The Navy’s top officials have said Capt. Brett Crozier should once more be given command of the USS Theodore Roosevelt after a controversy ended in his removal and the resignation of the Navy’s acting chief.
Adm. Michael Gilday, chief of naval operations, and acting Navy Secretary James McPherson on Friday recommended to Defense Secretary Mark Esper that Crozier be reinstated, according to the New York Times. Esper will make the final decision on the move.
Esper asked for more time to make the decision following Friday’s recommendations. Defense officials had previously said the results of an investigation into the circumstances of Crozier’s termination would be released Friday afternoon. The news comes about a week after Gilday left the door open to reinstating Crozier and said that “no final decisions have been made” on the matter.
Crozier was ousted after a letter he wrote was published in the media, in which he expressed his concerns about a coronavirus outbreak on the Roosevelt. Officials accused him of intentionally allowing the letter to get leaked. Despite the criticism from the Navy, sailors on Crozier’s former ship have lauded him as a hero because of the concern he showed for the crew.
The matter became even more complicated when audio of a speech from then-acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly to sailors on the ship was leaked to the media. In the profanity-laced speech, Modly said Crozier was either “too naive or too stupid to be a commanding officer” of the ship. He later publicly apologized to Crozier for the remarks but resigned a day later as public officials called for his removal.
During the dispute, President Trump said that he “might get involved” in the matter and characterized both Crozier and Modly as “two good people.”
At least 840 sailors on the ship have been infected by the novel coronavirus since the outbreak began.
