Navy Secretary Thomas Modly fired Brett Crozier, captain of USS Theodore Roosevelt, in a tiff over the way Crozier pleaded for help from coronavirus issues.
The captain issued a memo, pleading for help as over 150 members of his crew were infected with the coronavirus. The press got a hold of the plea for help, and Modly fired Crozier.
My take is that Crozier is a hero for attempting to protect his crew.
Not happy with firing Crozier and leaving it at that, Modly rubbed it in. He went to the USS Theodore Roosevelt and belittled Crozier over loud speakers.
Modly Under Fire
Now Modly is under fire. The Wall Street Journal reports Acting Navy Secretary Apologizes for Berating Ousted Captain of Coronavirus-Hit USS Roosevelt.
In the address to the crew of the Roosevelt, Mr. Modly referred disparagingly to Capt. Crozier. “If he didn’t think, in my opinion, that this information wasn’t going to get out into the public, in this information age we live in, then he was either too naive or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this,” he said over the Roosevelt’s public address system.
“The alternative is he did this on purpose, which is a serious violation” of military law, he said.
In an about-face, acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly apologized Monday night for his profanity-tinged remarks over the loudspeakers of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, in which he called the aircraft carrier’s former commander stupid or naive for writing and distributing a memo about a coronavirus outbreak.
In his apology, Mr. Modly revisited that point. “I believe, precisely because he is not naive and stupid, that he sent his alarming email with the intention of getting it into the public domain in an effort to draw public attention to the situation on his ship,” Mr. Modly said in the statement.
Apology?
I see no apology. This is how it reads to me.
- Crozier is not stupid.
- Rather, Crozier did this on purpose, a serious violation of military law.
What kind of apology is that?
How about none.
The crew could be heard jeering as Modly spoke, and rightfully so.
Two-Part Solution
- Fire Modly
- Reinstate Crozier
I do not expect number two but I expect Trump will indeed get rid of Modly.
If so, good riddance to a clear scumbag.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
an asshole-licking globalist piece of shit does not need to apologize. just keep licking…
Yes, and the sheep followed. What it demonstrates is the failure of American education.
It’s hard to think of a more obvious example of sheeple following due to education than the Military Academies where all are taught to follow orders / the chain of command no matter what.
Sure, I understand the rationale in the military … but when you are “fighting a war” against “an invisible enemy” perhaps it’s not unreasonable to figure the same sort of rationale might well apply to the civilian population as well … i.e. not “following orders” could well get you and/or your fellow soldiers/civilians killed …
Captain Brett Crozier commanded one of the world’s most powerful warships. Nearly 40 years old, CVN-71 is a Nimitz-class, nuclear powered warship with 90+/- aircraft. I assume it also carries nuclear weapons. Accordingly, it stands to reason that the Navy considers him not only fit for command, but at the top of his game. He is solely responsible for his ship and crew.
When covid-19 appeared onboard, Crozier was fired. As he departed, his crew gathered in protest. There was NO DISTANCING, and NO MASKS in the video that I watched. This lapse is the reason why covid-19 is raging through the ship. Modly was right; the captain was not competent to command.
At the time, CVN-71 was ‘at war.’ The President had clearly announced to the nation that it ‘fighting an invisible enemy.’ I do not pay taxes to have the nation’s warships offline and at risk because of failures of commonsense. Modly, Crozier, and I suspect many more high-ranking Navy officers, lack basic critical thinking skills.
RE: “Modly, Crozier, and I suspect many more high-ranking Navy officers, lack basic critical thinking skills.”
Perhaps it even went higher … Hadn’t they all been told by their Commander-in-Chief that masks were (first) not to be worn (then eventually) maybe a good idea only if you feel like it?
I spent a long time in the Navy. The captain should have been relieved. The secretary needs to be fired. They both acted stupidly.
If the Captain had stood up to those ordering him to Danang during a pandemic he would be a hero. He didn’t. He did the expedient thing. He allowed them to intermix with the population.
