Navy Secretary Thomas Modly Rips Captain Brett Crozier

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T

By Zachary PetrizzoApr 6th, 2020, 1:42 pm

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly backed the decision to fire Captain Brett Crozier in a blistering speech to sailors of the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier on Sunday.

Crozier, who lead the USS Theodore Roosevelt, was relieved of duty last Thursday after a letter leaked in which he sounded alarms about a coronavirus outbreak on the ship.

In a subsequent speech to sailors on that ship, first reported by The Daily Caller and confirmed by CNN, Modly billed the letter as a 'betrayal of trust.'

Modly's speech, delivered to the Crozier-loving crew of sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt in Guam Sunday, didn't hold back, harshly criticizing the former captain's decision making aboard the ship he once navigated.

'If he didn't think that this information wasn't going to get out into the public, in this day and information age that we live in, then he was either A, too naive or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this. The alternative is that he did this on purpose,' Modly said.

After Modly's comment bashing Crozier, one sailor can be heard responding, 'What the fuck!'

Modly continued to tear into Crozier, 'So think about that when you cheer the man off the ship who exposed you to that¦ I understand you love the guy. It's good that you love him. But you're not required to love him.'

The acting Navy secretary further accused the former captain of 'betrayal' by not going through the proper 'chain of command' in regards to his sounding of the alarm on the outbreak.

'And I'm gonna tell you something, all of you, there is never a situation where you should consider the media a part of your chain of command,' Modly said.

At high noon on Monday, Task & Purpose obtained audio of the speech delivered to the crew of sailors.

UPDATE: After the audio was made public, Modly stated that he stands 'by every word' of his speech to the crew.

NEW: Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly says, 'I stand by every word,' after reportedly calling Captain Crozier 'too naive or too stupid' to be in command. pic.twitter.com/Qcbf3JQKqb
' Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) April 6, 2020

Read the full speech here, and listen above.

This post has been updated with additional information.

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Brett CrozierCNNThe Daily CallerThomas ModlyUS Navy

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