"Captain Crozier!"— CNN (@CNN) April 3, 2020
Sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier cheer for Capt. Brett Crozier as he disembarks the ship for the final time.
Crozer was relieved of his command after issuing a warning about a coronavirus outbreak onboard. https://t.co/GSKBvkFuvk pic.twitter.com/SBeuWZQ5mh
Imagine if, upon seeing an officer relieved of his command given this kind of farewell, and knowing he was relieved because he thought he was acting on behalf of the physical welfare and morale of his crew (because one did the relieving), an Acting Secretary of the Navy actually fixed his mouth to tell those sailors that this officer acted in a manner that was naïve, stupid, or had an agenda contrary to the considerations of his command. That he said that, after admitting that he relieved said officer because it was better to do that than be pressured by the Commander in Chief to act. That he only was Acting Secretary of the Navy because the former office-holder resigned because he disagreed with the President's treatment with respects to a war criminal. (Implying he wasn't the kind of guy to take that kind of interference in any kind of way.)
And after realizing that maybe, calling this officer naïve and stupid was wrong, walking it back to the effect of saying, forget the words that came out of my mouth.
Just so, somehow, in the span of a few days, Sec. Modley has managed to mangle every public aspect of this situation.
And yet, there were opinions about how to handle the situation regarding COVID-19-stricken sailors on aircraft carriers that were worse and more intolerable that could have played out if Crozier hadn't been vocal (as in, running the "risk" of letting the public become aware of the potential hazard to our servicemembers, and possibly give leverage to his point of view, which was a reasonable and prescient risk, I think). There is a non-zero chance of even young and healthy people with no underlying health conditions dying from this disease, or suffering long-term heart and/or lung damage. Crozier blew his career-path to prevent that. As far as I'm concerned, he did a hard thing that was right. The people under his command weren't guinea pigs and taking the time to get his crew healthy and ready was better than limping on in the face of maybe needing to be ready.
If there's any questionable leadership here, I tend to look a little further up the chain. This kind of activity centers on what messaging was beneficial to the Administration's downplaying of the virus in general, without respects to the actual needs of the people who serve, which should be a more concerning reality. In other words--what the entire fuck? And why the hell wouldn't we take care of our fucking servicemembers? And how degenerate are conditions when people are expected to get sick to save face? And I am not the mama of all whatever thousand of them, but I expect them to be treated right. Etc.
This kind of PR spinning (and badly at that) is what I would call a case of questionable leadership. And not whatever Captain Crozier tried to do with his letter.
UPDATE: Modly resigns.
5 comments:
Should have thrown the bastard off the fandeck.
I expect our military to contract dramatically over the next few weeks. Sure, that bunch is on Guam, and it's pretty hard to go AWOL off Guam, but it isn't the only port these boats put into.
Hey Vixen, Ten Bears is right.
Anything that gives deleterious information to the enemy is very dangerous. If the enemy thinks that a carrier is below par, has morale problems, is not 4.0, they begin to calculate how to use this to their advantage.
As Ten Bears could tell you, an aircraft carrier travels with a task group of other warships and a submarine.
Alerting the enemy to the idea that a carrier is not completely ready for warfare makes the rest of the group vulnerable. They could decide to attack another member of the task group based on the idea that the carrier's response would be inadequate. Delivering information to people who are against you is court martial material. The captain got off easy. And it is understandable that the crew would demonstrate their appreciation.
Loose lips sink ships.
Sure. Okay. SOMEBODY is going to start shit with a US aircraft carrier or entourage out here in 2020. Draw up a list of possibles. Ad a couple wildcards. Fold the list up. Save it for later. There's a shortage of TP out there. I don't see it happening.
Nice job, fool, turning something I alluded to into something I did not say. Pat yourself on the back. You 'owned' a not-liberal, an anarchist, Antifa. Have a beer. Hell, have two. Enjoy it while you can.
What I expect to see over the next few weeks not just in the navy but across the spectrum kids in the ranks are going to realize they have no future, that what they are doing is not in their best interests and at best go AWOL. Go home.
But again, kudos on your diarrhea of NAZI propaganda.
Hey Vixen and Ten Bears,
I apologize for striking a nerve. I had no idea that my trivial opinion would be so emotionally received.
Look, my thinking about the matter is fairly simple. This navy captain was going to be relieved of his command. I read nothing about reduction of rank or reduction of pay. All this guy has to do is hang around until he gets his 20 years, and he will get his $80,000 to $90,000 a year and possible more. You know, your captains and your colonels all make well over $100,000 a year.
So frankly, speaking as a former enlisted man, the idea of retiring early in life with upwards towards $100,000 a year doesn't seem like a great tragedy to me. He knew what he was doing and decided it was worth it.
I do not have the ear of a politician or a politician's staffer, and therefore my opinion on these matters is simply another peon with an idea. It's not very important, and it travels no further than the Internet.
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