Commander of the USS Roosevelt, Captain Brett Crozier, has been relieved from his duties on the ship for his "poor judgement" after writing and sending a mass letter out to the what has been told to about 20 to 30 people. The letter was somehow sent to the media and later published in the San Francisco Chronicle, drawing attention to and starting a panic aboard the aircraft carrier.
Secretary of the Navy, Thomas Modly, made it clear that Crozier will not lose his rank or be removed from the Navy and has simply been dismissed from his position on the ship. Crozier was the captain of a 5,000 man carrier that had over 4,000 people tested for the virus. He decided to write a letter that was sent to a broad number of people (instead a letter sent up the chain of command) that announced the trouble aboard the ship -not being able to social distance- and demanded action be taken or people on the ship were going to die.
Modly knew that Crozier's letter had good intentions and was never meant to set off any alarms. However, the breaking from the chain of command and the unnecessary drama that came with the letter led Modly to make his decision of relieving Crozier. He concluded by saying that the former commander "allowed the complexity of the challenge of the COVID breakout on the ship to overwhelm his ability to act professionally."
Questions
1) Do you think Secretary Modly handled the situation correctly by relieving Commander Crozier of his duties?
2) Why do you think Crozier decided to send out a mass email rather than follow orders and send it to someone who can take care of the problem?
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2 comments:
I agree with Secretary Modly's actions. Although he may have had good intentions, I don't think Commander Crozier made the best choice he could've made in that situation. Specifically relieving him from his duties on the ship but not removing his rank or position from the Navy was also a reasonable decision, since it seems that Crozier's actions were not too severe. Crozier may have decided to send out the mass email because at that moment, he might've felt that it was in everyone's best interest to be notified of what was going on around them so that they could be more cautious and aware. Maybe he himself panicked a little as well, which may have caused him to not think through his plan.
I see Secretary's Modly's actions and how he did not want to do harm. He only wanted to say there was a problem aboard. He could have changed his wording to not make a big deal out of it and alarm the passengers on board. The media does like to exaggerate to spread awareness, but this was not the appropriate way to address the problem. I do believe Crozier's actions should deserve consequences because of sending the mass email.
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