Lawmakers call for removal of Navy Secretary over USS Roosevelt debacle

[crickets]

Lawmakers call for removal of Navy Secretary over USS Roosevelt debacle

Multiple lawmakers called for Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly to resign or be fired after a massive backlash to Modly’s decision to relieve Capt. Brett Crozier, commander of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, after the latter urged his superiors to evacuate the ship for fear of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) spreading throughout his crew.

Lawmakers levied their calls against Modly on Monday after Task & Purpose published leaked audio of the service's top civilian using a speech to Roosevelt sailors regarding Crozier's departure to lash out at the captain over the leak of his now-infamous letter to his superiors. [snip]

The leaked audio and transcript of speech prompted lawmakers, already on edge over the abrupt removal of Crozier from the helm of the Roosevelt, to demand Modly resign or be removed from his position by Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. [more]

All Democrats, naturally.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

1. Of course all Democrats. GOP just means greedy old prevaricators.

[calimary]

71. Yep. Greedy Old Prevaricators.

Or, Greedy Old Putzes. (Since the GOP is still predominantly sexist.)

[BlancheSplanchnik]

77. Ha!, yes. Putzes!!!

I’m really hating the feeling of being on a runaway roller coaster.

[sarisataka]

2. I think a Navy Secretary

who believes addressing the crew of a ship over the 1MC to insult their popular former CO and berate them for supporting him, not realizing how detrimental it will be to morale or that it will immediately be picked up by the media to make a very bad situation much worse, is too naive and stupid to lead the Navy

[Chainfire]

5. I am a Navy Vet

Last edited Tue Apr 7, 2020, 01:48 PM - Edit history (1)

If the Secretary was trying to make the crew mad as hell and ruin their morale he did a great job. He was just a whiny little piss ant complaining about the way HE was treated over his action. He got the reception he deserved from the crew.

Contrary to what he said, it is the best possible situation when the crew love as well as respect their captain.* When they do, and they know the captain has their back, they will follow him through the gates hell and die for the captain, their shipmates, the ship and the country, probably in that order, if is required of them. Morale on a ship is everything.

The captain had their backs and got fired for it, no wonder they are pissed. I'm pissed too!

* it is acceptable for the crew to despise the XO.

[tblue37]

10. He just cost the Navy a bunch of reenlistments, I bet. nt

[MustLoveBeagles]

47. And first time recruits

[denbot]

16. *XO

This old Destroyerman LoL’d.

[Roy Rolling]

44. Best Comment I heard

The Acting NavSec earned a lot of enemies with his disrespect of the Captain. That makes the first time someone in the Trump administration has earned anything.

[Chainfire]

64. Yea, I served in the tin cans too

Mostly out of Mayport, Fl.

When I left A school I requested Mayport and cans. It was the only time in the Navy I got what I asked for. I bet someone was called got a captains mast for that one.

[bluescribbler]

60. I am also a Navy Vet

I agree with everything you said 100%. The bond between a Captain and crew is vital to the performance of a ship. I believe that there is no equal among the armed forces. When at sea, the Captain and crew are in daily contact. There needs to be trust and respect.

[Chainfire]

76. Hmmm

Why this place is just awash in squids.

[Lucinda]

3. good

[MelissaB]

4. I'm hoping some DUers with military experience can chime in.

I don't know, man.

Don't they need to gather the facts first?

Did he follow the chain of command? Why not? What does the Navy usually do when this happens?

The story plays well in the media, but what should really happen?

[Chainfire]

8. There is a process to discipline anyone who beaks the rules in the Navy, Captains included

It is not to fire him on the spot and insult him Publicly, and follow that up by insulting and demeaning him to his crew.

My hat is off to whoever recorded the conversation and made it public. Well done sailor!

[EndlessWire]

37. Well said. n/t

[UTUSN]

13. Actually, I *do* have a partly analogous story, re: the brute force response of some top brass.

Last edited Tue Apr 7, 2020, 01:18 AM - Edit history (7)

Analogous, yes: Because at bottom, the military has a follow-orders, authoritarian, my-way-or-the-highway orientation. Plus a culture of the chain of command lubricated by ass-kissing.

Analogous, perhaps or maybe not: Because this captain appears to be a whistleblower about his brass not protecting the crew, while the fellow in my story has no known motivation and some observable behavior that was inexplicable, while the way he was dealt with was similarly brutal.

