Santori
2020-03-30T15:34:23+00:00
翻译自CNN的全文 [url]https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/06/politics/thomas-modly-transcript/index.html[/url]
限于英语水平可能存在不少错误，请以原文为准~
在知乎也放了一份在审核中，MODLY真是NNNNNB，讲话真刚啊。全文：
[quote]
自从在这里第一次发现COVID案例后，我一直想来这艘船上。我上周二去洛杉矶看望安慰号后就计划来这里。因此，我想让你们知道，从一开始，高层绝没有忽略这里的情况。
在这场危机中，我非常非常早就通过秘书长向你们的舰长(CO)伸出了援手。星期天，我告诉他我想来船上，讨论这样是否可行，是否会造成混乱。我告诉他，我希望能够提供帮助，我会提供任何需要的东西来保证你们的健康、安全，尽管这些努力都在幕后。他朝我摆摆手，说他觉得情况在控制之中。大约在周日一天前，他很忧心，进展不够快，他仍然想增加床铺，他认为(译者：可能指Modly上舰这件事)没有必要。他一直与我的秘书长交流，来回发电子邮件。
[/quote][quote]
星期天晚上，他发送了那封电子邮件。那封电子邮件发给了很多人。我知道至少20个。我们相信它的转发范围远超于此。随即，《旧金山纪事报》(San Francisco Chronicle)将其登报，公开了一艘海军战舰物质状况的敏感信息。从我的观点看，如果他不认为这些信息会泄漏给公众，在这个信息时代，那么他太天真了，或太愚蠢，不够格成为这样一艘船的指挥官。另一种选择是他故意这样做。这严重违反了《统一军事司法法典》。如果他通过机密方式发送给指挥系统，这份文件是很有用的，以便指挥系统可以采取行动。实际上，他本可以通过秘书长将其交给我，就像当初我和他联系时要求的，在第一次发现COVID病例时。
他背叛了我——他指挥链上级——的信任。也背叛了你们，背叛了那些在岸上的800-1000个船员。他们每天忙得火烧屁股，从日常工作中转向保证你们的安全和健康，保证你们能待在岗位上。
[/quote][quote]
那是背叛。我告诉你们另一件事：因为他这样做了，把它放在公众论坛上，在华盛顿特区和全国各地，这件事都引起了很大争议，一个诉苦的舰长，没有得到他需要的帮助，但这种求助必须通过指挥链，指挥链不包括媒体。我告诉你们，所有人。任何情况下，都不应将媒体视为指挥链的一部分。你可以跳过指挥链并承担后果，可以不服从指挥链而承担后果，但是在任何情况下，别碰媒体。因为媒体有议程。他们的议程取决于他们坐在政治的哪一边。很抱歉，这就是国家现在的样子，但这是事实。他们(译者：应指媒体)使用这件事来分裂我们。他们用这件事使海军尴尬。他们用这件事使你们难堪。
(此段读不明白)
你们正在面对世界百年未见之大规模问题，美国人民相信着你们。美国人民认为，美国海军和我们的水手可以解决世界上所有的狗X问题。美国海军可能会感到压力，可能会疲倦，可能会害怕，但他们会解决狗X问题，并且照顾在岸上的工作人员。他们不会把愤怒指向岸上的人。工作人员在问，我们如何能帮助舰员？我们能做什么？我该如何帮助我的E3？我是E4。我很担心。我该怎么做才能帮助这艘船上的E2和E3？那是你的职责(译者：可能指待在船上)。不要抱怨。
每个人都害怕(疫情)。但如果在战争中高超音速导弹袭来，你们最好也不要吓得哇哇叫。干你的工作。这就是我希望你做的，也是我希望这艘船上的每位军官做的，干好你的工作。
[/quote][quote]
这封电子邮件最困扰我的一件事，是说我们没在战争状态下(所以舰长呼吁让全员下船)。好吧，从技术上讲我们没在交战。但是，让我告诉你们，为什么我们现在在要面对这些问题，就是因为转置政权XX在病毒爆发时未提供信息。他们为了自己的面子将世界置于风险中。我们海军不这么做。我们彼此之间，在适当的渠道中交流是透明的。这就是我们应该做的，也是你应该做的。
我拿到了一个你们的问题清单。我很高兴能拿到它。我知道这些问题都很真诚。我不认为里面有政治议程。但是问题有很多，我想要一一回答，我会认真地做，这需要花一些时间，以便理解这些问题的所有细微含义。这里有很多细节。所以，我将把它们带回华盛顿，而不是今天全部回答，我会回复的。
[/quote][quote]
另一件事，我永远不会背叛你们，让你们面对华盛顿或哪的媒体的压力。而且我希望你们也别这么干(让同僚受到媒体的压力)。现在岸上的工作人员告诉我，当克罗齐尔舰长的电子邮件被发给《旧金山纪事报》时，他们士气低落，感到沮丧。自3月25日以来他们一直在为你们工作，做准备，已经一直干了15天。
