Capt. Brett Crozier, commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), addresses the crew during an all-hands call. (Mc3 Nicholas Huynh/U.S. Navy)
**Originally published in The Cornell Review dated April 26, 2020*
When the first U.S. fatality due to COVID-19 was confirmed on February 29th 2020 and President Trump declared a national state of emergency on March 13th 2020, Americans had a lot of worries on their minds. Few likely considered whether our national security would also be compromised in the midst of this crisis.
The American military is not immune to the challenges of coronavirus. Pentagon officials stress that despite having to make adjustments, our military is still well prepared to fight. In an April 9th town hall broadcast, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army General Mark Milley stated, “Our readiness is still very high, and no one should doubt the readiness of the U.S. military.”
On April 13th, the Department of Defense reported the first active-duty service member death due to COVID-19: Aviation Ordnancemen Chief Petty Officer Charles Robert Thacker Jr. (41), of Fort Smith Arkansas. Chief Petty Officer Thacker was deployed to the pacific aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group.
Military.com reported that as of April 23rd, sailors on 26 Navy ships have the coronavirus now and 14 other ships have had confirmed cases of illness, though crew members have recovered, a Navy official said Wednesday. All the ships are in port and none of the 90 ships at sea have cases of the virus, according to the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The Navy has 297 warships.
The case of the USS Theodore Roosevelt
The USS Theodore Roosevelt, a nuclear powered aircraft carrier, has been the epicenter of the Navy’s battle against COVID-19. As of April 23rd, the Navy reported 100% of the ships’ 4800 crew members had been tested, yielding 840 positive results for COVID-19. Of the positive cases, 88 sailors have since recovered, the Navy said. Four sailors remain in the hospital, with none in intensive care.
Along with the Roosevelt, two other carriers, the USS Ronald Reagan and the USS Carl Vinson have had at least one sailor test positive for the coronavirus.
On March 30th, Chief Petty Officer Charles Robert Thacker Jr., a sailor from the USS Theodore Roosevelt, was placed into isolation with four others after testing positive. During isolation, military medical teams conducted checks on the sailors every 12 hours. On April 9th, Thacker was found unresponsive and CPR was administered before he was admitted to the ICU of US Naval Hospital Guam. At 8:30am, April 13th, he was declared deceased. He became the Navy’s first fatality of the virus.
In a statement, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday offered sympathy and support for the Naval community” We mourn the loss of the Sailor from USS Theodore Roosevelt who died today, and we stand alongside their family, loved ones, and shipmates as they grieve […] This is a great loss for the ship and for our Navy. My deepest sympathy goes out to the family, and we pledge our full support to the ship and crew as they continue their fight against the coronavirus. While our ships, submarines and aircraft are made of steel, Sailors are the real strength of our Navy.”
The USS Theodore Roosevelt pulled into Guam on March 26th after 8 sailors had been medically evacuated via helicopter after testing positive for COVID-19. Under orders from the Pentagon, none of the crew would be allowed to leave the pier except for sailors needing medical attention from US Naval Hospital Guam. Navy leaders planned to test 100% of the crew and isolate the infected. The number of infected far surpassed what the leadership could have predicted.
Efforts to identify infections and isolate crew were initially slow due to a lack of resources. This led the commanding officer of the Roosevelt, Captain Brett Crozier, to write a four-page letter to Navy leadership. This letter was leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle. In the letter, Captain Crozier requests more logistical support and urges Navy leadership to allow for the evacuation of all but 10% of the crew that are required to stay on board to man the nuclear reactor and weapons systems. Captain Crozier wrote that only a small number of infected sailors had been evacuated and it was not possible to uphold official guidelines for quarantine and social distancing.
Critical of what he believed to be an “ineffective current strategy”, Capt. Crozier provided two scenarios, “a) We got to war with the force we have and fight sick. We never achieve a COVID-free TR [Teddy Roosevelt]. There will be losses to the virus. b) Achieve a COVID-free TR. Requires strict adherence to CDC guidelines and methodical approach to achieve a clean ship. This requires immediate and decisive action. It will take time and money.”
Captain Crozier ended his letter with words that are sure to be remembered in Naval History for centuries to come, “We are not at war. 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.”
Captain Crozier sent this letter over an unclassified network to not only his chain of command but also to 20-30 other people in the service. On April 2nd, then acting-Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly relieved Captain Crozier of his command due to a loss of confidence in his ability to lead and his failure to adhere to the chain of command. In a Pentagon briefing, Secretary Modly stated Crozier “demonstrated extremely poor judgment in the middle of a crisis” and while he did not suggest that the Captain himself leaked the letter to the press, Crozier did not take precautions to avoid it. Further, Secretary Modly added the letter “created doubts about the ship’s ability to go to sea if it needs to. It’s created doubt among the families about the health of their sailors, and that was a completely unnecessary thing to do in the midst of the crisis.” Captain Crozier will remain in the Navy, but at another post. The Executive Officer, Captain Dan Keeler, has assumed command temporarily until such time as Rear Admiral Select Carlos Sardiello arrives in Guam to assume command. Rear Admiral Select Sardiello is the former commanding officer of the Theodore Roosevelt— he relinquished command to Crozier in 2019.
