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Law360 (May 12, 2020, 6:45 PM EDT ) A U.S. Department of Defense watchdog has officially started to investigate the U.S. Navy's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a move the department announced the same day its highest-ranking admiral put himself in self-quarantine.
In a Monday announcement, the DOD Office of Inspector General said that it plans to determine what measures were implemented across the fleet to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus. The decision follows the Navy's own efforts late last month to expand its investigation into an ongoing coronavirus outbreak aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, which, the Navy says, has resulted in the death of at least one sailor so far.
"The objective of this evaluation is to determine whether the Navy has implemented policies and procedures to prevent and mitigate the spread of infectious diseases, such as [COVID-19], on ships and submarines," DOD Assistant Inspector General Randolph R. Stone wrote on Monday.
Stone's notice didn't mention the fatal outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, but Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, was quick to bring it up in a Monday statement he co-authored with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.
"This imperative evaluation will help get to the bottom of the deeply troubling reports about a bungled Navy response that resulted in nearly a quarter of the crew on the USS Theodore Roosevelt testing positive for the virus in addition to outbreaks on other ships and submarines," the lawmakers said.
Blumenthal and Van Hollen added that they hoped the Navy's investigation would determine if Capt. Brett Crozier, the former commanding officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, should be removed.
Just last week, Blumenthal grilled President Donald Trump's latest nominee for Navy secretary, Kenneth Braithwaite, on restoring trust in Navy leadership in the wake of both its contentious handling of the pandemic and high-profile incidents such as the "Fat Leonard" bribery scandal, which resulted in charges against Navy officials for allegedly accepting bribes to steer contracts. Braithwaite was nominated last month to take the place of former Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, who resigned after coming under fire for criticizing Crozier.
The announcement also came the same day the DOD announced that its chief of naval operations, Michael Gilday, would be going into self-quarantine after he had been in contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus. When Trump appointed Vice Adm. Gilday last year, he was the first three-star officer named to the Navy's top spot in nearly 50 years.
In an official message just last week, Gilday announced that the Navy's fleets would be given timelines to begin reopening. But Gilday also cautioned: "Physical distancing, face coverings, minimizing group events, frequent hand-washing, sound sanitation practices, [and] a questioning attitude on how we are feeling must be our new normal."
--Additional reporting by Daniel Wilson. Editing by Jay Jackson Jr.
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