另一件事是我们在关岛。这是美国的领土，但他们有自己的政府，医疗系统也面对很多问题，这里的人很害怕。关岛总督竭尽全力说服居民，用酒店客房接收来自航母的水手，以保障他们的安全，因为她认为你们都是她的兄弟姐妹，你们保卫着这里。因此，她愿意冒一切风险来照顾你们。
她今天告诉我，当克罗耶尔船长的信公开时，她不得不与所有选民打交道，那些人嚷嚷着：“真该死！这里会有5000名COVID患者，医疗根本不够。”
因此，你们在那个男人下船欢呼时，请考虑一下，他把你们暴露出来(译者：可能指关岛居民)。我能理解你们爱他。你爱他没问题。但是你不需要爱他。
[/quote][quote]
我想与你们分享我在2018年海军学院毕业时讲的一些话。我在毕业班上说的，这里会扩展一下。我当时说，作为美国军队的官兵和水手，必须尊重和保护受你们(译者：指当时毕业的同学)指挥的人。美国人民信任你们会照顾好他们的儿子和女儿。他们将自己的安全和国家的安全置于你们的手中。不要指望被每个人喜欢，也许有时会这样。我以前做过前部长马蒂斯(Mattis)的秘书，我很荣幸能为他工作。他很喜欢说，“你们的工作是保护国家。”
所以我对你们提点建议，为了完成这项艰苦重要的工作。建议是，永远不要操心自己是不是被爱。相反，爱你被要求捍卫的国家。爱你承诺用生命保护的宪法。
重要的是，去爱你的下属。确保有饭他们先吃。像家人一样关心他们。更关心他们的成就，而不是自己的。比起自己的成功，更关心他们的职业生涯。珍视他们的生命，在做任何决定时始终考虑他们的安全。只有通过这样的领导，才能最大限度地发挥你的下属的能力，以满足本世纪新需求。这些需求每天都变得更复杂，我们要保持学习。但这也将在服役期间为你带来令人难以置信的个人满意度。
[/quote][quote]
西奥多·罗斯福号的船员。你们没有义务去爱你的领导，只需要尊重他。您没有义务去喜欢自己的工作，只需要完成它。除了公平对待你们并将船舶任务放在首位以外，你没有义务期望领导者去做更多。
本舰的任务至关重要。你们都知道。但是在我看来，你们的舰长对此视而不见，为了博取更多关注，故意泄露了有关你们身份的重要信息。据我的判断，一个核动力航母指挥官的这种行为是不能容忍的。即使我确定他从未想到过，这会把你们处于极大的风险中。我知道，他爱你们所有人。但是他没有意识到罗斯福号(TR)为何在这里，为什么在这场COVID危机中将你们布置在这里。
你们的祖国正在苦苦挣扎。没有人想要这种大流行病。我们都在努力工作，在美国本土的水手们正在志愿服务，穿上制服并投身到纽约、洛杉矶、达拉斯和新奥尔良等地的危机中。我看到他们无所畏惧地冲进去，应对COVID灾难。
任何人都不容易。但从一开始，我们和我的下属就一直致力于尽可能快地，给你们提供所需帮助。但你们必须理解，面对这种独特危机，需要时间来做好准备。
但是罗斯福号必须坚强，是战士，不是脆弱的受害者。罗斯福号必须优雅地，而不是惊慌地面对这一问题。罗斯福号必须向公民们展示他们正在行动行动，正在击退这种病毒。就像它将击垮愚蠢的、认为能乘虚而入的，X国人、俄国人和北朝鲜人一样。
[/quote][quote]
我并不试图控制或改变，解除掉你们爱戴的舰长职务后，你们对我的愤怒。如果我能向你们展示，做出这个决定后，向我本人和我家庭涌来的仇恨和纯粹的邪恶就好了。这没关系。这不是仅仅为了我自己。美国前副总统拜登(Joe Biden)昨天才暗示我的决定是犯罪。我向你保证这不是。因为我了解事实，这些事实表明，在我们期望你们的船长成为动荡局势定海神针的时候，他做错了，非常非常错误。
这个决定对我个人来说没有好处。你可以相信或不相信。我做出这个决定，是为了我爱的海军，为我曾经服役过的、现在仍为之服务的海军。为了我负责的水手，不仅对你们，还对整个舰队近300艘船。你们舰长的行为也影响到他们。试想一下，如果其他所有舰长都认为媒体是一个合适渠道，来聆听对其指挥链的不满。我们将不再有海军。此后不久，我们将不再有国家。
我理解你们有些人余生中可能都会抱着对我的愤怒。我知道有很多人这样。但是生气不是你们的责任。对彼此，对这艘船，对建造这艘船以保护自己的国家，你们抱有责任。即使处在意料外的危机中，这艘船的任务仍然至关重要。我们的对手一直在盯着我们，这就是为什么我们在这里。我们将为你们提供所需的帮助。你可以对我有个人意见。从第一天起，你们的舰长就对我有个人意见。无论你们对我有什么看法，我都不会说什么。无论你们是否讨厌我，对罗斯福号，我永远也不会放弃这艘船，你们也不应该放弃。感谢收听，我们将在本周晚些时候详细解答你们的问题。前进，美国海军！
[/quote]
限于英语水平可能存在不少错误，请以原文为准~
在知乎也放了一份在审核中，MODLY真是NNNNNB，讲话真刚啊。
编辑记录 ...
