Until April 4, 2020, when he was fired, Captain Brett Crozier was a commander of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt. The captain, overwhelmed by the impending explosion of Covid-19 infection among his crew of 5000 sailors, decided to write an email requesting urgent help. The email was later leaked and published by the San Francisco Chronicle. The publication of the email made the entire situation at the aircraft carrier bare to the public, leading to the sacking of the Captain by the acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly. The communication from Captain Crozier and his sacking by the then-acting Navy Secretary has turned out to be a complex moral and ethical issue in the military, both in the United States of American and globally. Further, even outside the military cycle, this kind of situation would pose an ethical challenge to civilians and civil offers in their daily lives and duty. This essay examines the ethical dilemma that surrounds Captain Brett Crozier’s communication.
The Ethical Dilemma
Military around the world is known for strict and rigid adherence to the chain of command. It is unimaginable that a military leader can break the chain of command. Captain Crozier, however, broke the chain of command. Firstly, Crozier’s crew was being infected by the fast-spreading coronavirus, and he feared that the entire aircraft carrier would be paralyzed. At the time of making the communication through email, several sailors had been infected and the number was increasing. There was a lack of enough space for social distancing as required by the health authorities (Gafni & Garofoli, 2020). Further, there few beds for isolation for the sailors who had been infected. In such a situation needed the quickest response that would meet the urgency.
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The challenge with the rigid chain of command was that response could be relatively slow. However, strict adherence to the chain of command is what is needed in the military. Despite the urgency of the matter facing the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the commander was required by professionalism to go through the chain of command. Two of the things that were at stake in this situation are: ignoring the chain of command and professionalism to get the needed urgent help in stopping the spread of the disease, and adhering to the chain of command for professionalism while the disease spread and claim the lives of sailors (Gafni &Garofoli, 2020). Corona Virus spreads rapidly and the consequences of the spread are lethal.
Impact of the Communication
The immediate and most observable impact of the communication was the termination of Captain Brett Crozier`s responsibility as a commander. It also resulted in the resignation of the acting Secretary of Nary for mishandling the situation. The communication also resulted in dissatisfaction in the military leadership, and even some mild levels of political tension in the Trump administration. Grint (2020) asserts that, while doing everything to save human lives was right for the captain, violation of the military chain of command was wrong. This was the dilemma. For Captain Crozier, the fear was that his immediate leader in the chain could play down the issues and more sailors could die. It was for this reason that he probably avoided the chain of command. Surprising the issues could lead to a health crisis and the responsibility rested on Crozier to find a solution. The military commanders in the United States of America hold special responsibility regarding the physical and mental health of their crews. Article 0802.4 of the Navy Regulations state that, the commanders have moral responsibility and judicious attention to the welfare of persons under their control or supervision, including their health and physical fitness (Grint, 2020).
Juxtaposing the Situation in the Private Sector
The communication could have resulted in heated politics in the organization. Stakeholders could have taken sides and attempt to outdo each other. Further, the communication could have received an immediate response, with senior managers trying to salvage the situation to prevent negative financial implications of the virus on the business. Captain Crozier ought to have sent the message. However, passing the protocol was not supposed to be the first step. It was his responsibility to ask for assistance in the situation, and even state the urgency to his immediate senior officer. Fry (2020) states that the military of the United States of America is a specialized society that operates semi-autonomously. It is improper for critical communications to escape the confines of the military leadership and reach the civilians unnecessarily.
It is not the content of the email sent by the Captain that became the concern. In an intense investigation, including characterization of his communication, Captain Brett Crozier was established to have done little to prevent the sailors from contacting the virus beforehand. While the content of the email was right and necessary, its ethical issues can only be judged by the actions leading to its communication. To fail in one’s duty and then attempt to jump lines to get the issues resolves is unethical. Attempting to communicate with other senior military officers while bypassing the right protocol, qualifies as disobedience to orders that can lead to a martial-court charge. Further, disobedience to Covid-19 rules also constitutes disobedience to order that can lead to martial-court charges (Grint, 2020). While Brett Crozier tried to steer clear of the disobedience to Covid-19 health rules, he eventually went contrary to the laid down communication protocols.
Part 2: Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned from Captain Crozier`s Communication Crisis
From:
To:
Subject: Practical Lessons from the Recent Communication Ethical dilemma
I write to you as the expert in charge of all communications from the aircraft carrier. My aim of writing is to share with you some of the practical and applicable lessons worth drawing from the recent communication crisis involving Captain Brett Crozier. While there are several lessons to be learned, I have decided to share only two most important ones in my view.
Firstly, we learn that there is a need to exhaust all possible valid communication channels before attempting to disregard the chain of command. The best course of action in this situation could have been to follows the protocol first. He ought to have emailed his immediate senior leader. Further, he could clearly state the urgency of the matter and ask the leader to give feedback within a specified time. Since it was a chain of command, his senior would also communicate the information up the authority ladders carrying the same sense of urgency of the situation. Crozier could have insisted on response rather than mere channeling of information in a unidirectional manner.
Secondly, it is important that one considers all the possible consequences of the intended action before initiating the process. In disregarding the chain of command, Crozier violated the Navy ethical guidelines, irrespective of whether the intention was right or wrong. Further, the action of the Caption to disregard the chain of command would still be a violation of the Navy ethical guidelines even if his fear of suppression of the information was valid. Going forward to disregard the chain of command put the weakness of the sailors before the public, risking public safety of the nation.
I intend that these two important lessons should guide you as you perform your duty in the communication department of the USS Theodore Roosevelt.
Signed:
References
Gafni, M., & Garofoli, J. (2020). Captain of an aircraft carrier with a growing coronavirus outbreak pleads for help from the Navy. San Francisco
Chronicle. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Exclusive-Captain-of-aircraft-carrier-with-15167883.php#
Bigornia, V. E. (2021). U.S. Navy aircraft carrier prevents outbreak at sea in midst of COVID-19. Military Medicine . https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usab107
Fry, R. (2020). A captain’s first duty: Managing command disconnect in a Combat Zone. Different Drummers: Military Culture and Its Discontents , 81-88. https://doi.org/10.7330/9781607329527.c005
Grint, K. (2020). Leadership, management, and command in the time of the coronavirus. Leadership , 16 (3), 314-319. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715020922445
