Secretary Of Navy Resigns Amid USS Roosevelt Coronavirus Outbreak

NORTH BAY, CA — UPDATE: Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly resigned Tuesday amid controversy over the handling of a growing coronavirus outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt. Modly last Thursday fired U.S. Navy Capt. Brett Crozier, a Santa Rosa native who was serving as commanding officer of the aircraft carrier.

Modly criticized Crozier over a four-page letter published last week by the San Francisco Chronicle. In the letter, Crozier sought immediate evacuation of the ship and solo quarantine for each service member before coronavirus could spread any farther.

Modly argued that Crozier should have directed his complaints and concerns up a formal chain of command instead of sending his concerns to more than two dozen people in a message that was leaked to the media.

In remarks leaked in news reports Monday, Modly referred to Crozier as "stupid" and "naive" to his former sailors, according to a news release from U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson's office.

Thompson, D -St. Helena, and fellow U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, on Tuesday asked Acting Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to immediately dismiss Modly for his criticism of Crozier.

In their letter, the congressmen from North Bay said Modly "recklessly attacked the character of Captain Brett Crozier in his remarks to the entire crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt on Monday April 6."

Esper said he accepted Modly's resignation Tuesday morning, and that by resigning, Modly "put the Navy and sailors above self" so that the USS Theordore Roosevelt and the Navy, as an institution, can move forward.

The San Diego-based aircraft carrier was in Vietnam but has been harbored near Guam for weeks as the Navy tries to decide how to best slow the spread of coronavirus aboard the ship carrying more than 4,000 U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps service members.

In their letter Tuesday to Esper, Reps. Thompson and Huffman said:

"We request the immediate dismissal of Thomas Modly from his position as Acting Secretary of the Navy. In the midst an unprecedented health crisis, the Acting Secretary recklessly attacked the character of Captain Brett Crozier in his remarks to the entire crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt on Monday, 6 April.
"His decision to dismiss Captain Crozier before the completion of a thorough and transparent investigation followed by his remarks that Captain Crozier was 'either too naïve, or too stupid to be a commanding officer' show an alarming lack of judgment and leadership by the head of the Department of Navy.
"Captain Crozier acted with only the best interest of his crew in mind and showed an unwavering commitment to the health and safety of the sailors of the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The Secretary of the Navy and the entire Department of Defense should be focused on the health of our men and women in uniform, not closing ranks and slandering a good man who has served his nation honorably. We are deeply concerned that the recent actions of Acting Secretary of Navy Modly risks losing the confidence of men and women in uniform. Thomas Modly is unfit to lead the Department of Navy."

ORIGINAL STORY: U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, called for a thorough investigation Monday into the circumstances surrounding the Navy's removal of a North Bay native from his role as commander of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. U.S. Navy Capt. Brett Crozier was serving as commanding officer of the San Diego-based USS Theodore Roosevelt until a letter he wrote last week — he said the Navy should immediately evacuate more than 4,000 sailors from the ship before they were all infected with the new coronavirus — was leaked to the media.

In the March 30 four-page letter published by the San Francisco Chronicle, Crozier, of Santa Rosa, said the current strategy of dealing with the ship's growing COVID-19 outbreak was ineffective and was inappropriately focused on testing. He said due to the close quarters of a warship, and with the current number of positive cases, every single sailor, regardless of rank, should be considered "close contact."

Crozier said based on guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center, the only way to stop the spread was individual quarantine for 14-plus days, not group quarantine sites such as those where more sailors were becoming infected.

Senior Navy officials argued Crozier should have directed his complaints and concerns up a formal chain of command instead of sending his concerns to more than two dozen people in a message that was leaked to the media.

In remarks leaked in news reports Monday, the Acting Secretary of the Navy referred to Crozier as "stupid" and "naive" to his former sailors, according to a news release from Thompson's office.

"Captain Crozier acted with only the best interest of his crew in mind, showing an unwavering commitment to their health and safety during this uncertain time," Thompson said. "As a combat veteran, his dismissal has me deeply concerned and the comments made by the Secretary of the Navy are downright unacceptable. The entire Department of Defense should be focused on the health of our men and women in uniform, not closing ranks and slandering a good man who has served his nation honorably. I will continue defending Captain Crozier and asking the Navy to conduct a full investigation into this matter."

Further, Thompson wrote letters to U.S. President Donald Trump, Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly, Acting Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, Acting Inspector General Glenn Fine, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other high-ranking Congressional and military officials, in which he demanded oversight of the Navy's decision to remove Crozier as commander of the nuclear aircraft carrier.

Acting Navy Secretary Modly in a statement Thursday about relieving Crozier of his duties said: "When the Commanding Officer of the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT decided to write his letter of 30 March 2020 that outlined his concerns for his crew in the midst of a COVID-19 outbreak, the Department of the Navy had already mobilized significant resources for days in response to his previous requests.

"On the same date marked on his letter, my Chief of Staff had called the CO [commanding officer] directly, at my request, to ensure he had all the resources necessary for the health and safety of his crew," Modly said. "The CO told my Chief of Staff that he was receiving those resources, and was fully aware of the Navy’s response, only asking that the he wished the crew could be evacuated faster."

Thompson was not the only elected official who remarked on Crozier's dismissal from the USS Roosevelt. Leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives' Armed Services Committee, which includes U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, D-Solano County, issued a joint statement that said, in part:

"Throwing the commanding officer overboard without a thorough investigation is not going to solve the growing crisis aboard the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt. What's more, we are very concerned about the chilling effect this dismissal will have on commanders throughout the Department of Defense. Dismissing a commanding officer for speaking out on issues critical to the safety of those under their command discourages others from raising similar concerns."

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.