0408：海军参谋长改成海军秘书长
[quote]
自从在这里第一次发现COVID案例后，我一直想来这艘船上。我上周二去洛杉矶看望安慰号后就计划来这里。因此，我想让你们知道，从一开始，高层绝没有忽略这里的情况。
在这场危机中，我非常非常早就通过秘书长向你们的舰长(CO)伸出了援手。星期天，我告诉他我想来船上，讨论这样是否可行，是否会造成混乱。我告诉他，我希望能够提供帮助，我会提供任何需要的东西来保证你们的健康、安全，尽管这些努力都在幕后。他朝我摆摆手，说他觉得情况在控制之中。大约在周日一天前，他很忧心，进展不够快，他仍然想增加床铺，他认为(译者：可能指Modly上舰这件事)没有必要。他一直与我的秘书长交流，来回发电子邮件。
[/quote][quote]
星期天晚上，他发送了那封电子邮件。那封电子邮件发给了很多人。我知道至少20个。我们相信它的转发范围远超于此。随即，《旧金山纪事报》(San Francisco Chronicle)将其登报，公开了一艘海军战舰物质状况的敏感信息。从我的观点看，如果他不认为这些信息会泄漏给公众，在这个信息时代，那么他太天真了，或太愚蠢，不够格成为这样一艘船的指挥官。另一种选择是他故意这样做。这严重违反了《统一军事司法法典》。如果他通过机密方式发送给指挥系统，这份文件是很有用的，以便指挥系统可以采取行动。实际上，他本可以通过秘书长将其交给我，就像当初我和他联系时要求的，在第一次发现COVID病例时。
他背叛了我——他指挥链上级——的信任。也背叛了你们，背叛了那些在岸上的800-1000个船员。他们每天忙得火烧屁股，从日常工作中转向保证你们的安全和健康，保证你们能待在岗位上。
[/quote][quote]
那是背叛。我告诉你们另一件事：因为他这样做了，把它放在公众论坛上，在华盛顿特区和全国各地，这件事都引起了很大争议，一个诉苦的舰长，没有得到他需要的帮助，但这种求助必须通过指挥链，指挥链不包括媒体。我告诉你们，所有人。任何情况下，都不应将媒体视为指挥链的一部分。你可以跳过指挥链并承担后果，可以不服从指挥链而承担后果，但是在任何情况下，别碰媒体。因为媒体有议程。他们的议程取决于他们坐在政治的哪一边。很抱歉，这就是国家现在的样子，但这是事实。他们(译者：应指媒体)使用这件事来分裂我们。他们用这件事使海军尴尬。他们用这件事使你们难堪。
(此段读不明白)
你们正在面对世界百年未见之大规模问题，美国人民相信着你们。美国人民认为，美国海军和我们的水手可以解决世界上所有的狗X问题。美国海军可能会感到压力，可能会疲倦，可能会害怕，但他们会解决狗X问题，并且照顾在岸上的工作人员。他们不会把愤怒指向岸上的人。工作人员在问，我们如何能帮助舰员？我们能做什么？我该如何帮助我的E3？我是E4。我很担心。我该怎么做才能帮助这艘船上的E2和E3？那是你的职责(译者：可能指待在船上)。不要抱怨。
每个人都害怕(疫情)。但如果在战争中高超音速导弹袭来，你们最好也不要吓得哇哇叫。干你的工作。这就是我希望你做的，也是我希望这艘船上的每位军官做的，干好你的工作。
[/quote][quote]
这封电子邮件最困扰我的一件事，是说我们没在战争状态下(所以舰长呼吁让全员下船)。好吧，从技术上讲我们没在交战。但是，让我告诉你们，为什么我们现在在要面对这些问题，就是因为转置政权XX在病毒爆发时未提供信息。他们为了自己的面子将世界置于风险中。我们海军不这么做。我们彼此之间，在适当的渠道中交流是透明的。这就是我们应该做的，也是你应该做的。
我拿到了一个你们的问题清单。我很高兴能拿到它。我知道这些问题都很真诚。我不认为里面有政治议程。但是问题有很多，我想要一一回答，我会认真地做，这需要花一些时间，以便理解这些问题的所有细微含义。这里有很多细节。所以，我将把它们带回华盛顿，而不是今天全部回答，我会回复的。
[/quote][quote]
另一件事，我永远不会背叛你们，让你们面对华盛顿或哪的媒体的压力。而且我希望你们也别这么干(让同僚受到媒体的压力)。现在岸上的工作人员告诉我，当克罗齐尔舰长的电子邮件被发给《旧金山纪事报》时，他们士气低落，感到沮丧。自3月25日以来他们一直在为你们工作，做准备，已经一直干了15天。
另一件事是我们在关岛。这是美国的领土，但他们有自己的政府，医疗系统也面对很多问题，这里的人很害怕。关岛总督竭尽全力说服居民，用酒店客房接收来自航母的水手，以保障他们的安全，因为她认为你们都是她的兄弟姐妹，你们保卫着这里。因此，她愿意冒一切风险来照顾你们。
