Defense Secretary Mark Esper says he has an ‘open mind’ on the possibility of reinstating fired aircraft carrier commander

CNN — Secretary of Defense Mark Esper stated Thursday that he has “an open mind” on whether the Navy should reinstate the fired commanding officer of the coronavirus stricken aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The email was addressed to Rear Adm. Stuart Baker, the commander of the carrier strike group of which the USS Theodore Roosevelt is a component and Crozier’s immediate commanding officer. ‘No options off the table’ Esper’s unwillingness to rule out reinstating Crozier comes as the Navy has repeatedly said nothing is off the table and that no final decisions made with regard to the investigation. Asked if the reinstatement of Crozier would signal that his initial ouster was an error, Esper said “Again I can’t comment on that we’ve got to take this one step at a time, let the investigation within the Navy conclude itself if you will as they brief it up we’ll take things as we can and make very reasoned opinions and judgments as this progresses.” While much of the attention focuses on whether Crozier will be reinstated to command the ship, the Chief of Naval Operation’s investigation set up a deeper look into how top commanders were running the ship when the virus hit the crew.