In a profanity-laced reprimand, the acting Navy secretary, Thomas B. Modly, criticized the fired captain of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and rebuked sailors for cheering for him as he left the ship.
In a profanity-laced reprimand, the acting Navy secretary, Thomas B. Modly, criticized the fired captain of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and rebuked sailors for cheering for him as he left the ship.
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Audio Recording Captures Acting Navy Secretary Criticizing Ex-Captain and Crew
In a profanity-laced reprimand, the acting Navy secretary, Thomas B. Modly, criticized the fired captain of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and rebuked sailors for cheering for him as he left the ship.
But I tell you something. If this ship was in combat and there were hypersonic missiles coming at it you’d be pretty fucking scared, too. But you’d do your jobs. And that’s what I expect you to do. And that’s what I expect every officer on this ship to do, is to do your jobs. One of the things about his email that bothered me the most was saying that we’re not at war. Well we’re not technically at war. But let me tell you something. The only reason we’re dealing with this right now is because a big authoritarian regime called China was not forthcoming about what was happening with this virus. And they put the world at risk to protect themselves and to protect their reputations. We don’t do that in the Navy. We’re transparent with each other in the proper channels and with each other. And that’s what we’re supposed to do. And that’s what you’re expected to do. I got your list of questions. I’m very, very thankful to have gotten them. I know they’re all sincere. I don’t think there’s any agenda in any of those. But there’s a lot of them. And I’m going to answer every single one of them. But I’ve got to do it respectfully and I’ve got to take some time so you understand all the nuances of the questions that you’re asking. And there’s a lot of them here. So rather than answer them all today I’m going to take them back with me to Washington, and I’m going to answer them. And let me say one other thing. Everything I’m telling you guys right now, I will never, ever, ever throw you guys under the bus, in Washington or anywhere else — in the media, anywhere else. And I don’t — I expect you never to do that to your shipmates either. The ones on the shore right now who told me that when Captain Crozier’s email made it to the San Francisco Chronicle, after working 15-hour days, they were demoralized because they knew what they had been doing for you guys since the 25th of March to get you guys what you need. And the other thing you need to understand is we’re in, we’re in Guam. It’s a U.S. territory, but they have their own government and they have their own health care problems, and they’re scared too, just like every other part of the world. And the governor of Guam has stuck her neck out big-time with her own population to say that she is willing to open up hotel rooms all over this country or the state, this territory, so that sailors from the U.S.S. Teddy Roosevelt can go and be safe. Because she believes that you all are her brothers and sisters, her brothers and sisters who are protecting this place for her citizens. And so she’s willing to put all that at risk to take care of you guys. And she told me today when Captain Crozier’s letter came out in the public she had to then deal with all her constituents who were saying, holy crap, what’s happening, we’re going to have 5,000 people with Covid in our city without health — proper health care and everything else. 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. So I want to share something with you that I read at the Naval Academy graduation in 2018. I said it to the graduating class, but I’m going to expand it a little bit. I said, As officers and sailors in the United States military, you are given tremendous responsibility to respect and protect those who are placed under your command. The American people would trust you with their sons and daughters, and they place their security and the security of our nation in your hands. Do not expect to be loved by everyone for this, even though it may happen. As Secretary Mattis, my former boss, was fond of saying to us who were so honored to work with him at the Pentagon, he said, “Your job is to protect the nation.” So I’m going to give you a little bit of advice to make this important and often difficult job far easier on yourselves. My best advice to you is don’t ever be — don’t ever worry about being loved for what you do. Rather, love the country that you’re asked to defend. Love the Constitution you pledged your lives to protect, and most importantly, love the people you are ordered to lead. Make sure they eat before you do. Care about their families as much as your own. Be vested in their success more than your own accomplishments. Nurture their careers more than you pursue your own advancement, and value their lives to the point that you will always consider their safety in every single decision you make. It’s only through this level of servant leadership that you will maximize and empower those you lead to meet the demands that will face us.
Audio Recording Captures Acting Navy Secretary Criticizing Ex-Captain and Crew
In a profanity-laced reprimand, the acting Navy secretary, Thomas B. Modly, criticized the fired captain of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and rebuked sailors for cheering for him as he left the ship.
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