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Navy leaders have recommended that Capt. Brett Crozier be reinstated to command of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, three weeks after he was relieved for sending a fraught email to commanders pleading for faster action to protect his crew from a coronavirus outbreak, a message that was leaked to a San Francisco newspaper.
Well-placed sources told Fox News that Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday met with Defense Secretary Mark Esper Friday to present the findings of an investigation into Crozier's relief as well as the Navy's recommendations. Acting Navy Secretary James McPherson reportedly agreed with the recommendation that Crozier be reinstated.
The recommendation was first reported by The New York Times.
Planned briefings with lawmakers were canceled Friday after Esper asked for more time to review the recommendations.
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“This afternoon, Secretary Esper received a verbal update from the acting Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations on the Navy’s preliminary inquiry into the COVID-19 outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt," said Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Rath Hoffman. "After the Secretary receives a written copy of the completed inquiry, he intends to thoroughly review the report and will meet again with Navy leadership to discuss next steps. He remains focused on and committed to restoring the full health of the crew and getting the ship at sea again soon.”
Crozier was fired April 2 by then-acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly after sending a message to several naval officers warning about the growing virus outbreak and asking for permission to isolate the bulk of his crew members on shore in Guam, where the ship was forced to dock due to the outbreak. It was an extraordinary move that would take the carrier out of duty in an effort to save lives.
“If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset – our sailors,” Crozier stated in his letter, which was published by the San Francisco Chronicle.
VIDEOS SHOW SAILORS SENDING OFF OUSTED USS ROOSEVELT COMMANDER WITH CHEERS
Modly claimed Crozier had failed to follow the chain of command in voicing his concerns. He also voiced concerns that Crozier had used an unsecure email address to send the letter.
"I did not come to this decision lightly. I have no doubt in my mind [Captain] Crozier did what he thought was in the best interest [of] the safety and well being of his crew. Unfortunately, he did the opposite,” Modly said in response to critics of the decision to relieve Crozier.
Following Crozier’s dismissal, the crew of the USS Roosevelt gathered in the ship’s hangar deck to cheer for and applaud their captain. The send-off was captured on video and shared across social media.
Modly complained that Crozier “demonstrated extremely poor judgment” in the middle of a crisis and copied too many people on the memo. Modly also asserted that Crozier had improperly allowed sensitive information about the ship’s condition to become public.
A few days later, Modly flew out to the ship and delivered a profanity-laced condemnation of Crozier over the loudspeaker to the crew. Crozier, he said, may have been “too naive or too stupid” to be commanding officer of the ship.
Just hours after his comments were widely reported, Modly apologized. But the next day, in the face of widespread criticism, he resigned. Esper initially defended Modly’s firing of Crozier, saying he made a “very tough decision.” But other military leaders, including Gilday, internally opposed the firing, saying an investigation should be conducted first
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As of Friday, 856 sailors on the Roosevelt have tested positive for the virus and four are hospitalized. One sailor, who was from Arkansas, has died, and more than 4,200 of the ship’s nearly 5,000 crew members have been moved onto the island for quarantine.
As that outbreak continues, a second Navy ship at sea is now also reporting a growing number of infections. Navy officials said at least 18 crew members on the USS Kidd naval destroyer have tested positive, and one sailor has been evacuated to the U.S. The Kidd, with its crew of 350, is off the Pacific coast of Central America, where it has been operating as part of a U.S. counter-drug mission.
President Donald Trump has expressed seemingly contradictory views on the matter,. He initially blasted Crozier, calling his memo “terrible.” But a short time later he softened his take, saying he didn’t want to destroy someone who may just have “had a bad day.”
Fox News' Jennifer Griffin and Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report
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