NOTE: Moments after we recorded this, news broke that Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned. We hope this episode provides some context for that news.
Capt. Brett Crozier gets fired as commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt for leaking a cry of desperation for his COVID-19 afflicted crew. Days later, Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly gives a profanity-laced speech to the carrier crew, calling Crozier “naive or stupid.” Modly’s speech seemed to say to Crozier, “Hold my beer.”
Right Angle is a production of our Members who access exclusive content, but who are motivated primary to circulate these ideas around the world. Join us today.
29 replies on “Carrier Commander Fired as ‘Naive or Stupid’: Navy Secretary says, ‘Hold My Beer’”
According to this article in the U.S. Naval Institute ‘Proceedings’ magazine,
https://blog.usni.org/posts/2020/04/17/return-crozier-to-the-roosevelt-restore-faith-in-the-navy?utm_source=U.S.%20Naval%20Institute&utm_campaign=ca13638b29-Proceedings_Editor_EMAIL_2020_3_03_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_adee2c2162-ca13638b29-226679745&mc_cid=ca13638b29&mc_eid=e09bc239b5
(Free registration and access through June)
CPT Crozier’s e-mail went to ten officers. ALL were within his chain of command or subordinate commands on board the carrier. The leak occurred at a level above his, over which he had no control.
It is a commander’s DUTY to advise his superiors of any issue that detracts from mission readiness. Failing to report because someone, somewhere, might leak information, is a recipe for disaster. Carrying out such advice does sometimes result in relief, as seen here, by someone higher up engaged in CYA.
The Theodore Roosevelt had been ordered to Guam five days before the report on the e-mail, and the notification to the press came from … Acting Secretary of the Navy Modly. CPT Crozier didn’t remove a strategic asset, the Navy Command did.
Please read the article, get a better picture.
Dennis Morehouse
LTC,Infantry, USA, Retired
Thank you for posting this. If it is true that Captain Crozier is not the origin of the leak (and that his email was sent through normal secure channels), then of course he should be restored. Also one would hope that the actual source of the leak is exposed and punished accordingly.
Who is now acting Secretary of the Navy? Is he likely to follow up, or consider it closed?
I’m AF not Navy, but even I know that Capt Crozier had at least three Admirals above him to complain to before the Secretary of the Navy. and should NEVER go to the press to air his grievances for any reason, but certainly not to expose operational vulnerability of his command. But what about his negligence allowing his ship a 5-day port call in Danang, Vietnam, a full month after the well-known covid-19 event and quarantine of the cruise ship Diamond Princess? How brain dead do you have to be as a commander to allow your men off the ship in an Asian port 4 months after this virus took off? Also, to Bill’s point about security breach with 5000 cellphones – when I was flying fighters in Germany during the Cold War, we only had the old phones with pushbuttons to select different incoming lines. But even then, we were warned repeatedly to deselect all the buttons after hanging up or else that phone was able to be compromised from outside the base. I can’t believe the USN is so naive to allow such smartphones with GPS location capability on any of our ships.
Not to downplay it too much, but wasn’t the TR in port at Diego Garcia when the SecNav made that speech? If so, its a bit less of a security leak than if the ship was at sea.
We don’t have all the facts and an investigation is pending. One can only speculate as in this episode. However there are some pretty important facts that were not addressed:
1. Coronavirus is highly contagious, much more so than the flu
2. A ship is a highly contagious environment to begin with, a warship much more so due to closer quarters, shared berthing, mess spaces, etc.
3. Without social distancing measures, these cases grow at a highly exponential rate
4. Current COVID-19 test techniques have both false positives and false negatives, the percentage of which is unknown and not well characterized
5. Timeline of Events
a. March 5th CVN-71 arrives in Da Nang, Vietnam for a port visit, no cases detected after a 14 day isolation period
b. March 24th First coronavirus case reported in CVN-71
c. March 25th Four sailors, confirmed with COVID-19, airlifted to Naval Hospital Guam
d. March 27th CVN-71 docks in Guam
e. March 28th 36 cases reported
f. March 30th Captain sends memo out
g. March 31st Captain’s memo is published in San Francisco Chronicle
h. April 2nd Acting SECNAV gives press conference announcing removal of Commanding Officer from command
i. April 3rd Navy announces 30% of crew tested and 117 confirmed cases
j. April 8th Initial group of 1,000 sailors removed off the ship for quarantine in Guam, and Navy announces that 2,700 sailors will ultimately be removed from the ship for quarantine
k. April 8th Navy announces 230 confirmed cases onboard CVN-71
6. The Navy only started to offload large numbers of sailors to quarantine 2 ½ weeks after the ship was docked in Guam
7. The memo did in fact make it to the strike group admiral (acting SECNAV admitted this in a press conference, link below)
There is no way to definitively stop the spread of the virus and have a warship continue to operate on its mission. It’s all or nothing. Either you take aggressive action to quarantine and sanitize the ship, or continue on, knowing that without a doubt everyone will eventually be infected.
