![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/USS_Theodore_Roosevelt_at_sea-214x300.jpg\")
\nCVN-71, USS Theodore Roosevelt<\/p>\n
\nCVN-71, USS Theodore Roosevelt<\/p>\n
Anyone not see this coming? Yeah, me neither. Gerhart sends.<\/p>\n
By: LOLITA C. BALDOR AND ROBERT BURNS<\/strong><\/p>\n WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 In a stunning reversal, the Navy has upheld the firing of the aircraft carrier captain who urged faster action to protect his crew from a coronavirus outbreak, according to a U.S. official familiar with the report.<\/p>\n The official said the Navy also extended the blame for the ship’s pandemic crisis, delaying the promotion of the one-star admiral who was also onboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt \u2014 concluding that both men made serious errors in judgment.<\/p>\n The spread of the coronavirus aboard the carrier while on deployment in the Pacific in March exploded into one of the biggest military leadership crises of recent years. More than 1,000 members of the crew eventually became infected, and one sailor died. The ship was sidelined for weeks at Guam but recently returned to duty.<\/p>\n The decision by Adm. Mike Gilday, the chief of naval operations, to hold both Capt. Brett Crozier and his boss, Rear Adm. Stuart Baker, accountable is a confirmation of concerns expressed by top Pentagon officials who demanded a deeper investigation last month when the initial probe recommended Crozier’s reinstatement as the ship’s captain. The official described the findings on condition of anonymity to discuss a report not yet made public.<\/p>\n The investigation, done by Adm. Robert Burke and endorsed Friday by Gilday, defends the abrupt turnaround on Crozier saying that the more detailed probe uncovered poor decisions he made that failed to stem the outbreak or properly communicate the escalating crisis to senior commanders. It also concludes that the ship\u2019s slow response to the virus was not just his fault, and that Baker also failed to take decisive actions to address the problem.<\/p>\n Gilday\u2019s recommendations cap a drama that has engulfed the Navy for nearly three months, sidelining the carrier for 10 weeks in Guam, and setting off a dramatic series of events that led to Crozier\u2019s dismissal, the abrupt resignation of the acting Navy secretary who fired him, and the push for a broader review of the Pacific fleet\u2019s top commanders and how they handled the virus outbreak.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The painful but only logical conclusion to the entire episode. Thanks, Gerhart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"