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Another deployed Navy warship, the USS Kidd, copes with a coronavirus outbreak Pentagon, under scrutiny about aircraft carrier captain, defers decision on his future
(about 4 hours later)
The Navy is coping with a new coronavirus outbreak on a warship at sea, with at least 18 cases emerging on the destroyer USS Kidd, defense officials said Friday. The Pentagon has deferred a decision about the future of an aircraft carrier captain who was relieved of command after he raised concerns about the Navy’s handling of a sprawling coronavirus outbreak on his ship, defense officials said Friday.
The outbreak became evident after a sailor aboard the vessel developed symptoms associated with the virus, and the Navy flew the individual to San Antonio for testing. After the sailor tested positive, the Navy dispatched a medical team to the Kidd to conduct more testing and other cases emerged, said chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman. The delay comes after the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, Jonathan Rath Hoffman, told reporters earlier in the day that senior Navy officials would brief Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper about an inquiry into what happened with the USS Theodore Roosevelt and its former commander, Navy Capt. Brett Crozier.
“They are preparing to return to port, where they will undertake efforts to clean the ship,” Hoffman told reporters on Friday. “They will remove a portion of the crew from the ship and work to get everybody back to health and get the ship back to sea.” Hoffman and several other defense officials said they expected a conclusion to be announced afterward. But as the afternoon wound down, the Navy acknowledged that no decision was forthcoming. Two people familiar with the issue, including one senior defense official, said administration officials wanted more time to review their options.
Hoffman said in a statement that Esper had received a “verbal update” from senior Navy officials about the inquiry into the Theodore Roosevelt outbreak.
“After the Secretary receives a written copy of the completed inquiry, he intends to thoroughly review the report and will meet again with Navy leadership to discuss next steps,” Hoffman said. “He remains focused on and committed to restoring the full health of the crew and getting the ship at sea again soon.”
Post Reports: A coronavirus crisis in the NavyPost Reports: A coronavirus crisis in the Navy
The destroyer, which typically deploys with a crew and aviation detachment of more than 160 people, had been deployed this month in the Pacific Ocean as part of a military task force that carries out drug interdiction, according to the ship’s Facebook page. Its home port is in Everett, Wash. The delay comes after days of speculation that the Navy could reinstate Crozier, who was removed from his job after sending a memo to senior Navy officials that raised alarm about how quickly the service was moving to test and quarantine sailors aboard his ship.
“Testing continues, and we expect additional cases,” the Navy said in a statement. “All measures are being taken to evaluate the extent of the COVID-19 transmission on the ship.”
The disclosure came as the Navy prepares to announce the findings of an investigation into a much larger outbreak in the Pacific aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier that has been crippled in Guam for weeks as testing and quarantining occurs.
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Hoffman said he expects the chief of naval operations, Adm. Michael Gilday, to brief Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper on Friday about the Navy’s findings. The ship has been under a microscope for weeks, after hundreds of cases emerged and the ship’s commanding officer, Navy Capt. Brett Crozier, sent a memo to three Navy admirals raising an alarm about the pace of the service’s response. Adm. Michael Gilday, the chief of naval operations, has said he was open to Crozier’s reinstatement and recommended it Friday, a person familiar with the discussions said Friday. The New York Times first reported the recommendation.
That memo leaked in the media late last month, prompting acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly to remove Crozier from command. Gilday is expected to decide whether Crozier gets his old job back, is assigned to another role that allows him to continue his career, or is effectively forced to retire. The Navy said in a statement that no final decisions have been made.
Crozier, as captain of the Theodore Roosevelt, was on a fast track to becoming an admiral as commanding officer of one of the Navy’s most powerful strategic weapons when he sent an email with the memo attached. “Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday has presented recommendations to the Acting Secretary of the Navy James McPherson. Secretary McPherson is continuing discussions with Secretary of Defense Mark Esper,” it said.
