NEW: Navy delays decision on reinstating fired captain who warned of coronavirus
The Navy's top civilian leader has decided to open a fuller investigation into the firing of an aircraft carrier captain who warned of coronavirus spreading through his ship, effectively delaying a decision on whether Capt. Brett Crozier should be reinstated as commanding officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, according to a senior defense official and an administration official.
The controversy over the captain, who in March wrote a letter pleading for help from Navy leadership as the coronavirus spread throughout his ship and was later fired when the memo was leaked to the media, appeared to be simmering down last Friday when senior Navy leaders recommended to Defense Secretary Mark Esper that Crozier be reinstated as captain.
Milley's advice to Esper was"to ensure that the inquiry was as thorough as it needs to be to answer any questions the secretary may have had before finalizing the report," said one defense official. POLITICO previously reported that Milley was not against Crozier being reinstated; just that a larger investigation should be conducted.
The move is the latest in a highly publicized chain of events that started with an outbreak of the coronavirus onboard the Roosevelt in late March, which forced the ship to stop in Guam and offload its 5,000 sailors. Former acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly fired Crozier after his memo pleading for help combating the virus leaked to the media. Modly later resigned over remarks he made to the ship's crew criticizing the captain's actions.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Pentagon declassifies Navy videos that purportedly show UFOsThe Pentagon declassified Navy videos -- leaked in recent years -- that purportedly show UFOs.
Read more »
Pentagon declassifies Navy videos that purportedly show UFOsThe Pentagon has declassified three previously leaked top secret U.S. Navy videos that show 'unexplained aerial phenomena' and that some believe could show Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) in an effort 'to clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that
Read more »
Number of coronavirus cases on second US navy warship hit by outbreak nears 50At least 47 sailors from the USS Kidd, the second US Navy ship hit with an outbreak of coronavirus, have tested positive for the virus. About 45% of the destroyer's crew have been tested.
Read more »
Coronavirus updates: Navy hospital ship getting ready to depart New York CityNorway's Minister of Culture Abid Raja gets his hair cut in Oslo, as hairdressers reopened after being closed down for more than six weeks due to COVID-19.
Read more »
'Unidentified aerial phenomena': Pentagon officially releases 3 leaked US Navy UFO videosThe three videos, the first of which was leaked in 2007 and discovered by the U.S. Navy in 2009, show small, flying objects. In one of the videos, a person exclaims, 'What the (expletive) is that?!'
Read more »
Pentagon declassifies three UFO videos taken by Navy pilots'The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as 'unidentified',' the Pentagon wrote in a statement Monday.
Read more »