Expect to see more of these:

“Out of fear of retribution, the mother asked that neither she nor her [Sailor] be named” when discussing situation within U.S. Navy or the firing of TR’s captain. https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/04/03/mom-of-theodore-roosevelt-sailor-devastated-by-firing-of-crozier/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB%2004.03.20&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Military%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief

Being an effective senior leader requires you to unemotionally consider the outcomes of your decisions.

Firing Captain Crozier undoubtedly felt warranted to Acting Secretary Modly and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gilday... 2/

But consider the larger context:

1. 2017 ship collisions in Pacific created a significant breech of trust between senior Navy leadership and frontline Sailors.

2. Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher gets a pass for self-advocating on Fox News.

3/

3. Navy Secretary Spencer gets fired for his role (whatever it was — still unclear based on sheer amount of misinformation).

4. Captain of aircraft carrier takes a stand on behalf of Sailors. Despite specifics of action, captain garners goodwill with Sailors and public alike. /4

So, in this time of uncertainty, rather than handle any required disciplinary action informally, Navy leadership turns the Captain into a folk hero—likely not the outcome they expected... which is the whole point. This decision should have been better considered. /5

Add on top that reasons for firing was captain’s ‘alarmism,’ and failure to prevent leak by sending email to ‘dozens’ of people (and I’ll bet $5 ALL those recipients were either senior leaders or members of their staffs as-is standard procedure.) /6

End result: Furthered perception of breech of trust between senior Navy leadership and the Sailors they lead, erosion of trust with millions of Americans, and a terrible optic for the sea service after years of outsized challenges. /7

To quote an active duty Navy Captain I spoke with yesterday: “None of us feel like the Navy is operating anywhere close to the level of the top-notch organization we pretend it is.”

And that’s internal—not external—criticism.

Further rough seas ahead for U.S. Navy.