Navy captain seeks crew isolation as virus spreads

WASHINGTON — The captain of a U.S. aircraft carrier deployed to the Pacific Ocean has pleaded with the Pentagon for more help as a coronavirus outbreak aboard his ship continues to spread, officials said Tuesday. Military officials said dozens of sailors have been infected.

In a four-page letter dated Monday, first reported by The San Francisco Chronicle on Tuesday, Capt. Brett Crozier of the USS Theodore Roosevelt laid out the dire situation aboard the warship, with more than 4,000 crew members, and what he said were the Navy’s failures to provide him with the proper resources to combat the virus by moving sailors off the vessel.

“We are not at war,” Crozier wrote.

“Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our sailors.”

The carrier is docked in Guam.

The plea highlights a central dilemma facing the military: Top officials, who have spent years placing readiness to fight the next war as a top priority, are now finding that maintaining that readiness during a pandemic can endanger the health, and even the lives, of service members. At the same time that Americans are being told to stay at home and practice “social distancing” in public, many service members are instead being told to continue doing their jobs.

The mixed messages have emerged across the armed services. Last week, the Army ordered a halt to most training, exercises and nonessential activities that require troops to be in close contact, but abruptly reversed itself days later, even as the infection rate within the U.S. military rose.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper has insisted that the armed forces find a way to both protect troops from the rampaging virus while performing the military’s essential operations.

Crozier recommended offloading his crew, and then quarantining and testing them while the ship was professionally cleaned. But that proposal raised a series of issues, especially as housing more than 4,000 people while also isolating them would be difficult on the island.

The crisis aboard the Roosevelt played out like a slow-moving disaster and highlights the dangers to the Pentagon if the coronavirus manages to infiltrate some of its most important assets, such as bomber fleets, elite Special Operations units and the talisman of U.S. military power, aircraft carriers.

In a statement, a Navy official said that the commanding officer of the Roosevelt “alerted leadership in the Pacific Fleet on Sunday evening of continuing challenges in isolating the virus.”

“The ship’s commanding officer advocated for housing more members of the crew in facilities that allow for better isolation,” the statement said. “Navy leadership is moving quickly to take all necessary measures to ensure the health and safety of the crew of USS Theodore Roosevelt, and is pursuing options to address the concerns raised by the commanding officer.”

In his letter, Crozier outlined the challenge.

“None of the berthing aboard a warship is appropriate for quarantine or isolation,” he wrote.