她今天告诉我，当克罗耶尔船长的信公开时，她不得不与所有选民打交道，那些人嚷嚷着：“真该死！这里会有5000名COVID患者，医疗根本不够。”
因此，你们在那个男人下船欢呼时，请考虑一下，他把你们暴露出来(译者：可能指关岛居民)。我能理解你们爱他。你爱他没问题。但是你不需要爱他。
[/quote][quote]
我想与你们分享我在2018年海军学院毕业时讲的一些话。我在毕业班上说的，这里会扩展一下。我当时说，作为美国军队的官兵和水手，必须尊重和保护受你们(译者：指当时毕业的同学)指挥的人。美国人民信任你们会照顾好他们的儿子和女儿。他们将自己的安全和国家的安全置于你们的手中。不要指望被每个人喜欢，也许有时会这样。我以前做过前部长马蒂斯(Mattis)的秘书，我很荣幸能为他工作。他很喜欢说，“你们的工作是保护国家。”
所以我对你们提点建议，为了完成这项艰苦重要的工作。建议是，永远不要操心自己是不是被爱。相反，爱你被要求捍卫的国家。爱你承诺用生命保护的宪法。
重要的是，去爱你的下属。确保有饭他们先吃。像家人一样关心他们。更关心他们的成就，而不是自己的。比起自己的成功，更关心他们的职业生涯。珍视他们的生命，在做任何决定时始终考虑他们的安全。只有通过这样的领导，才能最大限度地发挥你的下属的能力，以满足本世纪新需求。这些需求每天都变得更复杂，我们要保持学习。但这也将在服役期间为你带来令人难以置信的个人满意度。
[/quote][quote]
西奥多·罗斯福号的船员。你们没有义务去爱你的领导，只需要尊重他。您没有义务去喜欢自己的工作，只需要完成它。除了公平对待你们并将船舶任务放在首位以外，你没有义务期望领导者去做更多。
本舰的任务至关重要。你们都知道。但是在我看来，你们的舰长对此视而不见，为了博取更多关注，故意泄露了有关你们身份的重要信息。据我的判断，一个核动力航母指挥官的这种行为是不能容忍的。即使我确定他从未想到过，这会把你们处于极大的风险中。我知道，他爱你们所有人。但是他没有意识到罗斯福号(TR)为何在这里，为什么在这场COVID危机中将你们布置在这里。
你们的祖国正在苦苦挣扎。没有人想要这种大流行病。我们都在努力工作，在美国本土的水手们正在志愿服务，穿上制服并投身到纽约、洛杉矶、达拉斯和新奥尔良等地的危机中。我看到他们无所畏惧地冲进去，应对COVID灾难。
任何人都不容易。但从一开始，我们和我的下属就一直致力于尽可能快地，给你们提供所需帮助。但你们必须理解，面对这种独特危机，需要时间来做好准备。
但是罗斯福号必须坚强，是战士，不是脆弱的受害者。罗斯福号必须优雅地，而不是惊慌地面对这一问题。罗斯福号必须向公民们展示他们正在行动行动，正在击退这种病毒。就像它将击垮愚蠢的、认为能乘虚而入的，X国人、俄国人和北朝鲜人一样。
[/quote][quote]
我并不试图控制或改变，解除掉你们爱戴的舰长职务后，你们对我的愤怒。如果我能向你们展示，做出这个决定后，向我本人和我家庭涌来的仇恨和纯粹的邪恶就好了。这没关系。这不是仅仅为了我自己。美国前副总统拜登(Joe Biden)昨天才暗示我的决定是犯罪。我向你保证这不是。因为我了解事实，这些事实表明，在我们期望你们的船长成为动荡局势定海神针的时候，他做错了，非常非常错误。
这个决定对我个人来说没有好处。你可以相信或不相信。我做出这个决定，是为了我爱的海军，为我曾经服役过的、现在仍为之服务的海军。为了我负责的水手，不仅对你们，还对整个舰队近300艘船。你们舰长的行为也影响到他们。试想一下，如果其他所有舰长都认为媒体是一个合适渠道，来聆听对其指挥链的不满。我们将不再有海军。此后不久，我们将不再有国家。
我理解你们有些人余生中可能都会抱着对我的愤怒。我知道有很多人这样。但是生气不是你们的责任。对彼此，对这艘船，对建造这艘船以保护自己的国家，你们抱有责任。即使处在意料外的危机中，这艘船的任务仍然至关重要。我们的对手一直在盯着我们，这就是为什么我们在这里。我们将为你们提供所需的帮助。你可以对我有个人意见。从第一天起，你们的舰长就对我有个人意见。无论你们对我有什么看法，我都不会说什么。无论你们是否讨厌我，对罗斯福号，我永远也不会放弃这艘船，你们也不应该放弃。感谢收听，我们将在本周晚些时候详细解答你们的问题。前进，美国海军！
[/quote]
原文 ...
