The US aircraft carrier commander, who received a hard hit from the coronavirus pandemic, has been relieved of command on Thursday just a few days after he wrote a memo which asked for immediate decisive action from the Navy leadership to save the lives of the ship's crew.
Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly announced that in his direction, Captain Brett Crozier of USS Theodore Roosevelt has been officially relieved from duty as commander of the ship. He also added that Crozier was removed after he supposedly showed "extremely poor judgement" which created a firestorm through the wide dissemination of the memo which detailed his concerns to at least 20 to 30 people.
Furthermore, he said that Crozier was not removed from the chain of command due to any evidence that suggested he leaked the memo. Instead, he was relieved because he let the complexity of the situation he was facing with COVID-19 cloud his judgment and overwhelm his ability of acting professionally when it was needed the most.
In the memo that Crozier wrote to the Navy's Pacific Fleet this week was asking for help amid the challenge they are facing with COVID-19 on board. He also stated that they are not in the middle of a war, and sailors do not need to die. He also called for immediate action and noted that the sailors are not being properly taken care of at the time of this tragedy.
Modly further added that another reason for Crozier removal from position is that he went outside the chain of command and sen the memo over an unsecure system, which may have caused it to leak.
Democrats slammed Navy's decision
However, not everyone was in favor of the Navy's decision to relieve the commander. Democratic leaders on House Armed Services Committee called out the NAvy and slammed the move.
On a statement released on Thursday, the top democrats acknowledged that the captain indeed went out of the chain of command. However, his dismissal at the moment could be a destabilizing move which may put members to greater risk and jeopardize the readiness of the fleet, especially with the sailors on board still being confronted by the pandemic.
As Crozier left the ship, he was given a loud and warm send of by his former crew.
Sailor quarantined as cases onboard rapidly increase
The news of Crozier's removal from command followed the annoucnement of a US defense official that there are already 114 sailors aboard the aircraft carrier who were infected and tested positive for COVID-19, and cases are still rapidly increasing.
According to previous reports, the sailors aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt will disembark in Guam and will be quarantined in hotel rooms in the country.
Modly said on Wednesday that there were already 1,273 out of the 4,800 crew members of the ship who have been tested for the virus and are still awaiting results. He also said that at least 1,000 of the sailors have already evacuated from the ship and are now being quarantined ashore in Guam where the ship is currently anchored.
