“Captain, USN, Departing.”
Much ballyhoo has been made about the case of Captain Bret Crozier, skipper of the TR, and his stand on taking care of his crew, however painted quixotically it has been. I never, ever thought that there would be a SECNAV dumber than Ray Maybus, but then along came Modly. As Bugs Bunny used to remark about someone stupid, “What a maroon.” One of the watch phrases we learned about at OCS Newport now 40 years ago was this “You never want to have a change of command without hors d’oevres.”

In the military, we have all sorts of levels of command, but nothing approaches the awesome responsibility of command-at-sea; something that was denied to us 16XX girls growing up. And it doesn’t matter how big or small your ship is – the crushing weight of the responsibility is just the same. The only difference is that on a carrier you’ve got a whole lot more admin help than you do on a fleet tug in Yokosuka. Navy Regs are pretty clear on that point:
0802. Responsibility.
1. The responsibility of the commanding officer for his or her command is absolute, except when, and to the extent to which, he or she has been relieved therefrom by competent authority, or as provided otherwise in these regulations. The authority of the commanding officer is commensurate with his or her responsibility. While the commanding officer may, at his or her discretion, and when not contrary to law or regulations, delegate authority to subordinates for the execution of details, such delegation or authority shall in no way relieve the commanding officer of continued responsibility for the safety, well-being and efficiency of the entire command.
2. A commanding officer who departs from orders or instructions, or takes official action which is not in accordance with such orders or instructions, does so upon his or her own responsibility and shall report immediately the circumstances to the officer from whom the prior orders or instructions were received. Of particular importance is the commanding officer’s duty to take all necessary and appropriate action in self-defense of the command.

Our attention is invited to the last sentence in 802.2.
There are a couple of other un-written “good deals” that go along with command, the most striking is that you are only as good as the weakest member of your command, and you are ultimately responsible for the actions of every member of your crew. This is not a job for the timid.

So, the brouhaha about Skipper Bret Crozier and what he did, rightly or wrongly in your own opinion to which you are entitled is open to question; but if you haven’t walked this walk, then shut the fuck up. There’s more than enough hand-wringing to go around about what happened to Bret, and the rampant speculation that he is going to be re-instated. That, in my mind, would be a mistake. Despite what he might feel or think, presuming I know anything about that, I wouldn’t go back. As the great Tom Wolfe wrote in his post-humous novel – “You Can’t Go Home Again.” It will never be the same, and now you have the ghosts of dead shipmates to deal with, and all of that now awful legacy.

After what happened, he cannot go back to walk those decks, and maybe never or at least for years after the ship has been de-commed. The memory and emotions are too raw. It took me more than 25 years to go back to see Midway as a museum piece, and that was after a happy time since we didn’t lose any of our friends in the good Gulf War. I’ve had the chance to be back onboard three times in the past few years and every time I salute the ensign at the stern and request permission to come aboard, I’m back there on that November day in 1990 after trapping in Miss Piggy, and I might get a little teary-eyed at the memory. There was something about that ship that I and 350,000 other shipmates can’t explain.

Vic knows a thing or two about it. Well, I gauran-goddamn-tee you that Bret Crozier should feel that same way about going back to the TR – re-instated in command when he never should have been relieved in the first place (see Navy Regs, above). While it might be tempting and make for some made-for-TV Hallmark movie kind of story, my advice is don’t do it, as it will never be the same. It is time to end that chapter of your life and go on to other things as she is not your ship any more.

We used to have a tradition in Naval Aviation reserved for those overly inquisitive guys in the squadron who identified what they thought were serious problems – we would reward their zeal and diligence by making them responsible for fixing what they had found out to be wrong; it used to be called Special Projects. Well, I think if I were in charge and had a sense of humor about any of this bullshit, I would appoint Captain Bret Crozier as the special DoN and/or DoD Special Projects rep for fixing the corona virus in the services. Rudyard Kipling had some nice verses for this situation – I invite you gentle readers to indulge with me:

If
“If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on;”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run –
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man my son!”

Do that well, and your career path to flag rank will be clear. Then you can go back to TR, be the CSG commander, and walk those decks again proudly. That would be poetic justice, and go a long way towards alleviating what must still be the crushing weight of command, and getting relieved for doing what you thought was right
I remain your faithful servant.

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