[USA Today] WASHINGTON ‐ Acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly was forced to resign after he mishandled the firing of the captain of the COVID-19-stricken USS Theodore Roosevelt, sources with knowledge of the decision have confirmed.
Modly offered to resign, according to a Capitol Hill source, and Defense secretary Mark Esper accepted, according to a Defense staffer, neither of whom were authorized to speak publicly.
Modly survived his initial decision to fire Capt. Brett Crozier after the aircraft carrier's skipper, whose leaked email to Navy officials showed him pleading for help as the coronavirus swept through the Roosevelt's 4,800-member crew. 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. He apologized Monday for his speech.
Modly had disparaged the former captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, calling him "too naive or too stupid" to command the stricken aircraft carrier before issuing a remarkable apology taking back the insults.
Should've kept his mouth shut. He's guilty of the same indiscretion he relieved the Captain over |