From Military.com:
“Navy Won't Reinstate Crozier, Fires 1-Star Over Poor Decision Making”
(Capt. Brett Crozier (left), then commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, and Rear Adm. Stuart P. Baker (right) giving his first speech as commander of Carrier Strike Group Nine)
The Navy won't reinstate the captain who was fired after warning of a serious health crisis on his ship, and the captain's superior has now also been removed from his job as the result of a deeper probe into the matter, top Navy leaders said on Friday. The Navy secretary and top admiral reversed course on a previous recommendation to reinstate Capt. Brett Crozier as commanding officer of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt. Crozier will be reassigned. If he was still in command today, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday said he would relieve him. "It is because of what he didn't do that I have chosen not to reinstate him," Gilday said. Crozier acted too slowly to keep his crew safe and made questionable decisions to release sailors from quarantine, potentially putting others at risk, the CNO added. Gilday also said the email Crozier sent warning about the situation on the ship "was unnecessary." Rear Adm. Stuart Baker has also been removed from his post as commander of Carrier Strike Group Nine, Gilday said. His promotion to rear admiral upper half, which was approved by the Senate on March 20, is also now in flux. The decisions are the result of a deeper review into the situation on the Roosevelt, which James McPherson directed in April over what he called "unanswered questions" while serving as acting Navy secretary. Braithwaite said on Friday he stands by the latest investigation's findings. Baker was aboard the Roosevelt when Crozier emailed several people about a growing number of COVID-19 cases among the crew. Crozier, whose email asking for help was leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle, was ultimately fired by then-acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly over his handling of the situation. Modly told reporters when announcing his decision to relieve Crozier of command that the captain should've walked "down the hallway" to discuss his concerns with Baker before sending the email. Modly later resigned from his post as acting Navy secretary amid backlash over these events. The Roosevelt pulled into Guam in late March as more than 100 crew members tested positive for COVID-19, the sometimes-fatal illness caused by the coronavirus. Crozier had warned in his email that sailors could die if they didn't quickly evacuate the ship. "If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset -- our Sailors," he said. Ultimately, more than 1,200 members of the roughly 4,800-person crew tested positive for the virus, including Crozier. One sailor, 41-year-old Chief Petty Officer Charles Robert Thacker Jr., died of the illness.
^ This is a sad day for the US Navy as well as for everyone in the country. No matter what the final decision is (and it’s a bad one) Captain Brett Crozier will forever be known as a true American hero who did what was right for the men and women serving under him when his superiors (including Trump as Commander-And-Chief) did nothing to help the sick sailors and then used Crozier as a scapegoat for their own shortcomings. ^
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