Malaysiakini:
Captain of coronavirus-hit US aircraft carrier calls for help
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US aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt or US virus carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt |
The captain of the US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, in a blunt letter, has called on Navy leadership for stronger measures to save the lives of his sailors and stop the spread of the coronavirus aboard the huge ship.
The four-page letter, the contents of which were confirmed by US officials to Reuters on Tuesday, described a bleak situation on board the nuclear-powered carrier as more and more sailors test positive for the virus.
The Navy puts the ship's complement at 5,000, the equivalent of a small American town.
The letter was first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Captain Brett Crozier, the ship's commanding officer, wrote that the carrier lacked enough quarantine and isolation facilities and warned the current strategy would slow but fail to eradicate the virus.
In the letter dated Monday, he called for "decisive action" and removing over 4,000 sailors from the ship and isolating them. Along with the ship's crew, naval aviator and others serve aboard the Roosevelt.
"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 (below) wrote.
The four-page letter, the contents of which were confirmed by US officials to Reuters on Tuesday, described a bleak situation on board the nuclear-powered carrier as more and more sailors test positive for the virus.
The Navy puts the ship's complement at 5,000, the equivalent of a small American town.
The letter was first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Captain Brett Crozier, the ship's commanding officer, wrote that the carrier lacked enough quarantine and isolation facilities and warned the current strategy would slow but fail to eradicate the virus.
In the letter dated Monday, he called for "decisive action" and removing over 4,000 sailors from the ship and isolating them. Along with the ship's crew, naval aviator and others serve aboard the Roosevelt.
"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 (below) wrote.
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Captain Brett Crozier, Commanding Officer of US aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt |
The carrier was in the Pacific when the Navy reported its first coronavirus case a week ago. It has since pulled into port in Guam, a US island territory in the western Pacific.
Acting US Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said he had heard about the letter on Tuesday morning and that the Navy has been working for several days to get the sailors off ship in Guam. Modly said Guam did not have enough beds, and the Navy was in talks with the local government to use hotels and set up tents.
"We don't disagree with the (commanding officer) on that ship, and we're doing it in a very methodical way because it's not the same as a cruise ship ... that ship has armaments on it, it has aircraft on it," he said on CNN.
80 aboard tested positive
US officials, also speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that nearly 80 people aboard the ship had tested positive for the virus, a number likely to increase as all personnel on the ship are tested.
Still, the Navy declined to confirm exactly how many people aboard the Roosevelt have been infected.
Reuters first reported last week that the US military has decided it will stop providing some of the more granular data about coronavirus infections within its ranks, citing concern that the information might be used by adversaries as the virus spreads.
But the Theodore Roosevelt is just the latest example of the spread of the virus within the US military. Navy officials say that sailors onboard a number of ships have tested positive, including an amphibious assault ship at port in San Diego.
The first US military service member, a New Jersey Army National Guardsman, died on Saturday from Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, the Pentagon said on Monday.
As of Tuesday, 673 active duty service members had tested positive for the coronavirus, an increase of more than 100 from the previous day, the Pentagon said in a statement.
Acting US Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said he had heard about the letter on Tuesday morning and that the Navy has been working for several days to get the sailors off ship in Guam. Modly said Guam did not have enough beds, and the Navy was in talks with the local government to use hotels and set up tents.
"We don't disagree with the (commanding officer) on that ship, and we're doing it in a very methodical way because it's not the same as a cruise ship ... that ship has armaments on it, it has aircraft on it," he said on CNN.
80 aboard tested positive
US officials, also speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that nearly 80 people aboard the ship had tested positive for the virus, a number likely to increase as all personnel on the ship are tested.
Still, the Navy declined to confirm exactly how many people aboard the Roosevelt have been infected.
Reuters first reported last week that the US military has decided it will stop providing some of the more granular data about coronavirus infections within its ranks, citing concern that the information might be used by adversaries as the virus spreads.
But the Theodore Roosevelt is just the latest example of the spread of the virus within the US military. Navy officials say that sailors onboard a number of ships have tested positive, including an amphibious assault ship at port in San Diego.
The first US military service member, a New Jersey Army National Guardsman, died on Saturday from Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, the Pentagon said on Monday.
As of Tuesday, 673 active duty service members had tested positive for the coronavirus, an increase of more than 100 from the previous day, the Pentagon said in a statement.
Meanwhile in Washington DC, as in Putrajaya for our Malaysian issues, CNN reported that:
Asked about the letter, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told CBS Tuesday, "Well, I have not had a chance to read that letter, read it in detail. Again I'm going to rely on the Navy chain of command to go out there to assess the situation and make sure they provide the captain and the crew all the support they need to get the sailors healthy and the ship back at sea."
As evasive as our ministers.
Meanwhile, another Navy official said of the rapid spreading coronavirus cases on board the aircraft carrier and that the Navy expected the statistics to increase.
And on Monday, a US defense official told CNN that a second US aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, is also facing a "handful" of positive cases.
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US aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan |
CNN also reported: However, despite the large number of cases aboard, senior US military officials have insisted that the ship is capable of performing its missions.
"If that ship had to sail today for combat it's ready to sail right now if it was needed," Maj. Gen. Jeff Taliaferro, the vice director for operations for the Joint Staff, told reporters Monday. "The appropriate measures are being taken for folks who have tested positive," he added.