So my ship in Vietnam was one in a group of seven, each with its Captain (actually, a Lieutenant for this small ship). Over the group was a "Commodore," a rank revived from the Civil War.

So the junior officer was in the entry level of Navy officers, Ensign. Each officer headed up a Department of his own - Engineering, Deck, Supply, etc. Of course there is a semi-Feudal class system, with the Captain as the king, the officers as nobility, and all us Enlisted as peons. It all can't function if there is no humanity in it, some kind of human kinship crossing the social barriers, camaraderie between the officer and his work force.

Yet as classes, the officers and Enlisted are always aware of the distinction between them. So while almost all of the officers had some degree of friendly relations with their Enlisteds, this junior officer, let's call him "JO" or Ensign JO, was the *ONLY* one who would OCCASIONALLY drop by the living quarters of us Enlisteds after evening chow, where we did our "living" - writing letters home, playing cards, somebody playing a guitar, etc. He would sit on a laundry bag and just talk a bit, mostly listen, find out who we were, etc. This was not some kind of unseemly fraternization, just that he was a nice guy.

So fairly late in my year's tour, we had one of those tizzies where the Word from the top is that something Big is decreed to happen and we are all thrown into doing stuff to Make It Happen. Some arbitrary, whimsical Word or something real, who knows. So this time the thing was that the COMMODORE was going to pay us a royal visit and we all had to drop our routine tasks and make the ship as spic and span as the rust bucket could be made to appear: "Paint this WHITE!1 Polish that brass thing!1" So that happened.

The royal visit happened while we were anchored in the River (in the Mekong Delta) at the Army base (Can Tho) where we were unloading our cargo - bulldozers, gigantic bags of cement, whatever it was that time (pallets of Coca Cola). Before somebody questions a ship being in a river: My ship was an LST (Landing Ship Tank) with a flat bottom for handling SHALLOW water as well as deep deep ocean, like what was used at D-Day; and these rivers in Vietnam were BIG AND WIDE. Still are. And my LST was built in 1945 maybe for D-Day but too late, and we were using it thirty years later, leaking at the rusty seams and all. Talk about putting crew at risk.

So perhaps it was to show off for the Commodore, whom I never saw, by the way, but the Orders for the Enlisteds on that night's Watch were that there was intel that Charlie might be sending Swimmers to outfit the ship with mines under the water line. So with typical military OVER?-compensation ('cause nobody wants to be blamed later for *UNDER* compensating if something goes horribly wrong), the Order was for each Watch to shoot off his (M16?) all night long at anything that moved - leaves floating by, anything - because it might be a "Swimmer in the Water". Or perhaps it was all intended to be a fireworks show for the Commodore. Fine.

But before night, every time we were at our destination of the Army base for the 3 or 4 days there, we were allowed to go to the Enlisted Men's Club ("bar" ), meaning, go get drunk and be back by 7 P.M. Since we were anchored out, we rode a Liberty Boat (Lifeboat repurposed for its current mission) to get there and back. So that would happen and everybody was always back on board as scheduled. We climbed up the Jacob's Ladder, and at the top as we stepped onto the deck, we had to salute towards the back (fantail) where the flag was (out of sight), and then salute the Officer of the Deck and say, "Request permission to come onboard, Sir!" And the OOD would say, "Permission granted," and we would proceed to our quarters, at times like Liberty in whatever stumbling condition we were in.

So the final Run by the Liberty Boat was done and everybody was accounted for - except for one, guess who, Ensign JO. Now to recap, this fellow had an image of being IMPECCABLE in his observable behavior, uniform, everything, with the added little icing of being a good human being. Of course, we Enlisteds knew nothing beyond external appearances, what personal dynamics, if any, went on, being the hidden lives of our overlords. About him, there had never been a whisper of any flaw. Officers go on Liberty, too, AND do things like get drunk or even perhaps visit sex workers - DO they, don't they?!

So the Liberty Boat made another Run or two or three to find him and finally, success. So I was the Messenger assigned to the OOD, standing behind and to the side of the OOD, seeing everybody as they climbed up from the Jacob's Ladder, first the head, then the arms pulling the body up, the salutes, and the stumblings off.

