Patterico's Pontifications

6/19/2020

Update: Navy Upholds Firing of Captain Brett Crozier

Filed under: General — Dana @ 2:08 pm

[guest post by Dana]

In a stunning reversal, the Navy has upheld the firing of the aircraft carrier captain who urged faster action to protect his crew from a coronavirus outbreak, the Navy’s top officer said Friday.

Adm. Mike Gilday, the chief of naval operations, also extended the blame for the ship’s pandemic crisis, delaying the promotion of the one-star admiral who was also onboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt — concluding that both men made serious errors in judgment.

…

The ship’s two top officers, said Gilday “failed to tackle the problem head on and take charge,” as the virus spread throughout the ship, and their actions “fell well short of what we expect” of those in command.

Gilday’s decision to hold both Capt. Brett Crozier and his boss, Rear Adm. Stuart Baker, accountable is a confirmation of concerns expressed by top Pentagon officials who demanded a deeper investigation last month when the initial probe recommended Crozier’s reinstatement as the ship’s captain.

The investigation, done by Adm. Robert Burke and endorsed Friday by Gilday, defends the abrupt turnaround on Crozier saying that the more detailed probe uncovered poor decisions he made that failed to stem the outbreak or properly communicate the escalating crisis to senior commanders. It also concludes that the ship’s slow response to the virus was not just his fault, and that Baker also failed to take decisive actions to address the problem.

Gilday told Pentagon reporters Friday that if he’d had all the details earlier when he made the initial decision to reinstate Crozier, he would have relieved him off command and pulled him from the ship.

–Dana

Comments (27)

27 Responses to “Update: Navy Upholds Firing of Captain Brett Crozier”

Hello.
Dana (25e0dc) — 6/19/2020 @ 2:08 pm
Gilday keeps his job.
Rip Murdock (212cb2) — 6/19/2020 @ 2:34 pm
Don’t be surprised; that’s the Navy way. The captain can be asleep during normal sleeping hours, and a lieutenant junior grade can run the ship aground during a midwatch, and the captain still gets canned.
The Dana in Kentucky (83b53f) — 6/19/2020 @ 2:40 pm
3. A large part of the reason for that possibility is that officers aren’t being appropriately trained to maintain watch. That blame doesn’t lie with any individual captain but is rather systemic and is something the Navy has been dealing with for a long time.
Gryph (08c844) — 6/19/2020 @ 2:58 pm
True, but everything (including the military) has become highly politicized you have to wonder. And obviously Trump has no qualms about interfering in the chain of command. Apparently the WH may be holding up the routine promotion of one Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman.
Rip Murdock (212cb2) — 6/19/2020 @ 3:01 pm
This is not a surprise. His decision was a career killer no matter how right it was and if his whole crew had come down with covid and a bunch had died that also would have been his fault. It was a no win without a miracle, except this way he probably saved lives.
Nic (896fdf) — 6/19/2020 @ 3:21 pm
Crozier was railroaded.

At its core, the Pentagon’s understanding of what happened on the Roosevelt and the reach of the infection parallels the world’s growing understanding of the illness, rendering the investigation’s results with a sense of 20-20 hindsight given the lack of knowledge at the beginning of the crisis when crew members first tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
[…]
Admiral Gilday said the second inquiry focused on a series of decisions by Captain Crozier and Admiral Baker as the Roosevelt pulled into Guam, namely that they failed to enforce social distancing in the tight quarters aboard ship, and waited for hotel rooms on Guam to open up instead of rushing the crew to cramped housing on base. Yet, that could have led to more infections.
“They placed crew comfort ahead of crew safety,” Admiral Gilday said. He added that the ship’s air wing commander and chief medical officer would also face administrative punishment.
Absent from the investigation’s finding was the lack of fault for senior Navy leaders who approved the Roosevelt’s four-day port call in early March to Da Nang, Vietnam, where Admiral Gilday said the virus most likely came aboard.
The top United States military officer in the Pacific, Adm. Philip S. Davidson, ordered the visit to proceed as a show of military might in a region increasingly worried about China’s growing territorial claims in the South China Sea. It was also only the second time a U.S. aircraft carrier had visited the country since the end of the Vietnam War.
Paul Montagu (d27749) — 6/19/2020 @ 3:40 pm
It’s interesting that they faulted him for not doing more, and not sharing his concerns with more people.
Time123 (cd2ff4) — 6/19/2020 @ 4:28 pm
The bit about him releasing sailors from quarantine against medical advice might have been decisive. It may well have led to increased transmission and a loss of war-fighting ability. Had his email not been leaked, he might not have popped up on the radar and kept his job, but once his (and his boss’s) handling of the Covid situation got the white-glove inspection his goose was cooked.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 6/19/2020 @ 4:36 pm
The ship’s two top officers, said Gilday “failed to tackle the problem head on and take charge,” as the virus spread throughout the ship, and their actions “fell well short of what we expect” of those in command.

