After days of speculation the former commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt would be reinstated, the U.S. Navy is now reportedly launching an investigation into Capt. Brett Crozier’s overall firing.
Last week, The New York Times reported Navy leaders were recommending Crozier be reinstated after being fired by former Navy Secretary Thomas Modly.
Crozier, Modly said, was fired after leaking a memo to the press criticizing Navy leadership for failing to provide the proper resources to combat the coronavirus. The aircraft carrier has been at the center of how the U.S. military bureaucracy is addressing the virus as more cases are being reported within its ranks.
»COMPLETE COVERAGE: CORONAVIRUS
Crozier’s four-page letter to his superiors in Washington detailed the dire situation aboard the Roosevelt, which was docked with more than 4,000 sailors aboard and dozens of whom were infected with the virus.
After he fired Crozier, Modly came under intense criticism after calling the former commander "naive" and "stupid," comments that eventually led to Modly's resignation.
Now, according to Politico, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley has persuaded U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper to open a fuller investigation into Crozier's firing. Milley is the principal military adviser to President Donald Trump and Esper.
Last week, speculation abounded Crozier could be reinstated as soon as this past Monday.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt remains docked in Guam, and Crozier himself is recovering from the coronavirus. As of Tuesday, there are 940 active coronavirus cases among the crew. One crew member died earlier this month in what is believed to be the American military's first coronavirus-related death.
Along with the Theodore Roosevelt, there are confirmed coronavirus cases on two other U.S. Navy carriers: the USS Nimitz and the USS Ronald Reagan.
On Friday, an outbreak was confirmed aboard the USS Kidd, a Navy destroyer reportedly assigned to counter-narcotics operations. One in four sailors have been reportedly infected with the virus.
“We are not at war,” Crozier wrote in the memo that eventually led to his firing. “Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our sailors.”
After firing Crozier, Modly held a news conference about the matter and said the captain “demonstrated extremely poor judgment” in the middle of a crisis and created a panic by sending a non-secure email to people outside his chain of command.
The letter eventually found its way to the San Francisco Chronicle, which was the first to report the matter. From there, the story quickly spread around the country.
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