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Maj. Gen. Jeff Taliaferro Vice director for operations, Joint Staff |
American organisations like the military are quite ruthless in their respective management, and in my reckoning, the career of Brett Crozier, Commanding Officer of US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, is kaput.
The US military has always been paranoid about security and public disclosures of embarrassing situations by any of its officers and other ranks have never been welcomed even if the disclosure has been for the safety of its personnel.
I believe his statement: "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" has been one of the finest examples of a caring commanding officer, unlike the bureaucrats in the Pentagon and Washington DC.
One final question - where did the sailors picked up the virus? Wuhan?
I believe his statement: "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" has been one of the finest examples of a caring commanding officer, unlike the bureaucrats in the Pentagon and Washington DC.
One final question - where did the sailors picked up the virus? Wuhan?
Russia, North Korea and Iran are paying very close attention.
ReplyDelete"We may not need nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, fighter jets or nuclear bombs. We only need a virus"
the carrier ported at vietnam danang earlier march, i learn abt this from a taiwan talkshow as well. n if u care to google n check, u wont ask another stupid question.
ReplyDeleteso? my question was "where did the sailors picked up the virus?"
Deletethat it ported at danang doesn't explain/reveal much
your response or rather assumption (that the sailors picked up the virus at danang) was outright presumptuous apart form being stupid, wakakaka
stupid, yr question end with wuhan.
DeleteIt's an airport on sea. Virus can be brought in from incoming aircraft.
DeleteHY, which shows that the virus needn't be from Wuhan as Trump Administration keeps bleating - hell, it could be from Kaohsiung, wakakaka
DeleteWakakakaka…
DeleteKnow-nothing shot from the mouth + trusted lies-monger of Formosa!
When the carrier ported at Da Nang, Vietnam earlier march, the confirmed Covid-19 score of Da Nang is less than 6!
As of March 30, 2020, in total, there are 203 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Vietnam.
So what did those 台湾水炮 farted about?
Ah Mok's question was a stupid one to start with.
Deleteccp first claim the virus from usa, then italy n the latest one is germany, no kaoshiung yet. so u better make up yr mind where wuhaaaaan virus originated.
DeleteHY if you asked, then it's kaoshiung, wakakaka
Deletethat is exactly what the carrier chief trying to defend, when they stop at danang, vietnam hv less than 100 case. in fact usa started with one case, all countries oso started with one case except ccp china, which nobody know. btw, now ccp tell the world their number exclude asymptomatic, so who is farting?
Deleteof course stupid question deserve stupid answer. i am perfectly fine.
DeleteHY, you're just too keen to blame China wakakaka - the sailors probably picked up the virus from Guam
Deleteit's unlikely an American warship would be infected by other than an US or allied port (eg. Japan, South Korea, Sing and today, India). China has since last year banned USN ships from visiting HK
glad you admit your answer has been stupid - it's OK, we know that for a long while, wakakaka
Stupidities know no bound - even from those who keep labelling other stupid!
DeleteTruly know-nothing shot from the mouth mfers!
my guess is danang bec i cancel my danang backpack trip in march. i read many danang news related to wuhan virus, danang badly affected n the tourism board boosting the good news there is 4000 american from roosevelt is coming. u think the 4000 go danang for vietnam coffee n meditation kah? on what basis u said infection is not likely from danang?
Deleteand until today no scientific report can proof the virus is not from wuhan, n that is y ccp hv to keep twisting the origin, if one msia smartass like ck come out n tell penang perhaps hv wuhan virus since sept 2019, the entire china social media would start their hysterical finger pointing that wuhan virus started in penang, thats how ccp zombie work, cdc use the term today n ccp twist it to jul n aug, simply bec the first probable case in wuhan is sep 2019.
i skip the stupidity part, too stupid to merit further response.
Mfer, do u notice that if yr f*cked-up diatribe was written as:
Delete"and until today no scientific report can proof the virus is not from US, n that is y Yankee doodles hv to keep twisting the origin, if one msia smartass like hy come out n tell penang perhaps hv wuhan virus since sept 2019, the entire us social media would start their hysterical finger pointing that wuhan virus started in penang, thats how yankie zombie work, cdc use the term today n Yankee doodles twist it to jul n aug, simply bec the first probable case in wuhan is sep 2019."
BTW, I have to re-use yr twisted timeline to make yr diarrhea relevant!
Mfer, if Da Nang had undetected SARS-CoV-2 virus running wild amongst those locals, why the Yankee navy got explosive infections after the incubation period (14 days) while the infected case in Da Nang remains only at 6 till this day?
Oooop… Da Nang locals have super covid-19 resistance while the Yankee navy r pampered lots! Right?
Indeed, skip the stupidity part, too stupid to merit further response.
Wakakakaka…
DeleteLying is indeed yr second nature!
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/vietnam-to-bar-entry-for-foreigners-suspend-all-inbound-international-flights
So, u cancel yr Da Nang backpack trip in march!
Ooop… u have big cable in that Vietnam 白眼狼 top brass to allow u in ……
Sometime, those who blow their (s)trumpet DON'T know they have thin facial skin, even though with super thick makeup!