I said it first.

“They placed crew comfort ahead of crew safety,” Admiral Gilday said.

I said that, too. Crozier spoiled his crew and they loved him for it, and the ship suffered.
nk (1d9030) — 6/19/2020 @ 5:24 pm
In a stunning reversal, the Navy has

Who was stunned and how? Taser or blackjack?

That, comrades, is an example of micro-#FakeNews, and the entertainment industry masquerading as news gatherers does it all the time.
nk (1d9030) — 6/19/2020 @ 5:33 pm
Had his email not been leaked, he might not have popped up on the radar and kept his job…

That’s really what this was about, the email, and that’s really why he lost his job. The senior command were just looking around for some other excuse to take him down. We know this because the chain of command paid no real price, but for Crozier, despite their role.
Paul Montagu (d27749) — 6/19/2020 @ 6:02 pm
Hard to be sure without reading the report, but stringing the guy up because he failed to act as perfect hindsight would have dictated smells really suspicious.

If he failed to follow orders or medical guidance that’s a different story.
Dave (1bb933) — 6/19/2020 @ 6:06 pm
Nobody’s stringing nobody up. Crozier is just not getting back command of a ship he ran aground. And, for the time being, his admiral is not getting more ships and captains that he cannot adequately supervise than he already has.
nk (1d9030) — 6/19/2020 @ 6:23 pm
When you’re on the front line, supposed to be protecting America from its enemies, one thing you don’t do is tell the world we’re all sick and defenseless. This is elementary. In better days, plague infested forts would set up painted logs as cannons and straw men as defenders to make the enemy believe you’re combat ready.
Gary Hoffman (2a3a16) — 6/19/2020 @ 6:38 pm
“When you’re on the front line, supposed to be protecting America from its enemies, one thing you don’t do is tell the world we’re all sick and defenseless. ”

Turns out that (former) navy secretary Modly like about how distributed the email was.
Davethulhu (9921df) — 6/19/2020 @ 6:53 pm
I’m sure the brass knew that when they reached this decision, Davethulhu.
nk (1d9030) — 6/19/2020 @ 7:01 pm
“I’m sure the brass knew that when they reached this decision, Davethulhu.”

Yeah, just pointing out that Gary’s talking point is out of date.
Davethulhu (9921df) — 6/19/2020 @ 7:23 pm
“The ship’s two top officers, said Gilday “failed to tackle the problem head on and take charge,” as the virus spread throughout the ship and their actions “fell well short of what we expect” of those in command.”

As opposed to the CIC of the Ship of State.

Military Intelligence…

“Never mind what I told you. I’m telling you!” – The Captain [James Cagney] ‘Mister Roberts’ 1955
DCSCA (797bc0) — 6/19/2020 @ 7:33 pm
Nothing I’ve read about Croizer during this incident inspires my confidence, and I’m not surprised that he was relieved. The Navy – quite rightly – expects a lot from a Ship’s Captain and even more from the Captain of an Aircraft Carrier. When things go wrong, The Captain is held responsible ,and he’d better have some damn good reasons why he shouldn’t be blamed.

