ernest Hemingway. He made a mistake, but he had a bad day. And I hate seeing bad things happen. A man made a mistake. But you know, you shouldn’t be writing letters, and you’re in the military, you’re the captain of a great ship, and you shouldn’t be writing letters and sending them to many people.”
President Trump, on the firing of the commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.
