AZGrizFan said:
Lots of mistakes made here....not the least of which was the shore leave....but he had a total of 155 cases of non-lethal sickness amongst a crew of over 5,000. It’s not like a carrier is carrying a boatload of 80-somethings with preexisting conditions...it’s 5,000 20-30 year olds in peak physical condition. The odds of any of them dying from this is about 0.01%. Hell, an aircraft carrier is one of the most dangerous places on EARTH already....many times multiple deaths occur on every WestPac....to shut it down and announce to the world that the ship was OOC was just about the dumbest thing he could have done. There was no logical reason to panic like he did....honestly, he wasn’t fit for command if that’s his reaction to a little stress.
I’m sure in the Navy’s after-action report on this (and there WILL be one done), they’ll look at the chain of events the led up to the letter being released and realize there were about 10 opportunities to break that chain....none were taken....some were presented to the CO, some were presented to others....any one of which would have broken the chain....but here we are. And I stand by the assertion that the Navy STILL did the right thing in relieving him of his command.
You really need to check your facts because my understanding Is the shore leave was in Dah Nang on March 5 not Korea. Also this port of call had been planned for over a year by the Navy i.e. the Trump administration and not by this captain. It was part of the pr campaign this administration is waging in its on going trade war with China to have another US carrier visit Vietnam. There were government dignitaries from both the US and Vietnamese at the port of call ceremony of only the 2nd US carrier to ever visit Vietnam. So there’s that.
I read in the military times that when a hotel that 30 sailors were staying had 5 British citizens at the same hotel test positive for covid-19 shore leave was canceled and every sailor who returned to the ship was tested before being allowed on board.
So riddle me this why was Trump dumping on the captain in his briefing today for saying it was dumb of him to have let his sailors visit Vietnam. Isn’t he the top of the chain of command and isn’t it ultimately he and his administrations call when and where warships visit during trade wars? Also why didn’t the military chain of command investigate the matter first rather then the acting secretary of navy (who told his colleagues that trump wanted the guy fired)simply fire him without an investigation? Also the fleet commander and his staff are stationed on board the captain’s ship you really think he failed to discuss the crisis with his Navy chain of command on his ship? This stinks of pure Trump incompetence and his narcissistic impulses to pass the buck and destroy a perceived never Trumper navy captain.
I did read the captains letter (everyone should) which was not a plea for help, as reported in the right stream media. Rather is it was a detailed request sent to the chain of command at the Pentagon but also leaked to the San Fransisco Chronicle by parties unknown in the chain of command to which it was sent (suspicion is it was actually leaked by someone in the acting secretary of navy’s office at the pentagon, probably payback by left over ally of the former fired by Trump secretary of the navy) to implement a plan formulated by the captain and his staff to handle the situation, by quarantining the majority of the crew in individual rooms or tents on Guam where they had been directed to steam to after the virus first showed up on the ship. He outlined that 10% of the crew would remain on board to administer to the reactor and other controls much like what routinely happens when ships dock and are out of service. He then formulated a plan to clean the entire ship and ventilation system and only permit crew back on board who been quarantined for 14 days on Guam and also tested negative (Guam has 8,860 hotel rooms) His letter also outlined that if need be in a time of war or crisis the ships crew would still immediately be able to get back to sea even while sick and still infected and still complete any mission. So that was the plan he requested to implement and for which he was fired by Trump. The Trump or Navy plan was to let the crew of 5000 continue to stay aboard the infected ship while anchored in Guam while the virus spread without adequate medical services and adequate facilities to properly quarantine the crew and slowly take of the crew not in mass like the captain requested to do.
Well guess who’s plan the Navy is now implementing to deal with the crisis? If you said the captain’s then you guessed right and you would have gotten fired for it also. They are doing exactly what he recommends in his letter, go figure. Lol Nothing like the top of the chain of command again taking zero responsibility for anything that happens on his watch, because he knows more then his generals and admirals right?
Sorry, but your assertion that the Navy did the right thing by relieving him of his command is totally off base. The Navy didn’t relieved him of his command, Trump did. On April 1st, the Navy i.e. the acting secretary of the Navy as reported in military.com, stated that the Captain absolutely would not be reprimanded or punished for his letter. So there’s also that. #winning :thumb:
