House panel launches investigation into Roosevelt coronavirus outbreak after captain’s firing upheld

The House Armed Services Committee will conduct its own investigation into the coronavirus outbreak aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, its chairman said Friday.

Chairman Adam Smith’s (D-Wash.) announcement comes after the Navy released the results of its probe, including a decision not to reinstate Capt. Brett Crozier, who was removed from command of the ship amid the initial uproar over the outbreak.

“The department’s civilian leadership portrayed Capt. Crozier’s decision-making aboard the Roosevelt as the critical weakness in the Navy’s response, but the truth is that civilian leadership was also to blame,” Smith said in a statement.

“In order to better understand the full range of mistakes that were made throughout the entire chain of command, the House Armed Services Committee has launched an investigation into the COVID-19 outbreak aboard the Roosevelt,” he added.

In April, Crozier was fired by then-acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly after a letter he wrote pleading for help with the outbreak leaked in the media. Modly himself resigned after he gave a speech aboard the Roosevelt berating Crozier.

The virus ultimately infected more than 1,000 crew members, killing one.

Navy leaders had initially recommended reinstating Crozier in April at the conclusion of a preliminary investigation.

But the Navy said Friday that a more thorough investigation revealed Crozier made serious errors in judgment, including not adhering to protocols such as social distancing to stem the virus’s spread on the ship and being slow to evacuate sailors from the ship when it arrived in Guam.

“Had I known then what I know today, I would have not made that recommendation to reinstate Capt. Crozier,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday said at a press briefing. “Moreover, if Capt. Crozier were still in command today, I would be relieving him.”

In addition to upholding the decision to fire Crozier, the Navy is suspending the promotion of Rear Adm. Stuart Baker, the one-star commander of Carrier Strike Group 9 and the senior officer onboard the Roosevelt at the time of the COVID-19 outbreak.

In his statement, Smith said that “everyone up and down the chain of command had a role to play in the inadequate response.”

“While the committee works on our own investigation, it is my hope that the Navy will learn from this series of mistakes,” Smith said. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over,” he added. “The Navy and DoD will continue to grapple with the challenges presented by the pandemic for months to come. Civilian leadership at the Department of the Defense is crucial to our national security, and as such they must be held accountable as we move forward.”

Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said in his own statement that it “is clear that there are lessons to be learned and improvements that must be made.”

Thornberry also declined to specifically comment on Crozier, saying he does “not believe it is appropriate for Members of Congress, who are outside the chain of command, to comment on individual personnel actions. Doing so is too often unfair to the individual service members involved and their leadership.”

In the Senate, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who previously requested an inspector general investigation into the situation on the Roosevelt, said they have “serious reservations” about the decision not to reinstate Crozier.

“We will carefully review the Navy’s report, but we are disappointed that the initial recommendation to reinstate Captain Crozier has been rescinded without any major new findings of fact,” Blumenthal and Van Hollen said in a joint statement. “When the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning to take hold, there was no formal training in place and the military was responding — like the rest of the world — without clearly defined safety precautions. The Navy’s decision now seems to apply a retroactive standard and after-the-fact procedures and practices to justify Capt. Crozier’s firing.”