The Navy cited Capt. Brett Crozier’s leadership “paralysis” and his prioritizing “comfort over safety,” missteps that might have contained the spread of the coronavirus on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, when it upheld his firing on Friday.
“This was all about what Crozier failed to do within his span of control,” said Chief Naval Officer Adm. Michael Gilday, who reversed an earlier call to reinstate the captain that was based on a preliminary investigation.
Crozier was fired in April by then-acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly for sending a letter outside of his chain of command that warned of contagion on his ship. The letter was leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle, starting a chain reaction of embarrassing incidents for the Navy.
“Had I known then what I know today, I would not have made that recommendation to reinstate Capt. Crozier. Moreover, if Capt. Crozier were still in command today, I would be relieving him,” Gilday said following a monthlong investigation and several weeks of delay.
The decision ended the careers of Crozier and Rear Adm. Stuart Baker, whose promotion to two stars will be delayed pending review.
Gilday, standing aside new Navy Secretary Ken Braithwaite in his first public appearance since swearing in, went on to list a series of missteps and to clarify that the decision not to reinstate Crozier was not related to the warning letter.
“This isn’t about the email, and it is not about the letter,” said Gilday. “The issue here is about standards of performance, particularly in crisis.”
Giday later clarified that the letter was “unnecessary” because the Navy was already responding to his requests for medical personnel, housing in Guam, and test capacity.
Gilday also said Crozier put “comfort above safety” by freeing the aft of the ship from quarantine, allowing 1,000 sailors to co-mingle and possibly spread the virus. Crozier also failed to follow Navy guidelines and was slow to egress sailors from the ship when 700 beds were ready in Guam.
Navy hopes to “move on”
President Trump threatened to “get involved,” at one point, first mocking Crozier for being “Hemingway” and writing the letter, then saying he should be allowed to make a mistake.
“I’m not looking to destroy a person’s life, who’s had an otherwise stellar career,” he said. “If we can save a person’s career — I don’t mind going after a person when they did something wrong, but this was a mistake.”
After the firing, Modly flew halfway around the world at a $243,000 cost to taxpayers on April 4 to denounce the commander to his sailors while in Guam.
Modly announced over the ship’s PA system that Crozier was “too naive or too stupid” to be in command.
The ill-thought speech, sprinkled with expletives, led to Modly’s own resignation on April 7.
Nearly 1,000 sailors of a crew of 4,865 tested positive for the coronavirus and sidelined the carrier for nearly two months. Chief Petty Officer Charles Robert Thacker Jr., 41, would die of COVID-19 on April 13.
With the announcement, the Navy hopes to focus on regional threats.
“You’ll see that we really only had two ships that were significantly affected,” said Braithwaite, referencing the Roosevelt and USS Kidd, which was also forced to port when contagion spread. “Out of that, both those ships are back underway and fully mission capable.”
He added: “We can move on and focus on what we need to focus on, and that’s the readiness and being able to appropriately defend the United States.”
Gilday emphasized leadership and readiness in his public remarks.
“I need people gripping problems. I need them driving solutions. I need them communicating fearlessly,” he said. “I’ve got a responsibility to put the best people possible on a ship that is now operating in the Philippines with two other strikers. You’ve seen the Chinese reactions to our ships out there.”
