7th April, 2020
U.S. acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly has resigned.
It followed his mishandling of the firing of Captain Brett Crozier of the COVID-19-stricken USS Theodore Roosevelt.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced Modly’s resignation.
Esper said Modly voluntarily resigned.
“He resigned on his own accord, putting the Navy and sailors above self so that the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and the Navy as a whole, can move forward,,” Esper said.
Modly survived his initial decision to fire Crozier.
Crozier in leaked e-mail, pleaded for urgent help as coronavirus swept through the 4,800-member crew warship.
Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Adm. Mike Gilday, the chief of naval operations, voiced support for Modly’s move.
But Modly’s decision to fly to Guam to visit sailors and explain his decision in a profanity-laced speech proved to be his undoing.
Modly reportedly disparaged the former captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, calling him “too naive or too stupid” to command the stricken aircraft carrier.
He later apologised for the insults.
is the new acting Secretary of the Navy.