Last Thursday, the San Diego-based USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier pulled into Guam to test its crew as coronavirus began to spread through the ship. On Sunday, Capt. Brett Crozier warned “there will be losses” without immediate action by the Navy in a letter copied to “20 or 30 other people.”

Four days later, with plans to remove nearly 3,000 sailors underway as Crozier requested, he was removed from his post for disseminating his plea for help so widely in what Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said showed “extremely poor judgment.”

His firing isn’t quite as cut and dried as some may think. The military values norms for good reason. Chain of command is sacred. And the idea that the captain of an aircraft carrier would essentially disclose his crew’s unreadiness is a legitimate concern.

But Crozier’s decision was the right thing to do at a difficult time as clearly and emotionally demonstrated by a series of videos that surfaced Friday showing waves of sailors applauding him and chanting “Capt. Crozier” as if he were a war hero. He is.


It’s no wonder that Crozier was championed by countless social media users Friday as the cellphone videos went viral. The Pentagon reports 137 of the ship’s crew had tested positive for coronavirus — more than 10% of all the U.S. military’s confirmed cases — confirming Crozier was right to worry.

Crozier may have lost his command. But his selfless act gained the respect of military members, service families, veterans and everyday Americans.

