After media outlets obtained a recording of his comments to the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt about his decision to relieve their captain of his command, acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly apologized for his “choice of words,” but stood by his decision. In response to the removal of the captain, President Trump said Monday that he’s now getting “involved.”
Modly announced on Thursday that the aircraft carrier’s captain, Brett Crozier, was being relieved for his decision to violate the chain of command by sending an email to a “broad” audience sounding the alarm about the threat of coronavirus on the ship, which had infected 100 of its more than 4,000 personnel. The contents of the email, a four-page letter pleading for Navy officials to take an “extraordinary measure” — remove most of the personnel from the ship to quarantine on land for two weeks — found its way to the San Francisco Chronicle.
“This will require a political solution but it is the right thing to do,” Crozier wrote in a March 30 letter emailed to Navy officials. “We 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 — our Sailors. … Keeping over 4,000 young men and women on board the TR is an unnecessary risk and breaks faith with those Sailors entrusted to our care.”
On Thursday, Modly relieved Crozier of command, citing his decision to send his plea over “non-secure unclassified email” to a “broad array of people,” rather than up the chain of command.
Speaking to the crew of the Guam-docked nuclear aircraft carrier on Monday, Modly delivered a scathing rebuke of Crozier’s “betrayal of trust,” as a recording of the comments posted by Task & Publication revealed.
“If he didn’t think, in my opinion, that this information wasn’t going to get out into the public, in this day and information age that we live in, then he was either A, too naive, or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this,” Modly told the crew. “The alternative is that he did this on purpose. And that’s a serious violation of the UCMJ which you are all familiar with.”
“It was betrayal,” Modly said, as reported by NBC News. “And I can tell you one other thing: Because he did that, he put it in the public’s forum and it’s now become a big controversy in Washington, D.C., and across the country, about a martyr CO who wasn’t getting the help he needed and therefore had to go through the chain of command, a chain of command which includes the media.”
“Everyone is scared about this thing,” he said. “And let me tell ya something, if this ship was in combat and there were hypersonic missiles coming in at it, you’d be pretty f***ing scared too. But you do your jobs. And that’s what I expect you to. And that’s what I expect every officer on this ship to do, is to do your jobs.”
The acting secretary also called out Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden. “If I could offer you a glimpse of the level of hatred and pure evil that has been thrown my way, my family’s way over this decision, I would. But it doesn’t matter. It’s not about me,” said Modly. “The former Vice President of the United States Joe Biden suggested just yesterday that my decision was criminal. I assure you that it was not. Because I understand the facts and those facts show that what your captain did was very, very wrong in a moment when we expected him to be the calming force on a turbulent sea.”
After the recording went public, Modly defended his comments. “The spoken words were from the heart, and meant for them,” he said. “I stand by every word I said, even, regrettably any profanity that may have been used for emphasis. Anyone who has served on a Navy ship would understand. I ask, but don’t expect, that people read them in their entirety.”
A few hours later, however, Modly offered a partial apology for his “choice of words” in a statement: “Let me be clear, I do not think Captain Brett Crozier is naïve nor stupid. I think, and always believed him to be the opposite. I believe, precisely because he is not naive and stupid, that he sent his alarming email with the intention of getting it into the public domain in an effort to draw public attention to the situation on his ship. I apologize for any confusion this choice of words may have caused. I also want to apologize directly to Captain Crozier, his family, and the entire crew of the Theodore Roosevelt for any pain my remarks may have caused.”
Asked if Modly’s comments to the crew about Crozier were appropriate, President Trump said during a press conference Monday that he’s going to have to step in to address the controversy.
“We don’t need to have letter-writing campaigns where the fake news finds a letter and gets a leak. We don’t want that. So the letter shouldn’t have been sent,” said Trump. “With all of that said, his career prior to that was very good. So I’m going to get involved and see exactly what’s going on there.” The president added that he’s “heard very good things about the gentleman, both gentlemen,” referencing Crozier and Modly. “I don’t want to destroy somebody for having a bad day,” said Trump.