A Crisis Inside the Navy

[0] From the New York Times, I'm Michael Baparro.

[1] This is the Daily.

[2] The military's handling of the coronavirus has caused both the captain of an aircraft carrier and the head of the Navy, their jobs.

[3] Eric Schmidt on the crisis inside the Navy.

[4] It's Wednesday, April 8th.

[5] Eric, tell me about this letter.

[6] So this letter dated March 30th, 2020, is written by Captain Brett Crozier.

[7] He's the commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier that's been in the Western Pacific.

[8] Several of his sailors have come down with the virus, and he has been doing all he can to get the entire crew, nearly 5 ,000 sailors off the ship.

[9] This letter, it's really an active frustration.

[10] In fact, let me just read you from the letter.

[11] Subject line.

[12] Request for assistance in response to COVID -19 pandemic.

[13] First paragraph reads, B -L -U -F, bottom line up front.

[14] If required, the USS Theodore Roosevelt would embark all assigned sailors, set sail, and be ready to fight, and beat any adversary that dares challenge the U .S. or our allies.

[15] The virus would certainly have an impact, but in combat, we are willing to take certain risks.

[16] that are not acceptable in peacetime.

[17] However, we are not at war and therefore cannot allow a single sailor to perish as a result of this pandemic unnecessarily.

[18] Decisive action is required now.

[19] And he then goes on in the next three or four pages to explain why it's so difficult aboard an aircraft carrier.

[20] The cramp quarters, the fact that everybody's eating in the same dining hall, and sharing the same restrooms.

[21] And they're going up and down the ladders of this ship and they can't but help but being very close together.

[22] In other words, it's a social distancing nightmare.

[23] Right.

[24] In fact, he ends the letter with this.

[25] Keeping over 4 ,000 young men and women on board, the TR, Teddy Roosevelt, is an unnecessary risk and breaks faith with those sailors entrusted to our care.

[26] He's basically saying the most important thing here, since they're in peacetime, is the health of the crew.

[27] Get them off.

[28] Get them safe.

[29] Get them well.

[30] And in his view, the Navy is not helping him fast enough with enough supplies to do that.

[31] Help me understand that.

[32] What exactly prompted this captain to write this letter to his superiors in the Navy?

[33] So we needed to go back to early March.

[34] Theodore Roosevelt was scheduled to make a port call in Denang, Vietnam.

[35] Vietnam borders China.

[36] So there was concern by Captain Crozier and many of his staff about the obvious impact of the COVID -19 virus there.

[37] But in checking with Navy health officials, they told him that there were very few cases in Vietnam at that time, the beginning of March.

[38] And they were mostly in and around Hanoi and in northern Vietnam, several hundred miles north of Danang, where the USS Roosevelt would go.

[39] This was an important show of American military strength at a time.

[40] when China is reasserting itself militarily in the South China Sea, it was important for the United States to follow through on its strategic commitments and demonstrate to the government of Vietnam that it was willing to go ahead with this visit.

[41] So this ship, showing up at a port in Vietnam, is considered strategically important for United States national security.

[42] That's right.

[43] So despite Captain Crozier's concerns, the Roosevelt, in Hanoi and nearly 5 ,000 sailors and crew members pour into the city of Denang, going out to restaurants, going out to bars, going out to what sailors do in port calls.

[44] Now, at the end of their port call, the sailors and crew get back on the ship.

[45] And so as the Roosevelt pulls out of Danang, Captain Crozier is still concerned, because even though his crew has shown no open signs of infection.

[46] In his mind, a clock is ticking, roughly a 14 -day clock in which the symptoms could appear, after which they'll feel they're more or less in the clear.

[47] And as they approach the end of the 14 days, Captain Crozier in his top AIDS believed they're almost clear.

[48] And literally on the last day of that period of time that they're watching, the first two sailors test positive for the virus, and the captain knows he has a huge problem on his hands.

[49] So the first two sailors who are infected with the virus are immediately flown off the ship.

[50] Captain Crozier realizing that the infection is probably spreading silently through the crew speeds up a scheduled visit to Guam, which is the home of a major naval base, a major naval hospital.