I've been wanting to come out to the ship since we first found out you had COVID cases on here. I was actually planning on being here last Tuesday after I went to see the Mercy off in Los Angeles. So I want you to know that no one in my level has been ignoring the situation here from the very beginning.
I reached out to your CO through my Chief of Staff very, very early on in this crisis. On Sunday, told him that I wanted to come out to the ship and if it would be okay or if it would be too disruptive. I told him that because I wanted to be able to help, if there was anything else he needed as this massive effort was underway, to get you guys healthy and clean and safe. He waved me off. He said he felt like things were under control. He had been concerned a day or so before that things weren't moving quickly but things—he still wanted to get more beds—but he didn't think it was necessary. He also talked to my Chief of Staff and emailed back and forth with him.
On Sunday night, he sent that email. And that email went out to a broad audience of people. I know that I mentioned that it was over 20. We believe that it was forwarded to even far more than that. And immediately it was picked up by the San Francisco Chronicle, which published sensitive information about the material condition of a Naval war ship. If he didn't think—it was my opinion, that if he didn't think that information was going to get out into the public, in this information age that we live in, then he was A, too naive or too stupid to be the commanding officer of a ship like this. The alternative is that he did this on purpose. And that's a serious violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which you are all familiar with. That message, and all the contents of that message was perfectly fine for him to send to people in his chain of command in a confidential way so they could get acting on it. He in fact could have given it to me, through my Chief of Staff, or to me, as I asked him to do when I first reached out to him on the ship, when we first found out that there were COVID cases here.
It was a betrayal of trust with me, with his chain of command, with you, with the 800 to a thousand people who are your shipmates on shore right now, busting their asses every day to do what they need to do to convert what they do in a normal day to get you guys off of here, get you safe and get you healthy, get you clean, and get you back on this ship where you are supposed to be.
(INDISTINCT YELLING IN BACKGROUND)
It was betrayal. And I can tell you one other thing: because he did that, he put it in the public's forum, and it's now become a big controversy in Washington, DC, and across the country [LOW BACKGROUND YELLING: HE WAS ONLY TRYING TO HELP US] about a martyr CO, who wasn't getting the help he needed and therefore had to go through the Chain of Command, a chain of command which includes the media. And I'm gonna tell you something, all of you. There is never a situation where you should consider the media a part of your chain of command. You can jump the Chain of Command if you want, and take the consequences, you can disobey the chain of command and take the consequences, but there is no, no situation where you go to the media. Because the media has an agenda. And the agenda that they have depends on which side of the political aisle they sit. And I'm sorry that's the way the country is now, but it's the truth. And so they use it to divide us. They use it to embarrass the Navy. They use it to embarrass you.
(INDISTINCT YELLING IN BACKGROUND)
While you're out here dealing with something that this county hasn't had to deal with in over a hundred years, and the world hasn't ever dealt with anything like this on this scale, the American people believe in you. They think of all the people in the world that can keep their shit together in something like this—it's the United States Navy [INDISTINCT BACKGROUND CHATTER THROUGHOUT] and our sailors—and they're stressed. They may be stressed, they may be tired, they may be scared, but they're keeping their shit together and they're taking care of their people on the shore who are busting their ass to get them off this ship. They're not taking shots at them. They're asking, how can we help them? What can we do? How can I help the E3 that works for me? I'm an E4. I'm concerned. What do I do to help the E2's and E3's that are on this ship? That's your duty. Not to complain.
Everyone's scared about this thing. But I tell you something, if this ship was in combat and there were hypersonic missiles coming at it, you'd be pretty BLEEP scared too. [BACKGROUND YELLING: WHOA!] But you do your jobs. And that's what I expect you to do, and that's what I expect every officer on this ship to do, is to do your jobs.
One of the things about his email that bothered me the most was saying that we are not at war. Well we're not technically at war. But let me tell ya something, the only reason we are dealing with this right now is because a big authoritarian regime called China was not forthcoming about what was happening with this virus. And they put the world at risk to protect themselves and to protect their reputations. We don't do that in the Navy. We are transparent with each other, in the proper channels, and with each other. And that's what we are supposed to do and that's what you're expected to do.
I got your list of questions. I'm very, very thankful to have gotten them. I know they're all sincere. I don't think there is any agenda in any of those. But there's a lot of them and I'm gonna answer every single one of them, but I've gotta do it respectfully, and I've gotta take some time so you understand all the nuances of the questions you are asking. And there's a lot of them here. So rather than answer them all today, I'm going to take them back with me to Washington and I'm going to answer them.
And let me say one other thing, everything I am telling you guys now, I will never, ever, ever throw you guys under the bus in Washington or anywhere else in the media, anywhere else. And don't, I expect you never to do that to your shipmates either—the ones on the shore right now who told me that when Captain Crozier's email made it to the San Francisco Chronicle after working 15 hour days, they were demoralized because they knew what they had been doing for you guys since the 25th of March to get you guys what you need.