“I fully realize that I bear responsibility for not demanding more decisive action the moment we pulled in, but at this point my only priority is the continued well-being of the crew and embarked staff,” Crozier wrote in the email, later obtained by The Washington Post. “I believe if there is ever a time to ask for help it is now regardless of the impact on my career.” President Trump expressed an interest this month in reviewing Crozier’s case after videos of sailors chanting their captain’s name as he left the ship went viral.
The memo was first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. It detailed concerns that stopping the spread of the virus on the ship would be tough to do without evacuating all but a few hundred of the Theodore Roosevelt’s 4,800 sailors, with others coming to shore for testing and quarantining. Though Trump initially lambasted Crozier for writing the memo, he later softened his tone, saying he was impressed with the officer’s overall record and didn't “want to destroy” Crozier over “a bad day.”
“We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die,” the captain wrote in the March 30 memo. “If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our Sailors.” The Navy said Friday it had just completed testing the crew for the coronavirus. The service reported 856 positive cases among 4,954 tests, about 17 percent. One Theodore Roosevelt sailor, Chief Petty Officer Charles Robert Thacker Jr., 41, died on April 13 after testing positive for the coronavirus on March 30.
Crozier, as captain of one of the Navy’s most powerful strategic weapons, was on a fast track to becoming an admiral when he sent an email and memo on March 30 that pleaded for more help in evacuating, testing and quarantining sailors from his crew in Guam after the outbreak.
The publication of the memo in the San Francisco Chronicle on March 31 prompted acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly to remove Crozier from command, citing bad judgment.
“I fully realize that I bear responsibility for not demanding more decisive action the moment we pulled in, but at this point my only priority is the continued well-being of the crew and embarked staff,” Crozier wrote in the email obtained by The Post. “. . . I believe if there is ever a time to ask for help it is now regardless of the impact on my career.”
How an outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt became a defining moment for the U.S. militaryHow an outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt became a defining moment for the U.S. military
Modly resigned on April 7, one day after flying from Washington to Guam to visit the crew and delivering a speech in which he insulted Crozier and lectured sailors for supporting him. Crozier, Modly said, had either written the memo to be leaked to the media, or was “too naive or too stupid” to be commanding officer of the ship. Modly resigned on April 7, one day after flying from Washington to Guam to visit the crew and delivering a speech in which he insulted Crozier and lectured sailors for supporting him. Crozier, Modly said, had either written the memo to be leaked to the media or was “too naive or too stupid” to be commanding officer of the ship.
Modly apologized. Modly later apologized.
As of Thursday, 850 of 4,938 sailors from the Theodore Roosevelt — about 17 percent — had tested positive for the virus, the Navy said. Four sailors were still hospitalized at Naval Base Guam. Trump, as commander in chief, has the authority to intervene in Crozier’s case. But it would be highly uncommon for a president to sway an administrative decision in the military.
One Theodore Roosevelt sailor, Chief Petty Officer Charles Robert Thacker Jr., 41, died on April 13 after testing positive for the coronavirus on March 30. The sensitivity comes after Trump created turmoil in the service last year by repeatedly weighing in on the case of Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL who was acquitted of murder but convicted of posing with a corpse in Iraq. Esper fired former Navy secretary Richard V. Spencer in November after the senior Navy official went directly to the White House and sought to keep Trump from getting involved in administrative discipline for Gallagher.
On Friday, the Pentagon also disclosed that the Navy is coping with a new coronavirus outbreak on a warship at sea, with at least 18 cases emerging on the destroyer USS Kidd.
The outbreak became evident after a sailor aboard the vessel developed symptoms associated with the virus, and the Navy flew the individual to San Antonio for testing.
“They are preparing to return to port, where they will undertake efforts to clean the ship,” Hoffman told reporters Friday. “They will remove a portion of the crew from the ship and work to get everybody back to health and get the ship back to sea.”
The destroyer, which typically deploys with a crew and aviation detachment of more than 160 people, had been deployed this month in the Pacific Ocean as part of a military task force that carries out drug interdiction, according to the ship’s Facebook page. Its home port is in Everett, Wash.
“Testing continues, and we expect additional cases,” the Navy said in a statement. “All measures are being taken to evaluate the extent of the COVID-19 transmission on the ship.”