SAN DIEGO — The former captain of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt — fired from command after sounding the alarm on an out-of-control coronavirus outbreak on board in 2020 — will retire from the Navy next month, the Navy Times newspaper reported Monday.
Captain Brett Crozier, a 30-year-Navy veteran, was removed from command of the Roosevelt — based in San Diego at the time — following the leak of a letter he wrote to Pacific Fleet commanders in which he implored the Navy to do more to protect the crew as dozens of sailors began testing positive for COVID-19. The ship was just a couple of months into a scheduled deployment to the Western Pacific when the outbreak began. It was sidelined in Guam but sailors were still living in close quarters on board as the virus spread unabated.
Immediately after Crozier's letter was made public, the Navy announced thousands of sailors would move off the ship. The next day, Crozier was fired from command.