Let’s assume the latter is chosen. With 5,680 souls on board with an embarked air wing and assuming a 1% death rate, that is around 57 Americans who could die. However, it does not end there. There is the residual risk. The flight deck is probably one of the most dangerous work environments in the world, everyone needs to be on their A game and even experienced sailors make mistakes. Those mistakes can be fatal in that environment. As human beings, we’re much more likely to do that if we’re sick or perhaps massively fatigued because we’re covering the shift for someone who is in quarantine.
How would you feel about a leader taking those kinds of risks with your son or daughter’s life in this kind of environment for no reason other than to make sure the world “does not see [the U.S. Navy] in this condition” as Steve says?
Do you guys honestly believe that between the 27th (or well before) and the 30th that Captain was not already engaging leadership (strike group admiral on board, Air Boss, etc.) to get the crew off the ship? Is it not odd that only after the memo is leaked and the Captain is relieved of command that large amounts sailors offloaded to quarantine? Scott, I truly admire your wisdom. I think you hit the nail on the head at the end. It looks like there may be problem with leadership, bureaucracy, and a lack of urgency.
No one (your humble correspondent included) knows whether the captain’s actions were right or wrong, only the investigation will be able to determine that once it is completed. However, it looks a lot more like the Captain fell on his sword for the sake of his troops, one of whom is already in the ICU.
Sources:
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Exclusive-Captain-of-aircraft-carrier-with-15167883.php (the memo itself)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2020/04/02/coronavirus-guam-coronavirus-cases-uss-theodore-roosevelt-news-updates/5108314002/
https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2020/04/07/us-navys-dual-investigations-into-carrier-roosevelt-drama-are-hopelessly-compromised-lawyers-say/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8178707/US-Navy-evacuates-USS-Roosevelt-Guam-coronavirus-outbreak-5-000-crew.html
Opinion Article the Captain’s Classmate:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/04/07/navy-fired-defamed-my-friend-over-coronavirus-letter-column/2960627001/
Seems like we are trying to decide of two rights make a wrong or two wrongs make a right.
Two rights make an airplane.
Let’s put aside whether or not what the Commanding Officer did was right, or that the acting SECNAV resigned for just a moment to address something more crucial.
Bill – It is my sincerest hope that your comment “the job of the commanding officer is not to look out for the welfare of his crew” was either a misspeak or somehow not the message that you intended to convey. Taking care for your troops is one of, if not the most important job of any senior enlisted or officer in the military. It is perhaps one of the first things taught in any military leadership course, and for good reason. This task is especially important for the commanding officer of an aircraft carrier responsible for approximately 3,200 souls (5,680 with an embarked air wing).
Yes, an aircraft carrier is a national asset. However its value does not come from its 100,000+ tons displacement, the 4.5 acre flight deck and catapults, or even the eight squadrons in the airwing. The value comes from how all these function with its crew onboard in a war fighting capacity. To borrow from the Rifleman’s Creed: “Without the crew, the carrier is useless. Without the carrier, the crew is useless.”
Whether the captain was right or wrong, putting yourself in his shoes with the imperfect information he had available, assuming a 1% death rate and a very realistic 100% infection rate (assuming no action was taken on board), that’s 57 sailors that could die. I did not hear that perspective mentioned once in this episode. And as for those member comments that this is an “old person” virus may I kindly remind them that members of the armed services are ordinary Americans like you and me. Some are in peak condition, some are a little overweight, and some have underlying health conditions and will be in the high risk category of the virus. For those of you who want some proof, here it is:
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/491977-roosevelt-sailor-admitted-to-icu
In short Mr. Whittle, I not only disagree with your statement that it is not the job of the commanding officer to lookout after the welfare of his crew, I find it utterly offensive to our men and women in uniform as it implies they are simply expendable. I plan on attending TSL this evening and sincerely hope you will clarify the words you chose in this episode of Right Angle.
