U.S. Navy Captain Brett Crozier is headed back to the U.S. from Guam after recovering from coronavirus, according to CBS News.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday had reportedly recommended that Crozier be reinstated to his position as commander of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, but that appears not likely anytime soon, as the Navy continues its investigation into the coronavirus outbreak on the ship.
Acting Navy Secretary James E. McPherson said in a statement last week that after his discussion with Gilday, he had unanswered questions that the Navy’s preliminary inquiry had identified:
Therefore, I am directing Adm. Gilday to conduct a follow-on command investigation. This investigation will build on the good work of the initial inquiry to provide a more fulsome understanding of the sequence of events, actions, and decisions of the chain of command surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt.
Former Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly fired Crozier as commander of the Roosevelt after Crozier penned a March 30 memo that was published in the captain’s hometown paper the next day, warning that the outbreak risked sailors’ lives and that they needed to be let off the ship faster.
Modly argued the firing was not due to the content of his memo, but the way he raised his concerns. Crozier allegedly did not alert his direct supervisor, Rear Adm. Stuart Baker, who lived down the hall from Crozier on the ship, before sending his memo. The Navy ordered an investigation to find out what happened.
Of the approximately 5,000 crew members on the ship, more than 1,100 have tested positive, and one has died.
Meanwhile, the ship’s current commander, Capt. Carlos Sardiello, said more than half the crew is back on the ship, after being screened and re-screened for coronavirus, and that the entire ship has been deep cleaned.
“We have a job to do,” Sardiello told CBS News. “It’s like no job we have ever faced, but we’re U.S. sailors. You know me. I know you. I had your back before. I’m going to have your back now.”
Sardiello told the Associated Press on Tuesday that the ship plans to head out in a couple of weeks to conduct training, leaving those who are quarantined in Guam. After training, the ship will head back to Guam for the other sailors.
Those back on the ship are adjusting to a new normal — dining hall chairs are farther apart and sailors eat throughout the day in shifts to avoid crowding together.
“We’re not bunching up like little kids’ soccer. We’re wearing masks. We look like we’re going off to surgery,” Sardiello told the AP. “And we’re mindful of cleaning at a very high level.”
The Navy’s investigation, which will not only look at Crozier but how the virus spread on the ship and how commanders in the region reacted to the crisis, is due by the end of May.
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