Ex-Navy captain fired over COVID memo says he’d do it again

(NewsNation) — Retired Navy Capt. Brett Crozier was relieved of duty in April 2020 when he sounded the alarm about the spread of COVID-19 aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

More than three years later, he says he would do it again.

“Leaders take care of people and ultimately, that’s what I was trying to do,” Crozier said Monday on “CUOMO” in his first prime-time interview since the reprimand. “I don’t think looking back I would have done anything differently.”

Crozier retired from the military last year and is now speaking about that incident and his broader 30-year career in his memoir, “Surf When You Can: Lessons in Life, Loyalty, and Leadership from a Maverick Navy Captain.”

As the pandemic began to grip the nation in March 2020, Crozier became increasingly concerned about the sailors aboard the Roosevelt, of which he was in command. The ship, deployed in the Pacific, was ordered to Guam when sailors began testing positive.

About 100 of the nearly 5,000 were offloaded, but Crozier asked — in a memorandum to naval officers — that almost the entire crew be evacuated over concerns that social distancing protocols could not be adhered to. The memorandum was leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle, and Crozier was relieved of command days later.

Then-acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly fired Crozier, saying the commander created a panic by widely distributing the memo that detailed the escalating virus outbreak on his ship and pleading with his leadership for help. Modly said Crozier “demonstrated extremely poor judgment” in the middle of a crisis.

Videos went viral of sailors chanting Crozier’s name and applauding him as he disembarked the ship.

“I think leadership is about one thing. It’s about taking care of your people, trying to empower them, trying to make sure you remove barriers, and you make sure you get the most out of them. So if you’re gonna do that and you’re gonna live that as a leader, then … the time comes you have to stand up for that,” Crozier said of his actions.

In telling the story now, Crozier says he isn’t bitter about what happened. Instead, he says he is blessed to have had the opportunity to fly helicopters and fighter jets and serve alongside fellow sailors.

“It was the the best job in the world,” he said. “Even now, I want to make sure I share all the positive lessons learned.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.