So there had been a tizzy about Ensign JO being missing, and finally here he was. He came up the Ladder (rope, by the way), no Cover (hatless), disheveled, khaki uniform askew. DRUNK or something AS A SKUNK, in that happy kind of drunk mood, where everything is FUN. And he stood himself up at Attention, and did a BIG salute, exaggeratedly so as for a theatrical stage, to his peer Officer (the sun had set so there was no flag to salute), as he said with booming emphasis, "REQUEST PERMISSION TO COME ON BOARD, *SIR*!1" The OOD gave him the most disgusted, infuriated, deadly look and snarled at him, "GET in there!1" So Ensign JO stumbled his way down the deck in the direction of Officers' Quarters.

The people on Watch had already been posted for the night, one each at the Bow (front), Fantail (back), and Starboard (right) and Port (left) sides, and the orders for the night were to "make noise," fire off the pieces sporadically and randomly. But suddenly, running up the deck towards the OOD area, came Ensign JO clad only in his skivvies, running past all, up the deck to the Bow, yelling, "SWIMMER IN THE WATER!1 SWIMMER IN THE WATER!1 DON'T SHOOT, DON'T SHOOT!1" And when he got to the Bow, he *JUMPED* off, making a really big splash, later in more ways than just the literal.

This LST was the length of a football field, a ship on the smaller side of things, with a crew of 250, not like the aircraft carrier in the news that has a crew of five thousand. So then, Sir Ensign JO *swam* from the Bow back to the Jacob's Ladder and made his second boarding of the night, dripping wet, barefoot, and with a couple of our toughest sailors as an honor escort. Somehow there has to be a kind of grudging, astounded admiration, at the minimum for the physical prowess involved - drunk, in the dark, among who knows what live critters or inanimate hazards, perhaps having fought off a Swimmer in the Water or two, if so, probably scaring the bejeezus out of the alleged Swimmers in the Water. Actually, when you think about it, he was the only crew who possibly engaged in hand to hand combat. I mean, our ship was hit by rockets on three separate days during my year, and we crew of course fired our big cannon and smaller 30? 40? caliber type of Gatling Gun things, but it was at a far distance to the treeline at the horizon, where the puffs of smoke from the rocket launchers were. So Ensign JO faced something close up.

So the scuttlebutt the next day was that, whatever happened in Officers' Quarters the night before, the next morning the Commodore had the four Enlisteds who had been on duty hauled up to stand at Attention in a row in front of Him, and after recapping the events of Ensign JO's episode, screamed at them: "You had ORDERS to shoot anything that moved in the water!1 --- YOU. SHOULD. HAVE. *SHOT* THAT MAN!1"

That part I didn't witness. But, the soon to be formerly-Ensign, JO was confined to Officers' Quarters for his last couple of days on board, only allowed to cross the passageway between his tiny 2-Officer stateroom and the Ship's Office located in the officers' area. And I had a proto-Forrest GUMP moment, since at that time my day job was to deliver the mail to different areas and the office was one of them. Normally, the four Enlisteds who worked there were there, but this day when I opened the door, there was only one person there: JO. His back was turned to the door. And there was an Akai reel tape recorder playing some instrumental Blues. Really blue Blues. Wailing, heart breaking Blues. In the hot, steamy air. (Can it be any more Blues here?) And his shoulders were hunched and he didn't turn to see. And I just looked briefly for a fossilized moment and left the mail on the desk and closed the door quietly. A mere Enlisted me could never have been so presumptuous as to address a human word to an officer.

**********So, within a day or two ex-Ensign JO was disappeared off the ship, never to be seen or heard from again. Yes, the career was over. Nobody could say a negative word about him before, and NO word was said about him after. What little I knew of him, he was a good man. Or was he? Did he seek out Enlisteds because he had problems among his peers? Why did he specifically pick the hyper-dramatic scenario of the Commodore's visit for this? Was he just on booze or were there drugs? I don't know.

As for how this relates to the Captain in the news: Things in play are the same. Whoever made the decision had some asskissing to do, also had to put the military retribution where the military MOUTH goes. And often, military judgment is brutally authoritarian and over-reaching. And military cogs all up and down the line are individuals, some willing to have one of their own shot.

[grantcart]

14. When he stopped by did he steal the strawberries?

[UTUSN]

17. I'm not through. You might be moved when I am. I have to Post because sometimes the text disappears

[grantcart]

19. I understand will look for the conclusion.

[Hekate]

23. Will return later...

I also sometimes have this trouble.