And the other thing you need to understand is we're in Guam. It's a US territory but they have their own government, and they have their healthcare problems, and they're scared too, just like every other part of the world. And the Governor of Guam has stuck her neck out big time with their own population to say that she is willing to open up hotel rooms all over this this country, or this state, this territory, so that sailors from the USS Teddy Roosevelt can go and be safe. Because she believes that you all are her brothers and sisters, her brothers and sisters who are protecting this place for her citizens. And so she's willing to put all that at risk to take care of you guys.
And she told me today when Captain Crozier's letter came out in the public, she had to then deal with all her constituents—who are saying, "holy crap what's happening? We're going to have 5,000 people with COVID in our city, without proper health care and everything else."
So think about that when you cheer the man off the ship who exposed you to that. I understand you love the guy. It's good that you love him. But you're not required to love him.
So I want to share something with you that I read at the Navy Academy graduation in 2018. I said it to the graduating class, but I'm going to expand it a little bit. I said, as officers and sailors of the United States Military, you are given tremendous responsibility to respect and protect those who are placed under your command. The American people will trust you with their sons and daughters. And they place their security and the security of our nation in your hands. Do not expect to be loved by everyone for this—even though it may happen. As Secretary Mattis my former boss was fond of saying to us who were so honored to work with him in the Pentagon—he said your job is to protect the nation.
So l'm going to give you a little bit of advice to make this important—and often difficult—job far easier on yourselves. My best advice to you is don't ever be—don't ever worry about being loved for what you do. Rather, love the country that you are asked to defend. Love the constitution you pledged your lives to protect.
And importantly, love the people you are ordered to lead. Make sure they eat before you do. Care about their families as much as your own. Be invested in their success more than your own accomplishments. Nurture their careers more than you pursue your own advancement. And value their lives to the point that you will always consider their safety at every single decision you make. It's only through this level of servant leadership that you will maximize and empower those you lead to meet the demands that will face us in this century. And those demands are getting more complicated every day, as we're all learning. But it's also going to accrue incredible personal satisfaction to you during time of service.
Crew of the Teddy Roosevelt. You are no obligation to love your leadership, only to respect it. You are under no obligation to like your job, only to do it. You are under no obligation to expect anything from your leaders other than they will treat you fairly and put the mission of the ship first.
Because it is the mission of the ship that matters. You all know this. But in my view, your Captain lost sight of this and he compromised critical information about your status intentionally to draw greater attention to your situation. That was my judgment and I judged that it could not tolerated from the commanding officer of a nuclear aircraft carrier. This put you at great risk even though I am certain he never thought it would. I'm certain he loved you all, as he should. But he lost sight of why the TR exists and fate brought you all together in the middle of this COVID crisis.
Your nation back home is struggling. No one expected this pandemic. As we are all working our way through it, your fellow sailors in the States are volunteering, putting on uniforms and running into the fire in places like New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, and New Orleans. I've seen them, no fear, running right into COVID.
Nothing is easy in this for anyone. But from the very beginning, we have been engaged from my level down to bring you the help you need as fast as we possibly could. Understand it takes time to flex up for a crisis this unique.
But the TR has to stand strong as warriors, not weak like victims. The TR has to work its way through this with grace, not panic. The TR has to demonstrate to the citizens back home that it has its act together, and that it is knocking down this virus, just as it would knock down the Chinese or the North Koreans or the Russians if any one of those nations were ever so stupid enough to mess with the Big Stick, because they thought she was vulnerable.
I cannot control or attempt to change whatever anger you have with me for relieving your beloved CO. If I could offer you a glimpse of the level of hatred and pure evil that has been thrown my way, my family's way, over this decision, I would. But it doesn't matter. It's not about me. The former Vice President of the United States Joe Biden suggested just yesterday that my decision was criminal. I assure you it was not. [BACKGROUND YELLING: WHAT ARE YOU...] Because I understand the facts, and those facts show that what your captain did was very, very wrong, in a moment when we expected him to be the calming force on a turbulent sea.
There was very little upside in this decision for me. You can believe that or not. I made the decision for the Navy I love, for the Navy I served in, and now serve for. And mostly for the sailors I'm responsible for, not just to you here, but on nearly 300 other ships in the fleet. Your captain's actions had implications for them too. Imagine if every other CO also believed that the media was also the proper channel to hear grievances with their chain of command under difficult circumstances. We would no longer have a Navy. And not longer after that, we'd no longer have a country.
Still, I understand you may be angry with me for the rest of your lives. I guarantee you won't be alone. But being angry is not your duty. Your duty is to each other, and to this ship, and to the nation that built it for you to protect them. Even amidst an unexpected crisis, it is the mission of this ship that matters. Our adversaries are watching, and that is why we are here. We will get you the help you need. You have my personal word on it. Your CO had my personal word on that from Day One. Whatever else you may think of me, I don't go back on my word. And when it comes to the TR, whether you hate me or not, I will never, ever, ever give up this ship and neither should you. Thanks for listening, and I'll get the detailed answers to your questions to you some time later this week. Go Navy.
