Navy chief quits after insulting captain

Resignation prioritizes sailors on virus-hit carrier, defense secretary says

FILE - In this Dec. 3, 2019, file photo, acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly testifies during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee about about ongoing reports of substandard housing conditions in Washington, on Capitol Hill. Modly says the captain of the COVID-stricken aircraft carrier who was fired last week had betrayed his service and may have been "too naive or too stupid" to be commanding officer of the ship. Officials are confirming that Modly made the comments Sunday, April 5, 2020, to the ship's crew in Guam. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 3, 2019, file photo, acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly testifies during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee about about ongoing reports of substandard housing conditions in Washington, on Capitol Hill. Modly says the captain of the COVID-stricken aircraft carrier who was fired last week had betrayed his service and may have been "too naive or too stupid" to be commanding officer of the ship. Officials are confirming that Modly made the comments Sunday, April 5, 2020, to the ship's crew in Guam. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

WASHINGTON -- Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, whose insults of a naval officer who raised alarm about the service's handling of a coronavirus outbreak prompted widespread condemnation, has resigned.

In announcing the resignation, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Modly quit on his own accord, "putting the Navy and the sailors above self," so the Navy and the USS Theodore Roosevelt can move forward. The Roosevelt is sidelined in port at Guam as crewmen are tested for the coronavirus and moved ashore.

"His care for the sailors was genuine," Esper said.

Esper said he briefed President Donald Trump on his conversation with Modly, and with the president's approval he is appointing James McPherson as acting Navy secretary. McPherson, a Navy veteran, is currently serving as undersecretary of the Army. He was confirmed in that position by the Senate last month.

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U.S. Navy

U.S. Navy Capt. Brett Crozier, former commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, addresses the crew in November during an all-hands call on the ship's ight deck while conducting routine operations in the Eastern Paci c Ocean. (AP)

Esper called McPherson a "smart, capable and professional leader who will restore confidence and stability in the Navy during these challenging times."

McPherson will serve in the Navy's top post in an acting capacity until Trump's nominee for the position, the U.S. ambassador to Norway, Kenneth John Braithwaite II, is confirmed by the Senate.

Esper said he also met with Navy leaders and emphasized three priorities, including putting the health, safety and welfare of the Roosevelt crew first, and working to get the ship back out to sea as soon as safely possible.

Modly made the decision to resign after traveling from Washington to Guam on Monday to give a speech to the crew of the Roosevelt, whose commander, Capt. Brett Crozier, Modly removed last week.

Modly, speaking to the ship's crew over a loudspeaker, accused Crozier of either leaking a letter about his concerns to the media or of being "too naive or too stupid to be the commanding officer of a ship like this."

"It is the mission of the ship that matters," he said. "You all know this, but in my view your captain lost sight of this and he compromised critical information about your status intentionally to draw greater attention to your situation."

APOLOGIES

The remarks, leaked to the media in written and audio form, prompted condemnation from family members of the crew, which has more than 170 coronavirus cases, and several lawmakers. By Monday night, Modly had released a statement apologizing for insulting Crozier, who has tested positive for the virus, but insisting that Crozier had written the letter with the intention of creating a stir.

"Captain Crozier is smart and passionate," Modly said in his statement. "I believe, precisely because he is not naive and stupid, that he sent his alarming email with the intention of it getting into the public domain in an effort to draw public attention to the situation on his ship."

Just hours after Modly issued the statement defending his words, Esper compelled Modly to reverse course and issue a public apology.

"I want to apologize for any confusion this choice of words may have caused," Modly wrote, referring to his speech aboard the Roosevelt. "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."

Esper had asked Modly to apologize, hoping that would be sufficient to move beyond the controversy, according to a senior administration official.

But instead the pressure for Modly's resignation increased, including among other players within the Defense Department, the official said. Modly met with Esper on Tuesday before submitting his resignation, another person familiar with the matter said, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

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At a news conference Monday, Trump maintained that Crozier should not have sent the letter but said he had been hearing good things about the captain and his career before that. "So, I'm going to get involved and see what is going on there, because I don't want to destroy somebody for having a bad day," Trump said.

