�������ýҕ�l

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned on Tuesday after he faced mounting backlash for firing and ridiculing the commander of a U.S. aircraft carrier who pleaded for help stemming a coronavirus outbreak onboard. Modly’s resignation highlighted the U.S. military’s struggle to meet increasingly competing priorities: maintaining readiness for conflict and safeguarding servicemembers as the virus spreads globally. (Ali and Stewart, 4/7)

Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, who accepted Modly’s resignation, said in a memo that he had “the greatest respect for anyone who serves our country, and who places the greater good above all else.” “Secretary Modly did that today, and I wish him all the best,” Esper said. The decision comes after Modly traveled from Washington to Guam on Monday to give a speech to the 5,000-member crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, whose commander, Capt. Brett Crozier, Modly removed last week. (Lamothe, Sonne and Kim, 4/7)

“After mismanaging the COVID-19 outbreak on the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt, it became obvious that Acting Secretary Modly had forfeited his ability to lead the Navy,” said Rep. Adam Smith (D., Wash.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Mr. Modly’s resignation capped a month in which sailors on the Theodore Roosevelt were stricken by the coronavirus at sea, with the virus rapidly spreading among the crew, leading Capt. Brett Crozier, the commander, to write and distribute a memo demanding support getting the sailors off the carrier. After the memo was leaked to news organizations, Mr. Modley relieved him of duty, saying Capt. Crozier went outside the Navy’s chain of command. (Lubold and Goldon, 4/7)

An aircraft carrier sidelined by a coronavirus outbreak. A promising captain fired for requesting help as infections spread among his 5,000 sailors. And a service leaderless once more, after the acting Navy secretary resigned Tuesday following an uproar over a profanity-laced address to the ship’s crew. The Navy has weathered its share of crises, and in the past few months saw the previous Navy secretary forced out over his handling of a war crimes case, and the man selected to be its top admiral instead retire due to an improper professional relationship with a former staffer who was accused of making unwanted sexual advances to several women. (Seligman, 4/7)

In the speech aboard the Roosevelt, Modly said that if Crozier didn’t think the letter would leak, he was “too naive or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this.” Alternatively, Modly said, if Crozier leaked the letter on purpose, that would be a “serious violation” of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. (Kheel, 4/7)

A sailor assigned to the USS Nimitz, a Bremerton, Wash.-based aircraft carrier, tested positive for Covid-19 last week after experiencing symptoms while on board the ship, according to three defense officials familiar with the matter. The positive test makes the Nimitz the Navy's fourth aircraft carrier so far to report a positive case among crew members. (Bertrand and Seligman, 4/7)