Friday, 29 Mar 2024

Acting Navy Secretary blasted fired captain as ‘naïve and stupid’ in leaked speech to sailors – The Sun

THE Acting US Navy Secretary blasted the fired captain of a ship as "naïve and stupid" in a leaked speech to sailors on Monday.

Thomas Modly slammed Captain Brett Crozier of the USS Theodore Roosevelt for revealing 155 of his sailors were COVID-19-positive in an email sent to a "broad audience."


The secretary supported the decision to relieve Crozier of his Navy duties after the press got wind of the infections onboard, flying to Guam to address the crew today, reports the Daily Caller.

Modly described the captain's actions as a “betrayal of trust" and "a serious violation" despite sailors' calls for his promotion.

"If he didn’t think, in my opinion, that this information [the letter] wasn’t going to get out into the public, in this day and information age that we live in, then he was either A, too naive or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this," Modly raged, according to the leaked transcript.

"The alternative is that he did this on purpose," Modly added, after Crozier also tested positive for the disease.

Modly insisted people on his level had not been ignoring the coronavirus outbreak on the ship and urged sailors not to rally behind Crozier for sounding the alarm.

He urged the sailors to demonstrate the T-R was "knocking down this virus like it would knock down the Chinese or the North Koreans or the Russians if any one of those nations were ever so stupid enough to mess with the Big Stick because she thought she was vulnerable."



“So think about that when you cheer the man off the ship who exposed you to that,” Modly continued.

“I understand you love the guy. It’s good that you love him. But you’re not required to love him.”

The enraged official went on to say sailors should never enlist the help of the media in any circumstances.

“There is never a situation where you should consider the media a part of your chain of command,” Modly said.

“Because the media has an agenda and the agenda that they have depends on which side of the political aisle they sit, and I’m sorry that’s the way the country is now, but it’s the truth.

"And so they use it to divide us and use it to embarrass the Navy. They use it to embarrass you.”

President Donald Trump has also condemned Crozier's actions as "terrible", "all over the place" and "not appropriate" despite the praise he received from his men.


The San Francisco Chronicle obtained Crozier's plea for help which emphasized that the US is “not at war” and "sailors do not need to die."

It cited the “inherent limitations of space” which prevented the crew of 4,000 from adhering to social distancing guidelines.

The captain's sacking has now been widely condemned by a number of sailors who say he had "legitimate concerns" for their health and well-being, reports say.

One crew member told the Wall Street Journal: "He had legitimate concerns about his sailors, asked for help in a respectful and honorable way, and then they relieved him of duty."

Another added: "If anything the guy deserves a promotion. That's the type of leadership they lack, but the type they need."

 

And a third said it shows that Crozier "actually cared" about his men.

"When higher-ups go against the grain, it shows they actually care about the sailors they're in charge of," he told the publication.

The Sun has contacted the US Navy for comment.



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