One of the major topics that has been coming up over the last couple weeks is the covid-19 pandemic and the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The covid-19 pandemic has caused a lot of mixed emotions in a lot of arenas including what it is to be a good leader. The ship’s Captain, Brett Crozier, was relieved of command for doing what he thought was right. The Captain pleaded for help outside his chain of command after being denied the ability to protect his troops from the covid-19 pandemic running ramped on his ship. It appears that the consensus among the veterans.
I know is the Captian did the right thing by trying to take care of his crew. A move that many veterans feel should not have cost him his career.
So many people struggle making sound decisions as leaders, in my opinion too many leaders choose their careers over what is best for their troops. According to the New York Times on February 26, 2020 defense secretary Mark Esper ordered combatant commanders to tell him before they took any action to protect their troops concerning the covid-19 virus. It was reported the directive by secretary Esper was given to commanders to prevent their decision from contradict the President.
According to reports from the Washington Post on March 29, 2020 Capt. Crozier and his superior officers were “struggling” to reach a consensus on a plan of action as his crew continued to suffer. Both Admirals in the conversation voiced their concern about removing the ship from its mission and no directive was given. After failing to get permission to help his sailors Capt. Crozier wrote an unclassified 4-page e-mail to 20-30 Naval officials the next day. The e-mail was directed to Naval officials both in and out of his command. The e-mail stated the disease is ongoing and accelerating, he needed approval and help executing his proposal to remove all non-essential crew from the ship, stating sailors did not need to die unnecessarily. As we know the letter was leaked to the news media by someone in the Navy, causing the incident to go public.
The problem is Capt. Crozier should have never been put in this position to begin with. He followed protocol by running the crisis up the “flagpole” and it was met with ambivalence by his commanders. It was evident that the captain did not feel that he had the time the Navy was seeking to help his crew. Capt. Crozier stated in his e-mail that we were not at war and it was unnecessary for his crew to suffer. The Capt. was relieved of command and later found out he too had been stricken with the virus.
Even with the captain's best efforts of those tested, 585 sailors from the Roosevelt tested positive for the covid -19 virus with one death. People are asking if the captain was relieved of command for political purposes. We appear to be in a political climate where people, in both parties, are not willing to stand up for what is right. It appears that everyone in power is trying to maintain or gain control whether that is right or wrong for the country. It appears that the Navy was trying to hide the covid-19 pandemic on Theodore Roosevelt for political purposes. I understand is not good to let your enemy, China, Russia etc. know that a major part of your war machine is out of the fight. It is still not right for the stricken ship to stay out to sea with the pandemic in full force when we are not in a full-blown war.
At the end of the day this always goes back to what is the right thing to do in a tough situation. All of us have been struggling with the coved 19 pandemic and the self-isolation. Fortunately, we are not stuck on a ship with the virus running rampant. At the end of the day we will have no say with what happens to the captain of the Roosevelt. The Navy is trying to decide whether to take further action on the captain, leave things as they stand, or place him back in command. I do know one thing, if the captain's placed back in command of the Theodore Roosevelt he will have the most loyal crew of any ship in the Navy, all because he put the health and welfare of his troops over his own career. This is something that is rare today. To me Capt. Crozier is a hero of this pandemic just like the first responders, medical staff, and doctors were battling it in the hospitals.