Acting US Navy secretary resigns after outcry over criticism of virus-stricken crew

Thomas B Modly, the acting Navy secretary, resigned Tuesday after his bungled response to an outbreak of the novel coronavirus aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt engulfed the Navy in a public relations disaster, Defense Department officials said.

Modly’s departure is the latest in a string of events that began last week, after The San Francisco Chronicle published a letter in which the Roosevelt’s commander, Capt Brett E Crozier, pleaded with the Navy to help contain the virus that had spread rapidly through his ship.

The Navy has announced more than 170 coronavirus cases aboard the Roosevelt since the outbreak started in late March, after the ship had docked in Da Nang, Vietnam.

Modly fired Crozier on April 2 after accusing him of circumventing the Navy’s traditional chain of command by copying more than 20 people on the emailed letter.

The firing sent shock waves through the crew, which was only exacerbated Monday when Modly flew to Guam, where the Roosevelt is now docked, and said Crozier was “too naïve or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this.”

He also rebuked the crew for having cheered their captain as he left the ship.

Pressure had mounted to remove Modly, presenting a stark choice for Defense Secretary Mark Esper: convince President Donald Trump that his appointment to the Navy’s top civilian job, Thomas B Modly, is no longer fit to serve, or allow a controversy ignited by Modly to engulf the entire military.

Esper has carefully followed the administration line since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, including urging military commanders overseas not to make any decisions related to the virus that might surprise the White House or run afoul of Trump’s confident messaging on the growing health challenge.

But Modly may have taken Esper’s warning too far when he harshly rebuked the crew and captain of a nuclear aircraft carrier.

Modly fired a respected Navy captain after he wrote a letter imploring officials for help as the coronavirus spread across the Roosevelt. Modly then flew to Guam and berated the carrier’s crew. With those actions, Modly turned what could have been a straightforward health matter into a political crisis.

Even Trump, who initially backed Modly’s handling of the issue, seemed to be having second thoughts Monday. “I may look into it,” the president told reporters, “from the standpoint that something should be resolved.”

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