[toomuchtodo]

The Navy was already weakened if the vessel had hundreds of cases without sufficient support. Let’s not blame the victim for yet another executive branch failure to act without the appropriate speed and magnitude.

If the chain of command fails you, you have no other choice but to go public when your crews’ well-being is threatened.

> “It creates the perception the Navy is not on the job; the government is not on the job. That's just not true."

I don’t believe anyone is confident the government is on the job, and this letter did nothing to change that perception. It simply confirms what the public already believes.

[nomel]

> without sufficient support.

Do you have a reference for this? The letter [1] doesn't appear to mention insufficient support, just that the cases were accelerating.

[1] Letter: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Exclusive-Captai...

[ratsmack]

It looks to me like the captain made some poor judgement in addressing this by side stepping the chain of command.

[toomuchtodo]

It looks like public opinion backs his judgement.

https://www.stripes.com/news/us/captain-crozier-captain-croz...

[fzeroracer]

Generally if you're pleading for help, that means that there's insufficient support. I'm not sure what else you think is happening here, unless you're calling him an outright liar.

[nomel]

I think your response is pretty inappropriate for the question I asked.

[fzeroracer]

The final line of his letter was requesting more support explicitly. He wanted more lodging for his sailors so that proper quarantine measures could be put in place. The entire letter was a request for more resources and a change of strategy. That by definition means the current support is insufficient.

I'd recommend rereading what you cited.

[nomel]

What I believe you're referring to:

> Request all available resources to find NAVADMIN and CDC compliant quarntine rooms for my entire crew as soon as passible.

I read this as a new request for support for the "war free" plan outlined in the letter. Are you suggesting that he had already proposed this or another plan, but it was rejected or not completely fulfilled? If so, do you have a reference for this?

It would be useful if you could make it more clear what is your personal opinion/speculation vs publicly known. I'm trying to understand what happened.

> That by definition means the current support is insufficient.

In this context, that doesn't necesarily have to be true.

[hcknwscommenter]

You seem to struggle with basic reading comprehension. This letter didn't come out of the blue. He had been asking to off-board Covid-stricken sailors for some time due to the impossibility of maintaining a distancing regime on-board.

[koheripbal]

I don't think any amount of executive incompetence excuses making non-public military operational information public.

That's a very clear security violation.

[toomuchtodo]

A security violation that would’ve been unnecessary had appropriate action been taken sooner. Sailors’ lives > a preventable “security violation” (scare quotes intended)

As if I needed yet another example to share with anyone even considering enlisting in the armed forces why you shouldn’t. As long as the optics make it worth it, you’re disposable, regardless of rank.

[droithomme]

> you have no other choice but to go public

There's no evidence at all he is the one who leaked the memo. It may have been someone up the totem pole. Without knowing who leaked the memo, his being relieved of duty was premature and will only serve to damage morale. This was a very poor call by the acting Secretary.

[jki275]

He may not have actually leaked the memo -- but he made sure it got leaked. SECNAV's call was the correct one.

[droithomme]

> he made sure it got leaked

Is there evidence of that?

[jki275]

Yes. He sent it to at least 20 people outside his chain of command. That's what you do if you want to make sure something gets leaked.

There are formal and proper reporting channels for things like this. He went outside them, on purpose, to ensure the letter got leaked.

[droithomme]

Thanks. That's very interesting he sent it to more than 20 people, though I haven't seen that reported on with official sources claiming so yet, maybe I missed something.

Not everyone agrees this was the right call:

https://armedservices.house.gov/press-releases?ID=2EFC2A13-1...

[jki275]

I don't really care what HASC has to say about anything. They're a bunch of political hacks. From their own letter: "While Captain Crozier clearly went outside the chain of command, " -- they don't even understand this is a mortal sin in the Navy. You don't go outside your chain of command.

The other has been widely reported, this CNN article has quotes from SECNAV.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/politics/uss-roosevelt-comman...

[hcknwscommenter]

Those 20 people weren't random yahoos. They were credentialed navy / DOD brass with the appropriate level of clearance.

[jki275]

One of them leaked it to the press. So no.