One of the ironies of this regrettable incident is that both the ship’s captain and the acting SecNav had valid points, but they grievously erred by expressing them openly.
Excellent episode gentlemen, I think you hit the right buttons in this discussion. I especially want to credit Steven Green for what I think may have been the best thumbnail history and description of the status and reliance our country must give, and has enjoyed, in its long and needful relations with our Maritime Service Branch!
Not exactly defending Secretary Modly, but I think it’s worth pointing out that when he said that the Captain was “too stupid or too naive to be in command of a ship like this” (paraphrasing), what he meant was: obviously he is neither stupid or naive; therefore, he did it on purpose, and that is why he was removed. Please note however that I haven’t listened to the recording of the rant and that this explanation comes from the “apology” that Modly issued before he himself was removed.
I listened to an interview on Fox News with the commander (retired) of the USS Cole. He pointed out two things that I had not previously considered. One is the level of frustration of communicating up the command structure, all the way to Washington, of the urgency of a situation. He didn’t say so, but this is a consequence of global communications and the fact that, unlike in the age of sail and Captain Hornblower, or in the age of Captain Kirk, the captain is no longer really in charge of his own ship. He used to be the personification of the British Empire or the Federation, but now he is in many ways merely a cog with all of the responsibility but much, much less of the authority. Whether this is a good thing, whether the authority of a ship’s captain needs to be rebalanced, is a discussion for another time.
The second thing that the commander of the Cole pointed out was that for the captain to have done this deliberately–which he agrees he must have done–there must have been something seriously wrong with the command structure he was reporting to at every one of several levels between the captain and Washington. Why didn’t he solve the problem with the admiral in charge of the strike group, who was berthed right down the hall on his ship? And on up the chain of command? Was there a breakdown at every level, or at only one level, that led the captain to believe that his concerns were not being taken seriously to such a degree that he was willing to do what he did?
Finally, I’d like to make two points about the national security issues. Apparently the crew became infected during a political stopover at Vietnam for some kind of political anniversary celebration, which seems to have happened against the captain’s wishes (i.e., he wanted to cancel it because of the risk to the crew and therefore to ship readiness), and he was overruled. (See my second paragraph above: had the captain had full authority over his ship, he could have stopped this before it ever happened.) The timing was such that it was just about when we were starting to understand how serious and how big the pandemic is. In other words, this is fundamentally a political problem.
The second point about national security is that this is not a widespread problem in the Navy. Crews are quarantined for at least two weeks before they report to their ships and other ships aren’t docking for shore leave in risky places. So it is an isolated problem in terms of worldwide naval readiness.
Laura, here is a news clip the includes a portion of the acting SECNAV’s rant:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q86c45msdjI
Excerpts from the rant start at approximately 0:55.
I’ve got to disagree with you about what that Captain’s priorities are and should be. As commander of a high value, strategic asset during peacetime, his primary mission is preservation of that asset. The commander in the field also needs to be able to report bad news up the chain of command.
You can’t go executing everyone who tells the truth as defeatists.
Steve’s spot on about navies. In WWII, when the Royal Navy was evacuating British and Commonwealth soldiers from Crete in May 1941, lacking air cover Admiral Cunningham’s fleet was sufering severe losses and when army generals expressed fears about these losses Cunningham replied.
“It takes the Navy three years to build a ship. It will take three hundred years to build a new tradition. The evacuation will continue.”
16,500 men out of 22,000 were evacuated. 3 cruisers and 6 destroyers were lost.
All major naval vessels have special secure cell phone technology and special issue crew cell phones sometimes. Special software on the cell phones to ensure they can’t link outside the ship. The systems also spoof the phones GPS position to fool enemies. The cell phone system on the ship is closed with special authorization for calls in or out. There is a documentary on this I believe. I’ve seen it on Cable.
The call recording of Thomas Modly had to have been authorised by the highest rank on the vessel, probably the fleet admiral on the vessel. It may have even been the Admirals phone.
