Defense Secretary Mark Esper publicly disagrees with USS Roosevelt captain's call...

....to immediately evacuate the warship after more than 100 sailors tested
positive for coronavirus - and admits he didn't read his letter pleading for
help

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...Roosevelt.html

*The USS Theodore Roosevelt was taken out of duty and docked in Guam last week
after 25 crew members tested positive for COVID-19

*Since then, more than 100 members of the roughly 5,000-person crew have
reportedly tested positive

*Captain Brett Crozier called to quarantine 90 percent of the crew on land in a
four-page letter to Navy top brass on Sunday

*'We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die,' the captain wrote

*Asked if it's time to evacuate the USS Roosevelt on Tuesday, Defense Secretary
Mark Esper said: 'I don't think we're at that point'

*He also said he has not 'had a chance to read [Crozier's] letter ... in detail'

*Pacific Fleet Commander Adm John Aquilino said the Navy is working on plans to
rotate some of the sailors off the ship and into isolation

*He emphasized that a full evacuation will not happen because the ship needs to
be prepared to go to battle at any moment

*There are 1,259 confirmed coronavirus cases in the US military as of Tuesday

*The Pentagon instructed bases and installations not to reveal specific case
counts last week so as not to give potential enemies an advantage

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper says it is not time to evacuate the
coronavirus-stricken USS Theodore Roosevelt after the warship's captain penned
an unprecedented letter pleading for the Navy's help in protecting its sailors
from infection.

The aircraft carrier was ordered to cease sail and docked in Guam last Thursday
after 25 sailors on board tested positive for COVID-19.

Since then, more than 100 members of the roughly 5,000-person crew have
reportedly tested positive.

In a four-page letter to Navy top brass that was leaked on Tuesday, Captain
Brett Crozier warned that the outbreak aboard the vessel is accelerating and
asked that over 4,000 sailors be removed and put in isolation.

'We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are
failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our Sailors,' Crozier
wrote.

Esper addressed the extraordinary plea during an interview with CBS News on
Tuesday evening.

'Well, I have not had a chance to read that letter, read in detail,' he said.

'I'm going to rely on the Navy chain of command to go out there to assess the
situation and to make sure they provide the captain and the crew all the support
they need to get the sailors healthy and get the ship back at sea.'

Asked by anchor Norah O'Donnell if it was time to evacuate the USS Roosevelt,
Esper said: 'I don't think we're at that point.'

Naval leaders have said they are working on plans to rotate some of the sailors
off the ship and into isolation - emphasizing that a full evacuation will not
happen because it needs to be prepared to go to battle at any moment.

In his letter, Crozier said the USS Roosevelt could respond and fight both the
enemy and COVID-19 if war were to break out, but right now, the Navy 'cannot
allow a single sailor to perish as a result of this pandemic unnecessarily'.

'Removing the majority of personnel from a deployed U.S. nuclear aircraft
carrier and isolating them for two weeks may seem like an extraordinary measure.
This is a necessary risk,' he wrote.

'It will enable the carrier and air wing to get back underway as quickly as
possible while ensuring the health and safety of our sailors.

'Keeping over 4,000 young men and women aboard the TR is an unnecessary risk and
breaks faith with those sailors entrusted to our care.'

Esper did not respond to Crozier's proposal directly during the CBS News
interview, but said the military is sending supplies and additional medical
support to the carrier 'as they need it'.

He also noted that none of the infected crew members are seriously ill.

'We are trying to make sure that we contain the virus, that we deploy testing
kits, and we get a good assessment of how much of the crew is infected,' he
said.

'And then, of course, taking other measures to ensure that we can get the
carrier up and ready again to continue its mission.'

After Esper said he had not read Crozier's letter 'in detail', O'Donnell read
back a few specific lines, calling the plea 'pretty stunning.

'He said 'sailors do not need to die' and he recommended removing a majority of
the personnel, is that under consideration?' the anchor asked.

'Well nobody, of course, needs to die, at this point in time, we are not at
war,' Esper replied.

'Priority number one is taking care of our service members and their families.'

O'Donnell also asked if he was concerned about military readiness as both US
aircraft carriers stationed in the Pacific, the Roosevelt and the USS Ronald
Reagan, have both reported cases of COVID-19.

'I am not. We have more than two carriers in the inventory,' Esper said. 'We
have a great alliance network of allies and partners who work alongside us to
keep threats at bay.'

The DoD secretary's comment's were backed by Pacific Fleet Commander Adm John
Aquilino, who on Tuesday said he is working as fast as he can to get a plan in
place to rotate sailors off the ship.

Aquilino told reporters on a conference call that the Navy is working with
Guam's local government to secure hotel rooms for sailors.

'We understand the request,' Aquilino said of Crozier's plea.

'We've been working it in advance, we continue to work it, and I'm optimistic
that the additional quarantine and isolation capacity being discussed will be
delivered shortly.

'But there has never been an intent to take all the sailors off of that ship. If
that ship needed to respond to a crisis today, it would respond.'

Aquilino said he understood that Crozier's concern 'is associated with the pace
that we get sailors off, not that we're not going to get sailors off' -
emphasizing that he has to balance protective measures for the crew with the
security and safety of the vessel itself.

'There are requirements that I have to protect that ship. I need to be able to
run the reactors, fight fires, do damage control, feed the crew that's aboard -
all those things are a requirement,' he said.

'The team that's aboard is working through how to do that while at the same time
executing our approach to delivering fully healthy and COVID-free sailors.'

'Some people want to compare a cruise liner to a ship, let me tell you there are
no comparisons,' Aquilino added, referencing the coronavirus outbreak on the
Diamond Princess cruise ship, which Crozier cited in his letter.

The fleet commander said that a plan is in place to rotate sailors into
quarantine facilities for 14 days, allowing them back on the boat after tests
confirm they are virus free.

'That is the best way, the most accurate way, to validate that a sailor does not
have the disease,' Aquilino said.

'The flow plan allows us to take some number of sailors off – so I can get to
some number that I would be comfortable with to do all the missions the ship
needs – work the remaining sailors through this quarantine/isolation/test model,
then clean the ship and put only healthy sailors back on.'

He echoed Esper's report that the sailors who have tested positive are
exhibiting only mild symptoms.

'I have no sailors hospitalized, I have no sailors on ventilators, I have no
sailors in critical condition, no sailors in an [intensive care unit] status on
Theodore Roosevelt,' he said.

On Tuesday afternoon, Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly told CNN that 1,000
crew had already been evacuated and 'more and more sailors are coming off the
ship and being treated'.

He said that most of the ship's crew would be evacuated but that a small staff
would need to remain on board to ensure that it was ready to be used in defense
of the country and its allies.

'It is a balancing act and we're working very hard to make that balance
acceptable,' Modly told CNN Tuesday afternoon.





*