I’ve not read the report, but will be interested in doing so.
rcocean (fcc23e) — 6/20/2020 @ 11:57 am
It should be noted that despite the CV-19 “Running wild” on an Aircraft carrier packed with Sailors (4,000- 5,000) most sailor did NOT get CV-19, and only a few were hospitalized. Did anyone die? This is line with current statistics which show for healthy people under 50, CV-19 is no worse than the flu.
rcocean (fcc23e) — 6/20/2020 @ 12:00 pm
@20. See #19. Your post torpedoes Trump, Captain of the Ship of State.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 6/20/2020 @ 12:04 pm
He is resigning. No, I am not. The President fired you. No I didn’t.

The clown show. Episode 1247.
noel (4d3313) — 6/20/2020 @ 3:22 pm
A month ago, I wrote this on a military discussion site:

Captain Crozier willingly sacrificed his career after realizing his superiors (especially Acting Secretary of the Navy Modly) were so timid and afraid that they’d rather sacrifice sailors, than chance upsetting Trump.

It’s likely that the Captain’s action was the only thing that forced the Navy to do the right thing. Thing is, depending on validated facts, I might agree with his removal—but only by his Navy superiors, and only after the Navy’s investigation confirmed relevant facts (not just assertions). Rationale for removal would be the wrong but right decision to immediately force the process of getting his crew off the ship and into CDC-compliant isolation and quarantine, which meant into individual rooms ashore. (That happened only after the letter was published—approval before that was only to put sailors on cots in gyms and hangers).

Right, because he’d recently learned how the exponential spread of the coronavirus works in a community of forced closeness, and realized how a delay of even one day early in the cycle, makes a tremendous difference in the end infection and case-fatality rates. Without the action he forced, estimates he received were that around 50 sailors could die.

Wrong, in that a purposeful decision to take an action with the intended end-result of publicly releasing information held in trust—even if its purpose is to force correct action—cannot go unaddressed. But, if an objective investigation determines that’s what happened, it might be deemed justified, and forgiven (which, essentially, is what Adm Gilday seems to be recommending).

So, reasons cited by the Navy seem to be pretext. The four-day delay in starting to get sailors off the ship into CDC-compliant isolation and quarantine, which meant into individual rooms ashore, were despite Captain Crozier’s best efforts, and because of RADM Baker’s (and others higher in the chain I presume) bad judgement to take only half efforts (put sailors on cots in gyms and hangers with shared sanitation/meal facilities).

I’m disappointed but, right or wrong and knowing the consequences, that’s the decision Captain Crozier made. I doubt he regrets it.
Purple Martin (34703c) — 6/20/2020 @ 6:12 pm
@21. …most sailor did NOT get CV-19, and only a few were hospitalized. Did anyone die? This is line with current statistics which show for healthy people under 50, CV-19 is no worse than the flu.

The first sailor in the US Navy, and the first active-duty member of the Armed Forces to die of COVID-19 was Aviation Ordnanceman Chief Petty Officer Charles Robert Thacker Jr., 41. After 94% of personnel were tested, 655 Theodore Roosevelt crewmembers tested positive for COVID-19, and 3,919 negative. Eleven sailors were hospitalized at U.S. Naval Hospital Guam. Four, including CPO Thacker, Jr., were treated in the intensive care unit.

I’m SMSgt (Ret) USAF. My youngest son is active-duty Navy with recent sea duty on a carrier in the Pacific. You demonstrate you have no idea of what actually happened. Go peddle your ignorance somewhere else.
Purple Martin (34703c) — 6/20/2020 @ 6:33 pm
Peter Rosenzweig writing at The Atlantic agrees with you that this is about protecting Trump, et al, from corruption investigations in NY.
DRJ (aede82) — 6/21/2020 @ 4:25 pm
Wrong thread. Sorry!
DRJ (aede82) — 6/21/2020 @ 4:33 pm

6/19/2020

Update: Navy Upholds Firing of Captain Brett Crozier

27 Responses to “Update: Navy Upholds Firing of Captain Brett Crozier”

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