As Captain Crozier disembarked the USS Theodore Roosevelt on the morning of April 3rd, several videos posted to twitter show a crowd of hundreds of sailors, clearly in violation of CDC guidelines, gathered in the carrier’s hangar bay to bid goodbye to their captain. The sailors chanted “Cap-tain Cro-zier!” as Crozier walked off before waving and getting in an awaiting vehicle. The videos uploaded by sailors were captioned with statements supporting the captain, such as “Wrongfully relieved of command but did right by the sailors”. The general sentiment being that the Captain put the well-being of his troops before his career.
The NY Times reported on April 5th that Capt. Crozier had tested positive for coronavirus.
In a move that would cost Secretary Modly his own job, Modly flew out to Guam to inspect the Roosevelt. USA Today reported the 35-hour round trip flight on a C-37B VIP jet cost the Defense Department an estimated $243,000. Once aboard the Roosevelt, Secretary Modly proceeded to address the ship’s via the on-board announcement system. In a 15-minute long profanity-laced tirade, Secretary Modly proceeded to openly criticize Captain Crozier’s actions, stating that if Crozier believed the letter would not be leaked, he was either “too naïve or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this. The alternative is that he did this on purpose.” Soon after, Modly apologized to Crozier and his family for “any pain my comments may have caused”. Further he stated “they [Crozier and his family] and the entire Navy, have my full commitment that I will continue to help get the TR back to full health and back to sea where we can move forward beyond this unfortunate situation.”
Despite his apology, the backlash from the military community and members of Congress was severe. Even the great-grandson of Theodore Roosevelt himself, Tweed Roosevelt, penned an opinion piece for the NY times, critical of the decision to relieve Crozier. Modly wrote a reply defending his actions. Within 24 hours of his tirade aboard the carrier, acting-Secretary Modly resigned his post. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper decided to name current Army Undersecretary Jim McPherson, a retired Admiral, as his replacement.
Captain Crozier’s Comeback?
On April 10th, in an interview with CBS’ “This Morning”, Secretary of Defense Esper suggested that he would be open to reinstating Captain Crozier to the USS Theodore Roosevelt if that is what the naval chain of command recommended. “My inclination is always to support the chain of command, and to take their recommendations seriously,” Esper said.
On April 24th, Secretary Esper received that recommendation. According to officials familiar with the incident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday met with the Secretary that Friday morning and recommended Captain Crozier by reinstated as Commanding Officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt. An official said Secretary Esper has asked to defer any public announcement while he considers the recommendation.
I enjoyed this thorough review of the COVID-19 effect on the US Navy.
Captain Crozier made the correct command decision, and such leaders can make the difference in battle between winning and losing.
The military decided long ago that leaders are born and not made, and leaders are not common among the population or among the members of the military. Therefore, senior administrators are “made” and leaders are “cultivated.” This paradigm exposes the underlying issue as to why so many senior military are involved in deciding Captain Crozier’s fate.
Why is a leader being punished for doing exactly what is desired from commanding officers?
The answer can be found watching IN HARM’S WAY, John Wayne and Kirk Douglas movie about WWII. Without spoiling the plot, John Wayne is a Navy CO who loses command of his ship and is given an administrative desk job. Meanwhile a 3-star Admiral is a timid administrator and not a leader, and eventually John Wayne is made an admiral to help turn the tide.
For Captain Crozier, the administrator who caused the problem as Rear Admiral Baker, Crozier’s direct supervisor. I would have promoted Captain Crozier to 2-stars, and informed Rear Admiral Baker that when his tour was up, he should retire.
My Background with the Navy:
1986-88: Outstanding Recruit San Diego Boot Camp, set record on Sports Day (48.9 split on mile relay); Accelerated Advancement from Data Processor ‘A’ school; assigned to the USS BLUE RIDGE LCC-19; completed 110 semester hours in 4 months with CLEP, DANTES, ACT-PEP tests and got a standing ovation from WESTPAC career counselors; set WESTPAC record for 1 1/2 mile run (6:37) during Navy PT (55 push-ups, 84 sit-ups just before the run); recommended for Officer Candidate School by 3-star Admiral Miller (eventually commanding officer of NATO) and by Rear Admiral select Zlatoper (eventually Chief of Naval Operations).
1989: OCS in Newport, set record for 1 1/2 mile (6:51), awarded excellence in military bearing and athletics and academics, voted Asst Regimental Commander (executive officer for candidates), developed new indoctrination procedure that was filmed by Navy office that came up from DC, considered best leader ever by senior officers. Assigned as a Cryptologic Officer to the unsecured part of Navy command adjacent to the National Security Agency .
1990-1993: Received clearances, assigned as project manager in the NSA. Introduced by senior officials at meetings as the “future” director of the NSA. Managed projects several paygrades above my rank. Routinely noted as a top leader by enlisted, senior enlisted, other junior officers and senior officers.
Resigned and a few years later completed my PhD.