From Military.com:
“'Sailors Do Not Need to Die':
Carrier Captain Pleads for Help as Virus Cases Surge”
(Capt. Brett Crozier, commanding
officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), gives remarks
during an all-hands call on the ship’s flight deck Dec. 15, 2019.)
The commanding officer of an
aircraft carrier sidelined in Guam says there are more than 100 positive cases
of the illness caused by the coronavirus among its crew and is calling on Navy
leadership to do more to protect the lives of his sailors. Navy Capt. Brett
Crozier, commanding officer of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, wrote a
four-page letter to his superiors, pleading with them to take action to help
stem the spread of COVID-19 cases on his ship. The San Francisco Chronicle
obtained a copy of Crozier's letter and broke the story of his stunningly
candid request that Navy leaders fix what he says is an ineffective strategy
that will only slow the spread on the carrier -- not stop it. "We are not
at war. Sailors do not need to die," the captain wrote. "If we do not
act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset -- our
Sailors." Between 150 and 200 crew members on the carrier have tested
positive for COVID-19, the Chronicle reported. The ship is pierside in Guam,
but much of the crew remains on the ship.
The number of COVID-19 cases has
spiked in just seven days since the Navy announced the first three positive
cases aboard the warship. Crozier described the spread of the disease as
ongoing and accelerating. It's impossible to practice social distancing
measures on the ship, he added. The Navy must offload the entire crew so the
sailors can be properly quarantined, which the captain acknowledges is an
extraordinary measure. But the ship must be cleaned, he said. "Keeping
over 4,000 young men and women on board the TR is an unnecessary risk and
breaks faith with those Sailors entrusted to our care," Crozier wrote. He
cited close living quarters, food being prepared by people who've been exposed
to the virus, and shared restrooms as reasons the ship needs to be emptied now.
Navy officials said in a statement responding to the letter that leaders are
moving quickly to take all necessary steps to ensure the health and safety of
the crew. "The ship's commanding officer advocated for housing more
members of the crew in facilities that allow for better isolation," the
statement reads. "Navy leadership ... is pursuing options to address the
concerns raised by the commanding officer." Recruiters last week raised
similar alarms about the military's decision to continue shipping new recruits
to boot camp during a global pandemic. Recruits in entry-level training also
live in tight quarters, they warned, saying it was only a matter of time before
the COVID-19 illness spread wildly at one of the services' training camps. The
Roosevelt isn't the only Navy ship with coronavirus cases onboard. Fox News
reported last week that there were two positive cases on the carrier Ronald
Reagan, which is in port in Japan, where it's based. There are also cases among
crews assigned to the amphibious assault ship Boxer, guided-missile destroyer
Ralph Johnson and littoral combat ship Coronado. Defense Secretary Mark Esper
directed the military to stop publicizing how many COVID-19 cases there are on
each ship or in specific units or squadrons, citing operational security. The
Navy's top leaders said last week that all members of the carrier Roosevelt's
crew would be tested for COVID-19. The first cases emerged after the ship made
a port call in Vietnam in early March, despite warnings that the virus was
likely to sweep through the Asia-Pacific region. Sailors left the ship for
receptions, sports competitions and other events. When asked why leaders
approved that move, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday said there
were only 16 reported cases in Vietnam at the time. "Those were well to
the north and all isolated in Hanoi," Gilday told reporters recently.
"This was a very risk-informed decision, actually by the [head of U.S.
Indo-Pacific Command Adm. Phil] Davidson, on whether or not we proceeded with
that port visit." Navy officials did not immediately respond to questions
about whether all of the crew members have been tested for COVID-19, as
planned. While testing is important, Crozier wrote that it can't be a
substitute for moving all crew members off the carrier. He noted that about a
fifth of the first 33 sailors to test positive originally tested negative. They
showed symptoms days after their initial tests, he said. "Testing has no direct
influence on the spread of the COVID-19 virus," Crozier wrote. "It
merely confirms the presence of the virus."
^ It is shameful that the US
Federal Government and the US Navy are not doing more to help the men and women
aboard the Theodore Roosevelt. The politicians, the Generals and the American
people expect the US Military to go above and beyond to protect us yet we are
not prepared to do the same to keep them safe. It’s time we change that. ^
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/03/31/sailors-do-not-need-die-carrier-captain-pleads-help-virus-cases-surge.html
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