Navy removes commander of aircraft carrier hit by coronavirus outbreak

Washington (CNN)The commander of a US aircraft carrier that has been hit by a major outbreak of coronavirus has been relieved of command days after writing a memo warning Navy leadership that decisive action was needed to save the lives of the ship's crew, acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly announced on Thursday.

"Today at my direction the commanding officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, Captain Brett Crozier, was relieved of command by carrier strike group commander Rear Admiral Stewart Baker," Modly said during a Pentagon press briefing.

Modly told reporters that Crozier was not removed because of any evidence suggesting he leaked the memo to the press, but rather for allowing "the complexity of his challenge with the COVID breakout on the ship to overwhelm his ability to act professionally when acting professionally was what was needed the most at the time."

"I have no information nor am I trying to suggest that he leaked the information. It was published in the San Francisco Chronicle. It all came as a big surprise to all of us that it was in the paper and that's the first time I had seen it," he added. "What I will say, he sent it out pretty broadly and in sending it out broadly he did not take care to ensure that it couldn't be leaked and that's part of his responsibility in my opinion."



https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/politics/uss-roosevelt-commander-relieved/index.html