[51] And it's over these next four days that the captain working with his immediate boss, an admiral on board the Roosevelt, as well as others up his chain of command, are doing all they can to follow through on the guidance that we now know.

[52] How many sailors can we get off this ship into some kind of quarantine basis?

[53] He wants to have proper social distancing, and obviously he wants to treat the sailors who are increasingly in numbers testing positive.

[54] But by March 30th, we know Captain Crozier feels the Navy's not moving fast enough to help him.

[55] All his pleas, while they may have delivered some aid and some relief, they're not getting the crew off fast enough.

[56] They're not getting supplies to the ship quickly enough.

[57] And so he writes this letter, and he sends it over an unconsulmonary.

[58] classified email to about 20 other people, all naval personnel.

[59] But by sending it over an unclassified email and not the usual classified system the Navy has, the captain almost certainly knows somebody will leak it to the media.

[60] And that's probably what he wants.

[61] Some kind of outside force to apply pressure to the Navy to respond faster to what he believes is essential.

[62] So what happens after Crozier sends this letter?

[63] So the letter is sent and within a day it's leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle and it causes an immediate firestorm.

[64] The Navy Secretary Thomas Modley is outraged.

[65] First of all, that this letter has leaked and he had just had a conversation with Captain Crozier the night before.

[66] basically asking, if you got everything you need, do I need to do anything more?

[67] And according to Motley, the captain said, you know, I'd like things to go faster, but I realize you're doing as much as you can.

[68] So I think Modley feels a little bit blindsided by this.

[69] And the next day on April 2nd, he calls a press conference.

[70] I'm here today to inform you that today at my direction, the commanding officer of the USS, Theodore Roosevelt, Captain Brett Crozer was relieved of command by a carrier -strike crew commander, R. Admiral Stuart Baker.

[71] Secretary Motley reads a statement saying he is dismissing Captain Crozier.

[72] Wow.

[73] I lost confidence in his ability to continue to lead that warship as it fights through this virus to get the crew healthy and so that it continue to meet its important national security requirements.

[74] Basically says he's lost confidence in him.

[75] I would like to send a message to the crew of the, and their families back here at home.

[76] I am entirely convinced that your commanding officer loves you.

[77] He may be a great officer most of the time.

[78] You may be well beloved by his crew, but in this case...

[79] But is my responsibility to ensure that his loving concern for you is matched by his sober and professional judgment under pressure.

[80] He's blown it.

[81] Okay.

[82] Thank you.

[83] And so by the next day, back out in Guam, Captain Crozier is packing up his things and as he walks down the gangway off the ship to an awaiting car and it's a scene it's just remarkable Michael and that the whole crew that's gathered hundreds in this huge hangar bay are chanting and cheering for the captain Captain Crozier Captain Crozier The goat The man for the people They're thanking him Because by now they've read the letter They know what's happened here And this is kind of his valedictory As he leaves And gets into the car And drives off To this really stunning Ovation And that's how he sent him One of the greatest captains he ever had And this only makes the Navy brass back in Washington, even angrier.

[84] We'll be right back.

[85] Eric, the scene you just described on the USS Roosevelt, I mean, it seems very clear from that that the Navy is not just at odds with the captain of the ship, but with its own sailors there.

[86] So how did that huge gap form between the top brass and the rank and file?

[87] So in part, that division is created essentially by the priorities that the military overall has, what the military's job is.

[88] It's first to be ready for combat.

[89] The Secretary of the Navy, the Defense Secretary, they have to worry about threats and how they would respond to them, whereas the captain's immediate view is that he is worried about the health of his crew.

[90] But there's another important factor in all this, and that's President Trump.

[91] For these civilian leaders back in Washington at the Defense Department and the Navy, they're worried of how President Trump is going to view this.

[92] And they've got good reason to worry.

[93] Now, President Trump has ignored advice from his military and absolved three U .S. service members accused of war crimes.

[94] Mr. Trump, pardoning...

[95] The president has actively meddled in criminal investigations in the military.

[96] The president also pardoned...