[Midnightwalk]

31. Replying to find later nt

[UTUSN]

56. Ah. Thanks for the reference. Had to look it up. I'm not well versed.

And yes, I should be aware of The Caine Mutiny.

There's a similar nuggett about the lack of proportionality in the military between an offense and the punishment (sometimes). In The Last Detail, made into a great movie with NICHOLSON, a raw kid is convicted of stealing $40 from the Navy Relief charity and is sentenced to FORTY? years in the Brig. Great movie that captures how blue collar Navy and Marines act. And the ending mirrors the brutal justice.


*** I'll just say that your making the reference is a compliment in assuming that I would recognize it. Thank you.

[erronis]

36. Waiting with bated breath for the next part. What you have written so far has been an

incredibly visual portrayal of a bit of life on your ship.

[UTUSN]

41. Thanks, but guess what. A Vietnam vet of the Army persuasion, when I told him this story,

had a visceral reaction of REPULSION. He said, "DON'T write that down!1 We have enough of a bad image with people!1"

******And actually, I shouldn't have gone around for fifty years telling people I wanted to write, because relatives and others have had the same reaction of NOT encouraging me to write, no telling SECRETS!1 And a smart somebody on the way to a really top career said to me, "Don't tell people you have a dream because they will tear it down."

But somebody recently said, "Just write it for yourself."


******* But as for the visual part, well, I have no imagination, can only write what I see and hear.

[dweller]

55. write it

for posterity...

no doubt of your honor sir

✌🏼

[bluescribbler]

66. I have a similar story

I n 1972, I was serving aboard a DLG, (Guided Missile Frigate), somewhere in the Gulf of Tonkin. Our skipper was a young CDR, (Commander), who had come directly to us from the staff of the CNO. All reports indicated that he was on track for bigger things. Some details are hazy, we may have been at Yankee Station doing planeguard operations with a carrier, we may have been at North SAR, (Sea Air Rescue), acting as advance warning for any enemy coming to attack the carriers operating south of us, or we may have been on the Gun Line, conducting NGFS, (Naval Gunfire Support, for all you landlubbers). Any way, we received word that the CNO, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, planned to visit the ship. Morale aboard the ship was not high, and this only made things worse. Theere was already a bit of a divide among the crew between the career enlisted and the younger sailors. The older vets fully supported the war effort and the President. The younger sailors were more skeptical But even the career enlisteds were grumbling about having to prepare for an Admiral's inspection given the circumstances of our deployment Now that I think about it, it seems more likely that we were on the Gun Line, because that put us on Port and Starboard GQ watches, with fire missions often coming without much warning. Anyway, the grumbling eventually made its way to the Captains ears and after some deliberation, perhaps in consultation with his senior officers, he sent a message that the CNO's visit would not be appropriate. CNO never came to visit.
Later still, he sent a message to Washington requesting a visit to Australia, New Zealand, and Pago Pago as we returned to the USA. Permission was duly granted. Again there was much grumbling, mostly because our deployment had already been extended for a month, and this would have extended further another 40 days, with only 10 days in port. The crew mostly wanted to get back to their families. One shipmate, in particular, was anxious to meet his newborn child. Before the final decision was made and orders were disseminated, the Captain decided to poll the crew. Many of the older vets were unhappy about this. "I don't remember taking a vote on whether to go to the gun line", I heard one PO1 say. I forget what the actual numbers were, but the crew voted overwhelmingly to forego the side trip, and to go straight home. In announcing the result, the Captain said, "If I add my 400 votes, which as Captain I can do, we would go to Australia. However, I won't do that. I understand the sentiment of the crew. I think you're making a big mistake, missing out on an opportunity, but I won't force the issue."
I often wonder what became of him. Did he remain on the fast track for promotion, or did these incidents sideline his career?

[UTUSN]

68. So the skipper sided with the crew? ZUMWALT was fairly popular, let beards be grown (all I can think

of, really). Goes to show, from our testimony that these situations are common in the Navy. Even in "Mister Roberts" there's a noble officer standing up for the downtrodden crew.

[bluescribbler]

69. Beards weren't all.

He also permitted us to wear civvies on and off the ship, and to grow our hair a little bit longer, though not as long as some of the younger sailors would have liked.

[UTUSN]

72. Yea, the personal lifestyle loosening of the rules, but I don't know what big systemic things he did

Must have done big things, has got at least one big vessel named after him.

