Commanding Officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt relieved of command for failure to understand the basic concept of chain of command

Captain Brett Crozier was relieved of command of the USS Theodore Roosevelt after sending emails over non-secure networks to numerous parties, one of whom leaked it to the press.

Captain Crozier will not be punished, either administratively or judicially, but this removal effectively ends his career and he will likely retire very shortly.

The removal was done by the Acting Secretary of the Navy Modly.

I agree with this removal. Captain Crozier should have sent his concerns via a secure network to his immediate superior in the chain of command. Blathering out such information in a non secure manner violates both good security protocol and the chain of command.

Hopefully other ship commanders will learn from his example and keep their pie holes shut, other than to their immediate superior.

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When the story broke it said he had contacted the Pentagon directly. I said to my wife “why didn’t complain to his fleet Admiral”? I was not in the military, but it seems to me that violating the chain of command is a no-brainer.

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Not to mention discussing operational readiness of that in the open.

It’s not ok to buddy up with the media, they are not your friends.

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Entirely appropriate.

Intially it looked like he “did the right thing” but the more comes out on this the more he needs to be stood up for Courts Martial.

He did not have the authority to stand down his ship or unload the crew without orders and he absolutely had no justification at all for leaking his letter to the press.

He panicked and surrendered to an enemy that wasn’t even shooting, he has no business even serving as a Mess Steward.

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He exposed more than his crew, to a potential disaster far exceeding the danger of the virus…and didn’t understand that? He should not be in charge.

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If he was an army officer he’d probably be on his way to prison.

Being it’s the Navy, most likely he’ll get promoted and retired.

I will never understand why the Navy covers up for it’s cowards and incompetents in such a way. I guess it’s a leftover from the British tradition.

Ala, Kerry.

:rofl:

I’m sorry navy people but this is funny.

I ask this as not a navy or military man. Is this viral thing accurate, and is this normal for a captain:

Probably.

No.

Want to elaborate? I ask because I don’t know if when a carrier captain leave’s there’s a normal chanting thing like that. I don’t know. It’s going to hit all the news sites. I just want to understand it better.

I think he well understands the concept and used his circumvention of it for his goal, which it seems he achieved.

It may end his military career but it should jump start his political career in the Democrat Party. :roll_eyes:

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No, there’s not.

His goal was to be relieved? That makes it worse.

His goal was to separate and quarantine his sailors. Career hari-kari was the tool he chose to accomplish that.

Right or wrong, it got the result he wanted. Modly acknowledged as much.

Trump was asked if he should be have been relieved and said “no, i dont agree with that at all”. But it’s unclear whether he meant the going around the chain of command of relieving the captain.

Bennett asked, “The Navy is set the fire the captain of the USS Teddy Roosevelt after he raised red flags about the COVID outbreak on his ship. It appears he’s being punished for trying to save the lives of the sailors in his command. What’s your assessment?”

Trump answered, “No, I don’t agree with that at all. We’re going to wait for a little while because I understand there’s a news conference by the Secretary of Defense about that, but I don’t agree with that at all.

https://twitter.com/PoliticusSarah/status/1245852670767902720

Yeah, I don’t see how he could have expected a different outcome. Mission accomplished I guess.

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I sorta feel like this all worked out. I get why he was relieved, I get why he did what he did. Everyone gets what was needed in the end it seems so far.

The problem with his actions come down to the old proverb “loose lips sink ships.”

Now while that is not LITERALLY the situation, figuratively it is true. The Chinese have been made aware of the full extent of the situation about the USS Theodore Roosevelt and are aware that for the time being, the USS Theodore Roosevelt is no threat to them.

The ONLY saving grace in this situation is that China is still 3 to 5 years from having a sufficient amphibious ability to launch an invasion of Taiwan.

Free intelligence, like Captain Crozier just provided, could have prompted President Xi to launch his invasion, if he had full amphibious capability. And even though he can’t take that step at this time, this knowledge allows him to take a more aggressive naval posture for the time being.

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You’re not wrong, but wouldn’t a few satellite flybys while parked in guam have told them same story?

But like you said, they don’t have the capability now.

The whole thing is not good. The idea that a captain felt so unheard he felt he had to go this route is not-good. The spreading the of the memo around chain of command was not-good.

The whole situation seems to be resolving now with the best of the not-good outcomes. The sailors are taken care of, the ship is being maintained, China can’t do ■■■■ , the captain is relieved.

Of all the ways to explain to your CoC that the readiness of the carrier you command is effectively non-existent…this was the dumbest.

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