Trump has said he was not involved in the decision to fire Crozier. The president initially supported Modly, but moderated his stance after news of the acting Navy secretary's controversial remarks broke.

Trump said Tuesday that he didn't know him or speak to him but credited Modly for resigning "to end that problem." It was, he said, an "unselfish thing to do."

TRANSPARENCY

The incident has raised questions about how much transparency the military should display when faced with a public-health crisis and how top leaders should balance the need to safeguard the well-being of service members with the imperative to continue military missions.

Crozier's firing has been seen among the aircraft carrier's crew as an attempt to muzzle any leaks of information about the situation on the vessel. During his trip to Guam, Modly warned the aircraft carrier's crew not to speak to the media.

A spokesman for Modly did not respond to a request for an interview.

By the time Modly issued his public apology Monday night, the calls in Congress for his resignation were mounting. On Tuesday morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Modly must go.

"Sadly, Acting Secretary Modly's actions and words demonstrate his failure to prioritize the force protection of our troops," Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a written statement. "He showed a serious lack of the sound judgment and strong leadership needed during this time. Acting Secretary Modly must be removed from his position or resign."

Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Modly had fired Crozier against the advice of Navy military leaders.

"The new leadership of the Navy must do better in leading and protecting sailors, Marines and their families in this unprecedented crisis," Reed said.

In an interview with Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, Modly said what happened to his predecessor, who got "crosswise" with the White House over Trump's intervention in the war-crimes case of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, was fresh in his mind when he decided to fire Crozier. Modly essentially said he took such swift action to prevent a personal intervention by Trump.

"I didn't want to get into a decision where the president would feel that he had to intervene because the Navy couldn't be decisive," Modly said. "If I were president, and I saw a commanding officer of a ship exercising such poor judgment, I would be asking why the leadership of the Navy wasn't taking action itself."

Modly said he was aware his predecessor lost his job because the Navy "got crossways with the president," and said, "I didn't want that to happen again."

CHAIN OF COMMAND

At the heart of the debacle are serious questions about what a military leader should do when faced with a chain of command he believes is making decisions that are imperiling the health and well-being of his service members.

After the first three cases of covid-19 emerged on the carrier, Crozier and his superior officers struggled to reach a consensus about what steps should be taken, according to three people familiar with the discussions.

Crozier wanted a more aggressive effort up front to protect the crew's health, even if that meant taking near-unprecedented steps, such as a 90% evacuation of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier operating in the Pacific as a signal to China of American military might. His immediate superiors favored smaller mitigation efforts, which Crozier felt were insufficient to ensure sailors did not fall seriously ill from the virus and return the carrier to the seas quickly.

The captain said the carrier could set sail immediately if it were a matter of war and would be prepared to win a conflict despite the outbreak on board. "However, we are not at war, and therefore cannot allow a single Sailor to perish as a result of this pandemic unnecessarily," Crozier wrote.

He pointed out that it was impossible for him to follow the social-distancing guidelines the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had released because of the close quarters and shared facilities for the crew aboard the carrier. Crozier noted that even crew members who tested negative for covid-19 were later showing up with symptoms, meaning the only solution was large-scale isolation.

Crozier requested the Navy provide off-ship lodging that complied with the CDC guidelines for over 4,000 sailors in his crew to isolate them and return them to the ship virus-free after a period of quarantine.

In the meantime, he said the ship should be disinfected and 10% of the crew should remain on board to run the nuclear reactor plant, sanitize the ship and ensure security.

Ultimately, the Navy has begun a large-scale evacuation of the ship to facilities in Guam, but so far it has not been quite as extensive as Crozier suggested.

Information for this article was contributed by Dan Lamothe, Paul Sonne, Seung Min Kim, Missy Ryan, Philip Rucker and Julie Tate of The Washington Post; and by Lolita C. Baldor and Robert Burns of The Associated Press.

A Section on 04/08/2020

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