Posted on 04/06/2020 10:49:56 AM PDT by billorites
Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly addressed the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt on Monday to defend his decision to fire the aircraft carrier’s commander, Capt. Brett Crozier, who wrote a memo last week demanding more urgent action to address an outbreak of coronavirus.
According to a recording of the address and descriptions by relatives of crew members and by U.S. officials, Mr. Modly delivered the remarks to the crew of the ship, which is now docked in Guam as crew members undergo a quarantine because of the Covid-19 outbreak. More than 150 of the approximately 5,000 members of the crew have tested positive.
The remarks, over the vessel’s public address system, were tinged with profanity, according to the recording and the descriptions of the remarks, with Mr. Modly saying that sailors were expected to “keep their shit together and take care of each other.” At another point, Mr. Modly, addressing fears over the virus, said: “If the ship was in combat and there were hypersonic missiles coming at it, you’d be pretty f------ scared too.”
Many crew members on the Roosevelt were critical of the Navy’s decision to fire Capt. Crozier, who drew cheers and applause from sailors as he walked off the ship’s gangplank last week for the last time. President Trump has backed the decision to fire the commander.
But Mr. Modly, referring to Capt. Crozier in his remarks Monday, said: “If he didn’t think, in my opinion, that this information wasn’t going to get out into the public, in this information age we live in, then he was either too naive or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this.”
“The alternative is he did this on purpose, which is a serious violation” of military law, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
I like this guy!
upbraid? like a weave?
“vtoo naive or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship”
Bingo! And thankfully he no longer is. The seamen onboard the Roosevelt had better get their heads straight or they are too stupid or naive to serve as well.
“Mr. Modly saying that sailors were expected to “keep their shit together and take care of each other.” At another point, Mr. Modly, addressing fears over the virus, said: “If the ship was in combat and there were hypersonic missiles coming at it, you’d be pretty f——— scared too.” ...
“If he didn’t think, in my opinion, that this information wasn’t going to get out into the public, in this information age we live in, then he was either too naive or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this.” “The alternative is he did this on purpose, which is a serious violation” of military law, he said.
I can’t imagine a Navy Secretary under Obama delivering such remarks.
These sailors need to put on their big boy skivvies. I question whether the Captain did this as a back-handed means of getting to Trump, not unlike Vindman.
The Captain is duty-bound to honor and respect his chain of command. If he can’t do this in peacetime, I question what he would do in a fire fight.
And now the crew is breaking protocol by talking about this announcement to the media.
Seriously?
Start dumping people and bring in a new crew ASAP.
I took an ass chewing one time for something I didn’t do.
This Colonel “locked my heels” and chewed me up one side and down the other.
When he was done, I told him that it wasn’t me who did it.
He looked at me from behind his desk and said,
“You probably had an ass chewing coming for something else anyway. Now, get out of here.”
inappropriate, imho
I’d bet he is as told to return to Pearl Harbor and that was not what he wanted.
Why did the SecNav jump over 4 senior admirals in the chain of command to get his power focused on a mere captain who he accused of jumping the chain of command himself? That decision should have been left to lower echelon brass.
I agree. Is amazing to me how a virus (which has very limited effect on young healthy sailors) and some deep-state politics has neutralized America’s most expensive weapons system.
NOT the Navy I was in. Of course that was half a century ag....WTH? When did that happen?
I think you know the answer to that question.
It was likely a call from The Don....
Me too. Navarro and Modly. Two more fighters on Trump train.
Channeling Patton, had Patton been in the navy. :)
Very straight talk is what that crew needed! And the profanity was appropriate. He was talking to a Navy crew and those are terms they understand.
I met Thomas Modly on February 29th at the memorial service to Donald Stratton, who survived the attack on the USS Arizona. He gave a very good eulogy.
He said the commander is really, really good. "I didn't even realize I had my ass chewed until I got back to the barracks."
There is an old guidance for commanders.
Give praise in public, give correction in private.
Shall we relieve them as well?
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