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Headline Roundup April 4th, 2020

Navy Captain Dismissed After Coronavirus Complaint

Summary from the AllSides News Team

U.S. Navy officials have relieved Capt. Brett Crozier, the commander of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, after he raised concerns about the health of his crew amid an outbreak of COVID-19 aboard the vessel. In a letter to the Pentagon that was later leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle, Crozier wrote that they risked "failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our sailors.” Outlets on the left have concentrated on the apparent contradictions and inconsistencies in how Navy command acted in relieving Capt. Crozier, as well as his standing ovation from his sailors after his firing. Right-rated sources, meanwhile, focused more on Crozier's purported poor judgement in sending a message through unsecure channels and not bringing his complaints directly to his Commanding Officer.

Featured Coverage of this Story

Captain Crozier Is a Hero
Captain Crozier Is a Hero

New York Times (Opinion)

Opinion

On Monday, Capt. Brett Crozier, the commander of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, sent a letter to the Navy pleading for permission to unload his crew, including scores of sailors sickened with Covid-19, in Guam, where it was docked. The Pentagon had been dragging its feet, and the situation on the ship was growing dire.

“We are not at war,” he wrote. “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.”

Open on New York Times (Opinion)
The Navy Captain and the Coronavirus
Opinion

Social distancing is a luxury you don’t have aboard a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. So a word about Thursday’s firing of a Navy officer who showed up in the news asking for help containing a coronavirus outbreak on his ship, the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

Many have been quick to lionize Capt. Brett Crozier as a hero who spoke up in defense of his crew. His March 30 four-page letter, which leaked to the press this week, said he urgently needed to offload some 4,000 deployed sailors to quarantine in Guam to...

Open on Wall Street Journal (Opinion)
‘It Doesn’t Add Up To Me’: Current and Former Navy Officials Question Captain’s Abrupt Dismissal
‘It Doesn’t Add Up To Me’: Current and Former Navy Officials Question Captain’s Abrupt Dismissal

Defense One

News

Acting U.S. Navy Secretary Thomas Modly’s dismissal of a beloved captain who raised concerns about the health of sailors aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt sparked swift and sudden outrage from lawmakers and former service members who saw the move as retribution.

But within the Navy, the move left sailors, Marines, and former senior leaders more confused than angry. The timeline leading up to the abrupt relief of Capt. Brett Crozier raíses more questions that it answers about why Crozier felt compelled to go outside of his chain of command...

Open on Defense One

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