Aircraft carrier Captain Brett Crozier complained about coronavirus policy. The US Navy has confirmed his demotion
- ‘The spread of the disease is ongoing and accelerating,’ Crozier wrote on March 30. ‘We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die.’
- After a two-month investigation, the Navy decided Crozier would not return to the USS Theodore Roosevelt
The US Navy on Friday said it would not reinstate the captain of a coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier, saying he was in part to blame for the severity of the crisis on the warship.
Admiral Michael Gilday, chief of naval operations, said Brett Crozier, who was fired as captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt in April, was guilty of “questionable judgment” in handling an outbreak of Covid-19 aboard the nuclear-powered ship in March.
Gilday likewise faulted Rear Admiral Stuart Baker, Crozier’s direct supervisor as the carrier’s strike group commander, for poor leadership.
“It is my belief that both Admiral Baker and Captain Crozier fell well short of what we expect of those in command,” Gilday said.
“In reviewing both Admiral Baker’s and Captain Crozier’s actions, they did not do enough, soon enough, to fulfil their primary obligation” to keep the ship’s 5,000 crew safe.
After a two-month investigation, the Navy decided that Crozier would not return to the Roosevelt and not be eligible to captain another ship.