Prior to writing the April 7 editorial on the removal of Capt. Crozier, “Navy secretary’s resignation in order, reconsider carrier captain’s case,” the author would have been wise to do more research. There was an excellent opinion piece in the April 7 Wall Street Journal written by retired Navy Captain William J. Toti. In the article "A Failure of Discipline Under Capt. Crozier's Command", Capt. Toti, while commending Capt. Crozier's concern for his crew and wanting to escalate the issue (which was done without concern for the chain of command), Crozier failed his responsibilities. He effectively recommended to take a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier offline, thereby negating the global mission of an entire battle flotilla.

Capt. Toti wrote that the actions his personnel exhibited as Crozier left the ship show that discipline was lax. Apparently social distancing was not part of his leadership philosophy and more than likely will cause more cases to develop. As a retired military officer, I always followed the principle that the mission comes first. As a leader, that is your number one concern. Yes, I cared for my people and took pride in getting them promoted, but not at the detriment of the mission.

Command is a privilege and Crozier violated that privilege.

Philip Spencer (Lt. Col., USAF, Ret.)

East Lyme