Well, I have a new hero to look up to, Captain Brett E. Crozier, former commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt. Although he is a Naval Academy graduate, I will overlook that and instead focus on why he is my hero.
Captain Crozier commanded the USS Theodore Roosevelt a nuclear carrier. Most commanders of aircraft carriers go on to become admirals. It’s one of the definitive steppingstones to those ranks since the first aircraft carrier was commissioned in the 1930’s. That trend started then and has rightly been continued to the present day. Rightly because it is an awesome responsibility to command one of the nation’s ten carriers deployed all over the world as the military’s first responders to crisis, whether natural or man made. The technical and tactical knowledge required to lead such a ship are enormous and require decades of service and learning. Captain Crozier was commissioned 28 years ago, so he brought almost three decades of service and learning to his job. And the Navy threw all of that knowledge and expertise away because Captain Crozier decided that his sailors were more important than his career and his future almost assured promotion. That is selfless service and courage that should be emulated by all leaders and commanders in all of our services. It should be welcomed and rewarded rather than be punished by our civilian masters.
Our civilian masters under obvious pressure from above to relieve Captain Crozier of his command, failed the true test of leadership by their actions against Captain Crozier. Where was the brave civilian leader who refused to take this action? Where was the brave admiral who stood up and resigned over this action? There were none and frankly they are all moral cowards and not fit to be in their positions. You can’t lead if you won’t stand up for what is right despite what it may cost you. Captain Crozier clearly understood that and did what was right to take care of his sailors. So far those above him, whether military or civilian, have utterly failed to embrace that concept with their own actions.
The Navy wants it to look like Captain Crozier went to the newspapers before he notified his superiors of the need for helping his crew. That was not true. Captain Crozier had been reporting the Covid-19 problem on board from the first cases. He made recommendations to mitigate the problem and save his crew from further contagion. He got the standard higher headquarters response of “we’ll get back to you, we need to staff and study this some more”. That’s the standard higher HQ dodge when everybody is afraid to make a decision in what has become a highly politicized command environment where the commander-in-chief has meddled in Navy court proceedings, overruled court findings and reinstated sailors convicted of felonies. The Navy leadership, military and civilians, were like rabbits staring at the wolf in the room who said Covid-19 is a hoax or is not a big problem. None of them were willing to take the necessary measures to help sailors at risk because that would be saying the wolf is not comprehending the magnitude of the problem and might actually be just wrong. To say all of this is disgraceful is a colossal understatement. It’s more criminal than disgraceful.
When Captain Crozier left his ship for the last time the other day, his sailors spontaneously accompanied him as he departed and cheered him to the echoes. Those sailors loved Captain Crozier as much as he loved them. They knew he cared more about them than he cared about himself. I’m sure if I had the chance to speak with Captain Crozier, he would tell me that send off was the best thing that ever happened in his life. He earned it and I salute him as a true leader and commander. In these perilous times, we need more Brett Croziers and we should reward rather than relieve them. We should honor them and like his sailors, cheer them to the echoes.
At the link below are some of my own experiences and views on the subject from last June’s Army Magazine about taking care of soldiers. The article starts on p.40. It was a minor event and comes nowhere near what my hero Captain Brett Crozier did. I would like to think that I would have done the same thing he did. What courage! Captain Crozier was clearly ‘the man in the arena” and knew it and took action. He would have been aware of Theodore Roosevelt’s speech about the man in the arena. I’m sure it was posted somewhere on the ship for all to see.
https://lsc-pagepro.mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?i=587523&pre=1