[bluescribbler]

74. Also got his son killed

After he ordered the use of Agent Orange to defoliate the jungle.

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-14-mn-793-story.html

[zipplewrath]

30. There's an underlying hint here

You don't get to be Captain of an Aircraft Carrier being "inept or stupid"? I strongly suspect that two things were true. The captain had already tried to go through the "chain of command" and gotten nowhere. Most likely, the admiral to which he reported was on the aircraft carrier as well. I also am suspicious that this captain had figured out that his career was fizzling out and this was his last significant station. It was probably because he had spent too much time being the kind of captain he was and not the ladder climber one needs to be to become admiral. In any leadership position, one tends to get to a point where they have to choose between being a leader, and being a ladder climber. Many of us just can't sell out the people that got us where we are to get to where we might want to be.

[mountain grammy]

34. And you don't become captain of an

Aircraft carrier by breaking the rules. I completely agree with your post.

[zipplewrath]

35. More so

You don't become captain without knowing what those rules are, and how and when to obey them.

[mountain grammy]

45. Exactly..

The whole story will come out but I'd bet my last dollar he tried the chain of command first.

And then Trump was babbling about how they stopped in Vietnam, like it was a pleasure cruise. They were there for a scheduled ceremony celebrating dipomatic relations between the US and Vietnam.

[zipplewrath]

48. Yup

Cruises are planned in great detail, especially aircraft carriers. These aren't pleasure cruises.

[UTUSN]

52. Don't have a link but saw he is a descendant of The real Teddy R.? If so,

that is a little noblesse oblige type of privilege to exert a bit of personal heroics. It's not unknown in the military to have some paths to bits of unorthodox privilege.

[MaryMagdaline]

59. My guess is he wasn't looking forward to writing letters to parents

of his dead sailors:

“Dear Parent: Your Son/Daughter died under my command due to a virus their CIC labelled a hoax. Had I been able to talk leadership into removing them from ship for better medical care, they might have lived. However, I was too worried about my naval career to make a stink. Your Johnny/Jane paid the price. I’m sure you understand navy protocol though. Your kid signed up for this.”

[lpbk2713]

6. Yes. Dump the sycophant stooge.

He shouldn't even be in charge of a lemonade stand.

[cynatnite]

7. tRump saw the cheers from the crew for their captain and he lost his shit...

You know tRump's ego can't handle that kind of adoration unless it's for him.

tRump was hoping this would turn the crew by having Modly do that idiotic speech to them.

[DENVERPOPS]

33. These Republicans are soooo thankful McCain isn't still here.

I didn't agree with everything McCain did, but he would have laid this entire group of Republicans to whale shit for this.......

[MustLoveBeagles]

50. He would've been spitting nails that's for sure

[ffr]

9. You can use any of the transcript comments or see the 250,000 signatures over at Change.Org

Just sayin. This regimes gaslighting of Navy personnel is getting people fired up.

[Evolve Dammit]

11. WTF. All these kiss ass enablers are there for 1 thing. To destroy the agency they are representing

[gibraltar72]

12. A man who would fight and die for this country in war

should not have to be willing to die to coverup for incompetence and lies.

[Gothmog]

15. VoteVets wants this asshole fired

Link to tweet

[scarletwoman]

20. Here's the full statement from the VoteVets website:

https://www.votevets.org/press/statement-of-captain-ret-larry-seaquist-on-acting-navy-secretary-modleys-address-to-the-uss-teddy-roosevelt

Statement of Captain (Ret.) Larry Seaquist on Acting Navy Secretary Modley's Address to the USS Teddy Roosevelt
"If he took his own advice he would apologize and resign today. If he won’t, then Secretary Esper should immediately fire him."

Seattle, WA -- In a truly bizarre moment, acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modley addressed the sailors of the USS Teddy Roosevelt, about his decision to relieve Captain Brett Crozier of his command of the ship, in a rambling speech that caused sailors listening to the speech to react in shock.

The audio of the statement (heard here: https://soundcloud.com/paul-szoldra/acting-secnav-modley-criticizing-capt-crozier-to-sailors-onboard-uss-theodore-roosevelt) is met with one sailor asking, "What the {expletive}?!"

