{"id":48679,"date":"2020-04-04T14:19:28","date_gmt":"2020-04-04T14:19:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/04\/04\/dispatch-from-rome-former-theodore-roosevelt-skipper-should-be-praised-not-pilloried\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:57:10","slug":"dispatch-from-rome-former-theodore-roosevelt-skipper-should-be-praised-not-pilloried","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2020\/04\/04\/dispatch-from-rome-former-theodore-roosevelt-skipper-should-be-praised-not-pilloried\/","title":{"rendered":"Dispatch from Rome: Former Theodore Roosevelt skipper should be praised, not pilloried"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I can\u2019t help the feeling that I have some skin-in-the-game. The firing of Captain Brett Crozier<\/a>, the commanding officer aboard the COVID-19 afflicted aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt<\/a>, hit me hard. Unlike roughly 98 percent of the officer corps of the US Armed Forces, I know exactly how he feels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was twice fired by the United Nations from senior supervisory positions: Both times for insisting that there are occasions when my first loyalty is to staff and mission ahead of allegiance to superiors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The effect of these UN firings on me personally and professionally was shattering, as is no doubt true for Crozier. My sympathy and understanding goes out to both him and his family and this most difficult time. But just what did he do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The skipper of the Roosevelt<\/a> wrote an email. Per Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly, the justification for the firing was that Crozier exercised poor judgment in the way he \u201cbroadly\u201d distributed that email. Also, \u201c\u2026he did not take care to ensure that it (the offending letter) could not be leaked, and that is part of his responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One wonders what this email might have conveyed that was so egregious that it warranted a firing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crozier\u2019s email is quoted as follows, \u201cThis will require a political solution but it is the right thing to do. \u201c\u2026We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset \u2013 our sailors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bit more follows from the Acting Secretary of the Navy: It appears that when the letter was leaked it, \u201c\u2026 raised alarm bells unnecessarily.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crozier did not run his ship aground. He did not have sexual relations with a subordinate. He did not make a crucial error in seamanship. He did not share classified information with the enemy. He did not run his ship into another vessel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, he placed his loyalty to his crew<\/a> and their lives ahead of allegiance to his superiors within the Pentagon. I cannot imagine a firing having a more chilling effect on commanders in all our military services. The crew of the Roosevelt is quite right to be enraged: As am I. It is the wrong message to send to our sailors, soldiers, airmen, and marines around the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\t