I reached out to your CO through my Chief of Staff very, very early on in this crisis. On Sunday, told him that I wanted to come out to the ship and if it would be okay or if it would be too disruptive. I told him that because I wanted to be able to help, if there was anything else he needed as this massive effort was underway, to get you guys healthy and clean and safe. He waved me off. He said he felt like things were under control. He had been concerned a day or so before that things weren't moving quickly but things—he still wanted to get more beds—but he didn't think it was necessary. He also talked to my Chief of Staff and emailed back and forth with him.
On Sunday night, he sent that email. And that email went out to a broad audience of people. I know that I mentioned that it was over 20. We believe that it was forwarded to even far more than that. And immediately it was picked up by the San Francisco Chronicle, which published sensitive information about the material condition of a Naval war ship. If he didn't think—it was my opinion, that if he didn't think that information was going to get out into the public, in this information age that we live in, then he was A, too naive or too stupid to be the commanding officer of a ship like this. The alternative is that he did this on purpose. And that's a serious violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which you are all familiar with. That message, and all the contents of that message was perfectly fine for him to send to people in his chain of command in a confidential way so they could get acting on it. He in fact could have given it to me, through my Chief of Staff, or to me, as I asked him to do when I first reached out to him on the ship, when we first found out that there were COVID cases here.
It was a betrayal of trust with me, with his chain of command, with you, with the 800 to a thousand people who are your shipmates on shore right now, busting their asses every day to do what they need to do to convert what they do in a normal day to get you guys off of here, get you safe and get you healthy, get you clean, and get you back on this ship where you are supposed to be.
(INDISTINCT YELLING IN BACKGROUND)
It was betrayal. And I can tell you one other thing: because he did that, he put it in the public's forum, and it's now become a big controversy in Washington, DC, and across the country [LOW BACKGROUND YELLING: HE WAS ONLY TRYING TO HELP US] about a martyr CO, who wasn't getting the help he needed and therefore had to go through the Chain of Command, a chain of command which includes the media. And I'm gonna tell you something, all of you. There is never a situation where you should consider the media a part of your chain of command. You can jump the Chain of Command if you want, and take the consequences, you can disobey the chain of command and take the consequences, but there is no, no situation where you go to the media. Because the media has an agenda. And the agenda that they have depends on which side of the political aisle they sit. And I'm sorry that's the way the country is now, but it's the truth. And so they use it to divide us. They use it to embarrass the Navy. They use it to embarrass you.
(INDISTINCT YELLING IN BACKGROUND)
While you're out here dealing with something that this county hasn't had to deal with in over a hundred years, and the world hasn't ever dealt with anything like this on this scale, the American people believe in you. They think of all the people in the world that can keep their shit together in something like this—it's the United States Navy [INDISTINCT BACKGROUND CHATTER THROUGHOUT] and our sailors—and they're stressed. They may be stressed, they may be tired, they may be scared, but they're keeping their shit together and they're taking care of their people on the shore who are busting their ass to get them off this ship. They're not taking shots at them. They're asking, how can we help them? What can we do? How can I help the E3 that works for me? I'm an E4. I'm concerned. What do I do to help the E2's and E3's that are on this ship? That's your duty. Not to complain.
Everyone's scared about this thing. But I tell you something, if this ship was in combat and there were hypersonic missiles coming at it, you'd be pretty BLEEP scared too. [BACKGROUND YELLING: WHOA!] But you do your jobs. And that's what I expect you to do, and that's what I expect every officer on this ship to do, is to do your jobs.
One of the things about his email that bothered me the most was saying that we are not at war. Well we're not technically at war. But let me tell ya something, the only reason we are dealing with this right now is because a big authoritarian regime called China was not forthcoming about what was happening with this virus. And they put the world at risk to protect themselves and to protect their reputations. We don't do that in the Navy. We are transparent with each other, in the proper channels, and with each other. And that's what we are supposed to do and that's what you're expected to do.
I got your list of questions. I'm very, very thankful to have gotten them. I know they're all sincere. I don't think there is any agenda in any of those. But there's a lot of them and I'm gonna answer every single one of them, but I've gotta do it respectfully, and I've gotta take some time so you understand all the nuances of the questions you are asking. And there's a lot of them here. So rather than answer them all today, I'm going to take them back with me to Washington and I'm going to answer them.
And let me say one other thing, everything I am telling you guys now, I will never, ever, ever throw you guys under the bus in Washington or anywhere else in the media, anywhere else. And don't, I expect you never to do that to your shipmates either—the ones on the shore right now who told me that when Captain Crozier's email made it to the San Francisco Chronicle after working 15 hour days, they were demoralized because they knew what they had been doing for you guys since the 25th of March to get you guys what you need.
