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Law360 (April 7, 2020, 9:54 PM EDT) -- Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly has resigned after coming in for heavy criticism for harsh comments about a Navy captain whose concerns about COVID-19 among his crew were leaked to the media, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday.
Modly resigned by his own choice following pointed comments about Capt. Brett Crozier, the former commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, Esper said in a statement. The move would allow the carrier and the Navy as a whole to "move forward," Esper added.
"His care for the sailors was genuine," Esper said. "Secretary Modly served the nation for many years, both in and out of uniform. I have the deepest respect for anyone who serves our country, and who places the greater good above all else. Secretary Modly did that today, and I wish him all the best."
In his resignation letter, Modly — a former Navy pilot who had originally been appointed as the Navy's chief management and information officer — said his five months as acting Navy secretary had been the "honor of my life."
Modly had replaced former Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, who resigned in November. Contact details for Modly were not immediately available.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., who had urged Modly to resign after his criticism of Crozier, said in a statement Tuesday that the resignation was "the right thing to do."
"After mismanaging the COVID-19 outbreak on the [Roosevelt], it became obvious that acting Secretary Modly had forfeited his ability to lead the Navy," Smith said. "His actions had become a distraction at a time when we need the Navy to be focused on preserving the safety of our sailors and maintaining the readiness of our fleet."
Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, the committee's ranking Republican, did not directly criticize Modly, but said his resignation "should allow the country to put this episode behind us and allow sailors to focus on the very important missions at hand."
"All of our service members, including our sailors, deserve to be able to do their best on the tasks assigned to them without unnecessary distractions," Thornberry said.
Crozier was relieved of command after a March 30 letter he sent to Navy leadership was leaked to the media. The letter urged the evacuation of his crew after the Navy allowed around 100 sailors who had tested positive for coronavirus to leave the carrier, but had left thousands more on board.
In an Apr. 2 statement announcing Crozier's removal, Modly argued that the captain, although "no doubt [doing] what he thought was in the best interests of the safety and well-being of his crew," had undermined the Navy's chain of command.
Crozier had also exercised "extremely poor judgment" by sending his letter over an unsecured email system, as well as by copying the email to people outside his immediate superiors, and information in the letter "could have emboldened our adversaries to seek advantage," Modly said.
Modly visited the Roosevelt, stationed in Guam, on Sunday and in a speech over the ship's public address system — a recording of which was subsequently leaked on the internet — said that if Crozier had deliberately leaked his letter, he had seriously violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
If Crozier hadn't believed his letter would be made public, he was "too naive or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this," Modly said, urging sailors not to go to the media in any situation.
Modly also rebuked the ship's crew for cheering Crozier as the captain was removed, saying that although he "[understood] you love the guy," they had overlooked their duty to protect national security interests by supporting Crozier after he had exposed important information about the ship's status.
A defiant Modly initially stood by his comments on Monday afternoon, before reversing course that evening after lawmakers began calling for him to resign, apologizing to Crozier and the Roosevelt's crew "for any pain my remarks may have caused."
Jim McPherson, the undersecretary and general counsel of the Army and a former Navy vice admiral, will replace Modly as acting Navy secretary, while the Senate considers a permanent nominee, retired Rear Adm. Kenneth Braithwaite, Esper said.
--Editing by Peter Rozovsky.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