In response to the address, former commander of the USS Iowa, Captain (Ret.) Larry Seaquist of VoteVets released the following statement:

"According to Acting Secretary of the Navy, he was forced to fire the CO of USS Theodore Roosevelt when it became clear back in Washington that Captain Crozier had "panicked" and "cracked under pressure." Now it seems it was Mr. Modly who cracked under pressure, apparently from a White House angry that the Captain's attempt to take care of this crew was making the President and his team look bad. Mr. Modly didn't stop with reaching down to fire Captain Crozier personally. Apparently panicked by the wave of public disapproval, the Acting Secretary has again bypassed all the admirals in the operational chain of command. Jumping over the heads of the new CO and the ship’s officers he spoke directly to the crew still aboard the ship in Guam.

In a long, unhinged, and rambling rant he accused Captain Crozier of "betrayal," attacked the Chinese, dipped into presidential politics by going after Joe Biden, and whined at some length about his own situation.

Bizarre and inappropriate as Mr. Modly’s actions may be, vets will recognize a second, bigger problem: So far, the Navy chain of command has been silent, invisible. That is also very wrong and very dangerous. From George Washington on down, America’s military has been totally non-political, insulated by law and tradition from partisan politics. Captain Crozier put duty before career. We need to see our flag officers follow his example.

Ultimately, though, the Secretary – and the White House that is pushing him – continues to place their own image over the well-being of the crew, the integrity of our non-political chain of command, and the devotion to their duty that our active duty commanding officers deliver every day. That’s wrong. Every American needs to be confident that our civilian leaders are bringing as much professionalism to their high appointments as every American military man and woman brings to their duty every day. When not dropping the f-bomb and misrepresenting what had happened, Mr. Modly told the crew to do their duty.

If he took his own advice he would apologize and resign today. If he won’t, then Secretary Esper should immediately fire him."

[lpbk2713]

22. He's a punk.

Not worthy of addressing that crew.

[Gothmog]

24. Thank you for posting this

This asshole needs to be fired

[scarletwoman]

26. You're welcome! I had the page saved because I wanted to post it - I was glad you gave me

the opportunity.

And I heartily agree, that Modley asshole needs to go!

[crickets]

27. Oh, boy. Even the veterans are angry as hell.

Thanks for posting this, scarletwoman.

ETA and thanks to Gothmog, too. I went looking for more information and found a facebook video post from Captain Seaquist. I don't usually spend time on FB, but this video is worth the click just to hear him say the words "rogue White House."

Retired Navy Captain Larry Seaquist is not mincing words, in support of Captain Brett Crozier, who was just relieved of command of the USS Teddy Roosevelt

[Haggis for Breakfast]

46. You bet we're angry.

In all my years in the NAVY, I NEVER heard such an unprofessional, inappropriate (replete with vulgarities, too) and insulting speech to any crew. It was little more than self-serving perfidy.

He insulted every Sailor on that ship and displayed total disregard for NAVY etiquette. And I wonder if it even entered his hair-plugged head the possible damage to morale on the Teddy Rose at a time of turmoil and governmental chaos. Sailors are looking for leadership right now and they're getting this snizzwad.

In the end, it is Captain Brett Crozier who emerges as the best the NAVY has to offer. I'd be honored to have served with such a good man, a CO who placed the health and safety of his crew above politics. Will it cost him that star he was headed towards ? Possibly, but he will always he hailed as a hero, and he will be remembered for the lives he saved.

He said it best, "We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die." That crew deserved the best health care available, not to be abandoned by this clusterfuck of an administration.

Sadly, it has been reported that he, too, is infected with COVID-19.

[James48]

57. Oh- My GOD! That sound clip HAS to get out there!

As a retired Army Officer- I have to say that this audio SoundCloud HAS to get high exposure immediately-

In it, this Acting Navy Secretary :

Says the Captain Betrayed the ship’s crew-
(He didn’t. )

Says the ships Captain EMBARRASSED the Trump Administration- (They did it to themselves)

Says they can elevate something up the chain, but can NEVER let the American people find out about it!

Calls the Media “the enemy” and says they have “an agenda against this administration”.

Calls out Biden and introduces brash partisan politicization to the Navy .

THIS MUST NOT STAND.

The partisan politicization of the Armed Forces is the worst destructive thing they can do, and they are doing it.

That, more than anything else, is dangerous!


Somebody- PLEaSE! Extract that SoundCloud Audio, and make it it’s own post, and SHARE IT! 🗽

[scarletwoman]

67. I believe that audio file has been successfully disseminated quite widely already,

since Modley issued an apology yesterday - see this thread: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=13244881

[Paladin]

18. 1. Fire that shithead Modly.