And the other thing you need to understand is we're in Guam. It's a US territory but they have their own government, and they have their healthcare problems, and they're scared too, just like every other part of the world. And the Governor of Guam has stuck her neck out big time with their own population to say that she is willing to open up hotel rooms all over this this country, or this state, this territory, so that sailors from the USS Teddy Roosevelt can go and be safe. Because she believes that you all are her brothers and sisters, her brothers and sisters who are protecting this place for her citizens. And so she's willing to put all that at risk to take care of you guys.
And she told me today when Captain Crozier's letter came out in the public, she had to then deal with all her constituents—who are saying, "holy crap what's happening? We're going to have 5,000 people with COVID in our city, without proper health care and everything else."
So think about that when you cheer the man off the ship who exposed you to that. I understand you love the guy. It's good that you love him. But you're not required to love him.
So I want to share something with you that I read at the Navy Academy graduation in 2018. I said it to the graduating class, but I'm going to expand it a little bit. I said, as officers and sailors of the United States Military, you are given tremendous responsibility to respect and protect those who are placed under your command. The American people will trust you with their sons and daughters. And they place their security and the security of our nation in your hands. Do not expect to be loved by everyone for this—even though it may happen. As Secretary Mattis my former boss was fond of saying to us who were so honored to work with him in the Pentagon—he said your job is to protect the nation.
So l'm going to give you a little bit of advice to make this important—and often difficult—job far easier on yourselves. My best advice to you is don't ever be—don't ever worry about being loved for what you do. Rather, love the country that you are asked to defend. Love the constitution you pledged your lives to protect.
And importantly, love the people you are ordered to lead. Make sure they eat before you do. Care about their families as much as your own. Be invested in their success more than your own accomplishments. Nurture their careers more than you pursue your own advancement. And value their lives to the point that you will always consider their safety at every single decision you make. It's only through this level of servant leadership that you will maximize and empower those you lead to meet the demands that will face us in this century. And those demands are getting more complicated every day, as we're all learning. But it's also going to accrue incredible personal satisfaction to you during time of service.
Crew of the Teddy Roosevelt. You are no obligation to love your leadership, only to respect it. You are under no obligation to like your job, only to do it. You are under no obligation to expect anything from your leaders other than they will treat you fairly and put the mission of the ship first.
Because it is the mission of the ship that matters. You all know this. But in my view, your Captain lost sight of this and he compromised critical information about your status intentionally to draw greater attention to your situation. That was my judgment and I judged that it could not tolerated from the commanding officer of a nuclear aircraft carrier. This put you at great risk even though I am certain he never thought it would. I'm certain he loved you all, as he should. But he lost sight of why the TR exists and fate brought you all together in the middle of this COVID crisis.
Your nation back home is struggling. No one expected this pandemic. As we are all working our way through it, your fellow sailors in the States are volunteering, putting on uniforms and running into the fire in places like New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, and New Orleans. I've seen them, no fear, running right into COVID.
Nothing is easy in this for anyone. But from the very beginning, we have been engaged from my level down to bring you the help you need as fast as we possibly could. Understand it takes time to flex up for a crisis this unique.
But the TR has to stand strong as warriors, not weak like victims. The TR has to work its way through this with grace, not panic. The TR has to demonstrate to the citizens back home that it has its act together, and that it is knocking down this virus, just as it would knock down the Chinese or the North Koreans or the Russians if any one of those nations were ever so stupid enough to mess with the Big Stick, because they thought she was vulnerable.
I cannot control or attempt to change whatever anger you have with me for relieving your beloved CO. If I could offer you a glimpse of the level of hatred and pure evil that has been thrown my way, my family's way, over this decision, I would. But it doesn't matter. It's not about me. The former Vice President of the United States Joe Biden suggested just yesterday that my decision was criminal. I assure you it was not. [BACKGROUND YELLING: WHAT ARE YOU...] Because I understand the facts, and those facts show that what your captain did was very, very wrong, in a moment when we expected him to be the calming force on a turbulent sea.
There was very little upside in this decision for me. You can believe that or not. I made the decision for the Navy I love, for the Navy I served in, and now serve for. And mostly for the sailors I'm responsible for, not just to you here, but on nearly 300 other ships in the fleet. Your captain's actions had implications for them too. Imagine if every other CO also believed that the media was also the proper channel to hear grievances with their chain of command under difficult circumstances. We would no longer have a Navy. And not longer after that, we'd no longer have a country.
Still, I understand you may be angry with me for the rest of your lives. I guarantee you won't be alone. But being angry is not your duty. Your duty is to each other, and to this ship, and to the nation that built it for you to protect them. Even amidst an unexpected crisis, it is the mission of this ship that matters. Our adversaries are watching, and that is why we are here. We will get you the help you need. You have my personal word on it. Your CO had my personal word on that from Day One. Whatever else you may think of me, I don't go back on my word. And when it comes to the TR, whether you hate me or not, I will never, ever, ever give up this ship and neither should you. Thanks for listening, and I'll get the detailed answers to your questions to you some time later this week. Go Navy.