He put his men at risk and basically lowered our national defense for months.
I know that the Trumpists in my town are being marked and stained for life. We will remember them for the scum they are.
If Trump removes Modley, it will only be because the ratings. He DNGAF about anything except ratings.
So was Modly naive or stupid for thinking that his attack on Crozier wouldn’t be leaked to the public and cause problems or did he do it on purpose because … he was told to?
How ironic … chuckle …
Mish,
I love you man, but sometimes you’re completely full of shit. This is one of those times. You should stick with stuff you know and pass on the stuff you know nothing of. As a retired Naval officer I can tell you the Captain had to be relieved of his command for two of the worst possible dereliction of duties: poor judgement and violating chain of command. The Navy Secretary is resigning because Trump wants something less than firing. I love Trump, unlike you, but he’s falling into the same trap you have. He doesn’t no shit about the military and how it functions. The Secretary had it dead right, the Captain was a dumb shit, and certainly lacks the judgement to command an aircraft carrier.
A lot of people that were trapped on that boat were going to suffer and die for no reason other than Crozier’s superiors had their heads up their asses. He was right to buck chain of command.
More of us need to.
Nothing wrong with bucking the chain of command if you’re willing to accept the consequences.
Haha. Good story bro. A decorated career CVN captain is a dumb shit but you love a lying cheating molesting shell of a human. The only silver lining here is that you left the service.
I agree with MericanPatriot. I’m currently overseas at a NAVSTA, and most everyone on base would agree that the less Matrix types around in the service, the better.
While we’re all second-guessing, I’d like to call out the dumb shits that gave the nod to allowing the Theodore Roosevelt and escorts to anchor in Danang, Vietnam for five days liberty, starting March 3rd, the 43rd day of the WHO’s daily situation report. It already had China with 80,304 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with 2,946 deaths, both probably under-reported by a factor of 40 or so.
However, having taken that incredibly risky, (in retrospect), course of action, I’m certain everyone thought through and planned thoroughly for the downside risk of runaway Covid-19 infection in the task force by ordering PPE gear, tests for the crews, etc., etc., and I’m certain I can find letters to every rank above him by Captain Crozier protesting such a risky plan’s potential impact on his crew. If not, F**k him.
Don’t forget: These chuckleheads are in charge of a massive nuclear arsenal.
liberty in SEA typically comes with limited exposure, just to what’s circulating in the bars and brothels.
Don’t be too hard on Modly, he was probably just the stooge following orders and trying to channel the personality of the clown who gave him those orders ;>) Now he’s going to find out what can happen to a hit-man who does what he’s told to do but ends up causing trouble for the one ordering the hit because of the “sloppy” way he carried it out.
This site needs a “dislike comment” button. If you can “like” you should be able to “dislike”.
As of this moment, I feel that Crozier broke a big rule by going public and not following the chain of command. What we don’t know is what assistance did he or did not attempt to obtain thru proper channels before going public. Was he stymied?? I don’t know but I would like to know the full sequence of events.
The fact that our adversaries would know the limited capabilities of our ship’s fighting capabilities would amount to a serious breech of conduct. On the other hand, the ship’s fighting capabilities would be null & void if all of the sailors are in sick-bay.
Wall Street Journal had editorial by retired Navy man. Comments are pretty good.
Apologies will happen when congresspeople start asking for your resignation: https://www.defensenews.com/2020/04/07/modly-apologies-for-remarks-as-key-lawmakers-call-for-his-resignation/
What happens when a clown runs a circus?
You now know.
We knew that WEEKS ago- The Big Tent is about to collapse, there is almost no audience, and they can only fill 2 of the 3 rings – One with a clown who can’t remember why he is there, and the other with another clown who want’s to give the years’ receipts to the audience and tear down the admission gate. Fun to read about, misery to be there.
When a Secretary of the Navy uses “shit” and “fucking” over the intercom whilst lecturing the crew, he deserves to be fired.