2. Put Captain Crozier back in charge of the USS Roosevelt.

3. Award Crozier the highest honor possible---other than the Presidential Medal Of Freedom (giving it to Limbaugh ruined it).

[cstanleytech]

21. "All Democrats, naturally." Well the Republicans take their marching orders from Russia these days

and Putin wants to undermine our military so of course the Republicans will not truly object to what Modly said other than some token Republicans of course.

[wildcats75]

25. Why No Republicans???

No Republican will step into this shit storm because they know President tRump had his hands all over this firing. If they speak out, we all know what will happen. He's a vindictive SOB and these Republicans have all surrendered. We all saw it during the impeachment fiasco.

[cstanleytech]

40. Because they do not have Putins approval yet to come out against this action but just as soon as

Moscow Mitch is given his marching orders you can bet he will pass them down onto whatever Republicans he has been ordered to pass them down to.

[Absolute Kelvin]

28. Modly is trying to ACT like a Navy Secretary, and is Failing

Just like Trump is trying to act like a President. Same result.

[Skittles]

39. no, he is performing for Trump

bad move

[CentralMass]

29. Another arrogant republican SOB.

[RayStar]

32. Got to go

Got to go NOW!

[erronis]

38. This is just part of appointing political commissars to oversea federal agencies and military

organizations.

This is the model from the USSR.

This is what Putin wants to resurrect and Delirious J Trumpkin will try to enact in the US.

[stillcool]

42. I listened to that today...

This virus is bringing out so many glaring stories of good vs. evil. People are revealing themselves in the most naked way possible, removing all doubt about who they are.

[sarge43]

43. Other aspect of this I haven't seen mentioned: The combat readiness of the Roosevelt

The responsibility for combat readiness and the welfare of the crew go hand in hand. Whoever fired Crozier just killed the messenger, not the message. If Whoever thinks this takes care of the problem, he'd better think again. Either every commander from a Basic Training Squadron to an Army Corps will keep silence about COVID19 breaking out in their unit which could then become ineffective or they will speak up. Then, Whoever will have a decision to make -- fire them or deal with it.

He'd better deal with it or it will become much worse than just one ship, an important ship, losing its readiness. There is no such thing as social distancing in the armed forces, regardless of branch. As another DU so elegantly put it, it's nuts to butts. The virus could tear through the service like a blow torch through tissue paper.

Of all the mindless, malevolent mistakes Trump and his lackeys have made, trashing canning Captain Crozier is at least in the top five.

[zipplewrath]

49. Rotations have already been canceled

People in overseas assignments have already had their duties extended 60 days to prevent having to rotate people through those positions. Which hints at how long the military thinks this will last.

[sarge43]

51. I understand stateside rotations have been put on hold.

I don't even want to think what the boot camps are like; they're petri dishes at the best of times. Beating the obvious to death, these aren't the best of times.

[Baked Potato]

53. Thanks for this... agreed.

Combat readiness is everything.

[sarge43]

54. You're welcome.

All Along the Watch Tower comes to mind.

Killing the messenger is the most stupid act command can commit. After that one, "We'll tell only what you want to hear, not what you need to hear."

[yuiyoshida]

58. Give Modly Hell!

And Trump too.

[BeckyDem]

61. This is important on so many levels. Thanks to all!!

[Gothmog]

62. This asshole was ordered to apologize

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Firestorm49]

63. Blah, blah, blah. They can't even get people to adhere to a legally issued subpoena.

[ck4829]

75. Navy's rage is building up

[Chainfire]

65. Like every other decision from the Trump administration

It was a knee- jerk reaction, taken without contemplation, due process or sound judgement.

You can bet that Dr. Death was behind the firing, and now he is throwing the NavSec under the bus. When they called "Moldy" an "acting" secretary, they meant it literally. The fungus needs to acting as unemployed now.

We have got to get an adult in the White House and there has to be a wholesale replacement of boot-lickers.

[calimary]

70. How 'bout giving his job to Captain Crozier?

That would be fitting, and most appropriate.

Gonna keep that in mind as an "ask" for our next Call to action email re: Modly. Lock him up!

[Cozmo]

73. WAS he STUPID or CARELESS by Letting this leak to the media?

You mean-spirited fucking FUCK!

[malaise]

78. And he's gone

Good riddance