A recent New York Times article provides additional details and context about the spread of the coronavirus aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and the firing of its captain after he tried to raise the alarm with his superiors. The piece does a good job of relating this story to how the military has fared under Trump; in the reporters’ words, the tale of the Roosevelt touches on “how the military, the most structured and hierarchical part of the government, has tried to adjust to an erratic president, and how in a hollowed-out leadership, acting secretaries have replaced those confirmed by the Senate.” It also provides a lot of details I hadn’t seen before about the port visit to Vietnam where crew members were infected with the coronavirus and the early steps to stop its spread onboard (one historical footnote picked up by the Times – the Roosevelt’s visit to Da Nang was only the second time a U.S. aircraft carrier had visited Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War). The piece also provides more evidence that acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly’s harsh intervention in the matter – specifically, his decision to step over the chain of command and fire the captain – was driven by his interest in pleasing President Trump. And though it’s been reported elsewhere, the fact that Modly’s subsequent flight to Guam to berate the crew and insult the captain cost taxpayers $243,000 is a reminder that there are many other layers of obscene waste by this administration which have yet to see the light of day.
What’s still unclear after reading this article is why Captain Brett Crozier’s superiors opposed his request to evacuate most of the crew off the ship, and believed that the coronavirus could be contained without such a move. The fact that hundreds of crew members have subsequently tested positive, with one fatality, would seem to settle that argument in Crozier’s favor, but that doesn’t mean officers up the chain of command didn’t have good reasons for opposing the request – at this point, the public needs access to the considerations involved in that refusal. There are also points of inconsistency that need resolution. For instance, Modly had an aide get in touch with Crozier, with the aide reporting back to Moldy that the captain was satisfied with the Navy’s response – yet the captain was already composing his plea for help at that point.
The prime questions that remain are whether the Navy acted reasonably in refusing Crozier’s pleas to evacuate the Roosevelt, and if not, to what degree the Navy was influenced by the Trump administration’s general desire to downplay the threat posed by the coronavirus.
LATE UPDATE: And now the Washington Post has published a story with more new details about the Roosevelt saga – including a copy of the communication Crozier sent up the chain of command. Among other things, we now know that Modly lied to the media about the email having 20 or 30 recipients – there were three main addressees, plus another seven captains cc’d.