Fired Navy captain’s fate now lies in hands of top admiral
WASHINGTON — The Navy’s top admiral soon will decide the fate of the ship captain who was fired after pleading for commanders to move faster to safeguard his coronavirus-infected crew on the USS Theodore Roosevelt.
In the glare of a public spotlight, Adm. Mike Gilday will decide whether Capt. Brett Crozier stepped out of line when he went around his chain of command and sent an email pushing for action to stem the outbreak. As of Friday, 660 sailors on the aircraft carrier, now docked at Guam, had tested positive for the virus, and seven were hospitalized. One sailor has died, and more than 4,000 of the 5,000 crew members are quarantined on the island.
Gilday has many options as he reviews what was an extraordinarily rapid investigation by Adm. Robert Burke, the vice chief of naval operations. Burke and his staff finished the review in about a week.
The options
Gilday could decide that Crozier acted in the best interests of his crew and was unfairly removed. He could reinstate him as captain of the Roosevelt.
That could generate a lot of support.
In a widely viewed video, Roosevelt crew members applauded and chanted Crozier’s name as he walked off the ship after being fired. When Thomas Modly, the acting Navy secretary who fired Crozier, traveled to the ship and criticized him in a speech to the crew, he came under fire and had to resign.
But reinstating Crozier would put him back on a ship with Rear Adm. Stuart
Baker, commander of the carrier strike group of which the Roosevelt is the lead ship. Officials say they did not have a good relationship and that was among the problems that triggered Crozier’s memo.
Rather than return Crozier to the Roosevelt, Gilday could absolve him of wrongdoing and recommend he move on to another job. Crozier could retain his rank and standing and perhaps command another ship, leaving open the possibility that he could be promoted and continue his Navy career.
Gilday could fault Crozier for doing the right thing the wrong way. He could determine that Crozier was unfairly fired but that he acted rashly and went outside his chain of command and therefore did not exhibit good leadership.
He could put a letter in Crozier’s personnel file, which usually is a careerender. Crozier could stay in the Navy but would probably not be promoted.
Gilday could determine that firing Crozier was appropriate. Unless that’s overturned in an appeal process, that would end Crozier’s Navy career. In most cases, senior officers simply retire after being relieved of command for cause.
But Gilday could also decide that the ship’s problems extended beyond Crozier. He could recommend that Baker be fired or punished for not being receptive to Crozier’s concerns.
Gilday’s review could also dole out criticism for leaders who may have taken too long to recognize the Roosevelt’s outbreak as the deadly problem it became. Those would include the 7th Fleet commander, Vice Adm. William Merz; the Pacific Fleet commander, Adm. John Aquilino, or the most senior admiral in the Pacific, Adm. Phil Davidson, head of Indo-Pacific Command.
The decision
Gilday is expected to make a decision early this week.
He will relay recommendations to acting Navy Secretary James McPherson. They will also go to Defense Secretary Mark Esper. More importantly, the Navy will alert members of Congress and the White House.
Any of those could weigh in on the matter. Or, in President Donald Trump’s case, he could reverse it.