The position of USS Theodore Roosevelt does not appear to be classified at all.
https://news.usni.org/2020/04/06/usni-news-fleet-and-marine-tracker-april-6-2020
Fleet tracker had it at Guam two days ago and its tracking all the ships. They are not hiding fleet location and have not been doing so since the USS Fitzgerald and the USS McCain attacks.
Captain Brett Crozier was not the highest ranking officer on the vessel and his actions must have been authorised by the fleet admiral on the carrier. We have heard nothing about him. However the fleet admiral may be among the sick.
All that may be true while they are at sea; however, a lot of this happened while the ship was in port. The news reports show multiple cell phone videos of the captain and the crew while he was disembarking which were posted to social media by multiple crewmembers. It seems likely that the SecNav’s speech was also given while the ship was in port. This implies that the rules regarding cell phone usage are different when the ship is in port (either that, or the system you describe doesn’t work). And Bill is right, that is disturbing and needs to be re-assessed.
The command structure failed and needs reform. Fox News blows up Thomas Moldy. Most of the crew of a carrier are under 21, active carriers but not sick. The disease makes 50 & older people sick. If they have sick on board then that’s a lot the senior crew and ranking officers. There is an admiral on the ship that has not been involved probably because he is very sick with the virus. There is also a good change Thomas Moldy is now infected.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFS8-caenyE
I’ve heard so much garbled reporting on this. Do we actually know that the captain sent the unsecure message? I heard it was one of the recipients who leaked it.
I think anyone who knows anything about officer country understands that having your command deadlined for any reason is career suicide. Unless he screamed, “Allahu akbar” before clicking send, I’m going to say we’ve not got the whole story.
Makes 50 & older people sick? One of crew is now is dead, sir. Considering CAPT Crozier is 50 and probably one of the oldest people on the ship next to CAG and the strike group admiral, there is a high likelihood deceased sailor was younger than 50.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/navy-sailor-assigned-uss-theodore-roosevelt-dies-after-contracting-coronavirus-n1182571
De’ja SNAFU all over again
As a retired Marine I Thank GOD Every day I was out before the digital revolution! But I worked another 15 years as a contractor, and Bill you are SO right! NOTHING is a bigger security risk than addressing the use or, banning of cell phones with deployed units! The toll this is taking on small unit leadership is devastating! And small unit leadership is the linchpin of US military success.
Already done their secure. Special cell phones, special cell phone “towers” on ship. GPS spoofing and the ships are all running the shipping transponder so everyone knows where they are but not who they are. hiding in a big wide ocean has been obsolete for 4 years. There is a documentary on the naval cell phone technology.
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:19.5/centery:18.6/zoom:2 Find Guam.
Any recording from a cell phone on the USS Theodore Roosevelt has to have come from very high up in the ships command structure.
Thanks for that update! I appreciate that information!
Great commentary guys. Does not matter that SecNav resigned. I think all of your points were pertinent and were valuable to be discussed. Frankly I was more than a little troubled that someone like Hillary Clinton could blatantly violate security protocols with her email fiasco and not be severely punished. I certainly hope our Military is taking a more serious approach to security than the feckless politicians and the rest of the government seem to be, but frankly I am almost preparing to not be surprised.
First of all – Steve – your coffee mug is AWESOME!
2nd – I recall a Navy chief who was court martial-ed because he took a photo of the engine room of his sub. I thought having cell phones was stopped back then.
From what I know about subs, I’m honestly surprised they let people bring recording devices on the ship.
I found an article on the navy.mil website about cell phone use on USS George Washington, which is also an aircraft carrier. Sailors are not allowed to use the cameras on their phones at any time on board or in the ship yard. They are not allowed to have their phones with them in certain areas, such as near the reactor. And they are only allowed to use them for non camera purposes in specific areas of the ship or yard. There’s no mention in the article about the GPS locator. Here’s the link if anyone wants to read it themselves. https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=108641
Special tech blocks abuse and spoofs GPS positions or locks it off. The ships are running shipping Automatic identification systems and have been for several years. So ships are no longer hiding in the big empty ocean; satellites make that obsolete.
It’s now down to point of defence and decoys and lots of decoys that look like big juicy carriers. One of the decoys is Australian technology that is on all US and allied ships.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_identification_system
Providence has again shown us it’s guiding hand to protect the United States of America. Now are we smart enough to fix this problem or will political correctness force us to put our head in the sand.