The Navy captain fired for sounding coronavirus alarms broke no law--just protocol

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

In a world that seems to have gone to hell in a handbasket very rapidly, with the regular rules of society quickly jettisoned due to the coronavirus crisis, some authorities are responding to pandemic management critiques by firing subordinates who sound alarm bells.

Most recently, acting secretary of the US Navy, Thomas Modly, announced that captain Brett Crozier was relieved of his command of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, stationed in the Pacific, for showing “extremely poor judgment” by widely disseminating a memo about the coronavirus infection spreading quickly on the vessel with 4,800 crew members. Modly accused Crozier of “misrepresenting the facts” and took him to task for disobeying the chain of command.

The acting Navy secretary told reporters, “While I do take issue with the validity of some of the points in captain Crozier’s letter, he was absolutely correct in raising them. It was the way in which he did it…that was unacceptable to me.”

This response doesn’t sit well with civilians. After all, extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, and the vessel was essentially a petri dish of disease, with 100 crew members testing positive for Covid-19 already. At the Washington Post, columnist Max Boot wrote a piece entitled, “The only official fired over the virus? A captain who tried to protect his crew.”

https://qz.com/1831969/coronavirus-fired-navy-captain-brett-crozier-broke-no-laws-just-protocol/?utm_source=YPL&yptr=yahoo

[lpbk2713]

1. The Navy SEAL who murdered civilians got a presidential pardon.

Trump thinks he's a good ole boy. But no one in the Navy wants anything to do with this criminal.

That says a lot about Trump's values.

[Brother Buzz]

2. If I was to hazard a guess...

I would suggest the Secretary of the US Navy, Thomas Modly, had marching orders from the piece of shit CIC.

[old guy]

3. The key here is "acting secretary".

A tRump sycophant.

[uponit7771]

4. It was reported the other day on MSNBC that he went up CoC but didn't get a fast enough response.

[DeminPennswoods]

5. Going outside the chain-of-command is major NO-NO

That applies to all members of the military as well as to civilian employees who work for DoD agencies or the services.

The military simply cannot have officers or individual soldiers/sailors/marines/airmen deciding what is best. You argue your case through the c of c and whatever decision is ultimately reached, that's how it is period.

Crozier was an O-6, he knew this. He knew that his letter getting into the media was the end of his career. He did the right thing, but he knew the consequences to himself.

[XRubicon]

6. If the captain actually leaked his note to pentagon he must have had a good reason

To become the captain of an aircraft carrier he was thoroughly vetted for judgement.

In my opinion something else is going on here.

[soryang]

7. Somebody's judgement was defective

They should never have pulled into Danang. South East Asian ports were already closed to cruise ships and the fiasco on the Diamond Princess was well underway.

I'm sure Pompeo, Stilwell, Esper, and O'Brian all thought it was a great idea to make a port call on the South China Sea while an epidemic was raging in the area. The order went down, no one talked anyone out of it. One of the military commanders in the chain would have had to have been fired, and as the junior official responsible, the O-6. would have gotten the axe anyway or higher heads would have to roll.

This story here is an excellent distraction from the real issue.