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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The fired captain of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier knew he was putting his military career in jeopardy when he broke protocol and sent out a now-famous email warning of possible sailor deaths due to an outbreak of coronavirus on board.
But Brett Crozier says in an eyewitness statement obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle that he did so in an urgent effort to help avert a “major catastrophe.”
Crozier’s witness statement, recorded in May during the Navy’s investigation into the handling of the outbreak aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, offers a look at his thinking when he sent the March email that changed the military world and prompted conviction. of the high admiral of the Navy who supervised the carrier. President Donald Trump also criticized Crozier.
Vice Admiral William Merz, commander of the US Seventh Fleet, told investigators that Crozier did not understand the military efforts underway to evacuate the crowded ship or wanted to undermine those efforts. Merz hypothesized that Crozier was wrong and panicked, or wanted to play hero.
“Either way, he gave up and questions his resilience and tenacity in command,” Merz said.
Crozier, a native of Santa Rosa, California, was stripped of his position, but was fired by an enthusiastic hero from his crew, who credited him with saving their lives.
A frustrated Crozier sent the letter on March 30, saying more needed to be done to get 5,000 sailors off the aircraft carrier docked in Guam. More than 1,200 sailors eventually tested positive for the virus, including Crozier, who spent a month in Guam in isolation. Several were hospitalized and one died of complications from COVID-19.
Crozier said he sent the email through unclassified channels as conditions quickly worsened and required urgent action. Navy officials said that led to the leak of the memorandum and jeopardized sensitive talks with Guam officials to house sailors in hotel rooms.
They said he was fired for mishandling the leak and for leaving the chain of command.
“My intention in sending the email … was to give a sense of urgency to a rapidly deteriorating and life-threatening situation aboard (Theodore Roosevelt) and to avoid a major catastrophe and loss of life,” Crozier said in the statement. of the witness.
“From my perspective, even one more week of routine planning would have resulted in another week of exponential growth in positive cases and increased risk for more sailors. We wanted to stop the administrative bureaucracy … so I sent a red flare, “he said.
Conditions aboard the Roosevelt were made public when the San Francisco Chronicle reported the email. Crozier was removed from command on April 3.
