[ATTW-L] {ATTW-L] Captain Crozier's letter

Tue Apr 7 19:03:48 UTC 2020

It is an interesting ethical case and risk communication case. I've never been in the military, though most of us understand chain of command from a variety of contexts. We've seen academic firings on such grounds. But would someone in Crozier's position break the chain of command easily?   And what does it say about military communication and chain of command that Modly publically called Crozier "naive and stupid"?  An investigation into the communication is certainly warranted.

________________________________
Donna Kain, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Technical and Professional Communication
East Carolina University, Department of English
Coordinator, Business and Technical Communication Certificate
Assistant Director, Center for Natural Hazards Research
252-737-2705
2110 Bate Building
Mail Stop 555

________________________________
From: ATTW-L <attw-l-bounces at attw.org> on behalf of Duncan, Michael <duncanm at uhd.edu>
Sent: Sunday, April 5, 2020 11:03 PM
To: attw-l at attw.org <attw-l at attw.org>
Subject: Re: [ATTW-L] {ATTW-L] Captain Crozier's letter

This email originated from outside ECU.

It’s an interesting ethical case. That said, the Navy doesn’t hand carriers to officers without deep respect for the chain of command, making his letter a symptom of considerable high jingo above him. Until that all comes forward, it’s difficult to analyze the text without more context, particularly regarding avenues Crozier may or may not have pursued before writing it and distributing it widely.

The Post has an interesting article outlining the byplay between Mobly, Esper, Trump, and Navy leadership that led up to the removal - especially given the circumstances of the firing of Mobly’s predecessor.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/04/trump-wants-him-fired-inside-ouster-capt-brett-crozier/

Mike Duncan
University of Houston-Downtown

> On Apr 5, 2020, at 4:27 PM, "attw-l-request at attw.org" <attw-l-request at attw.org> wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
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>  1. Captain Crozier's letter (Dragga, Sam)
>  2. Re: Captain Crozier's letter (Tebeaux, Elizabeth D)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 5 Apr 2020 19:25:46 +0000
> From: "Dragga, Sam" <Sam.Dragga at ttu.edu>
> To: "attw-l at attw.org" <attw-l at attw.org>
> Subject: [ATTW-L] Captain Crozier's letter
> Message-ID: <13035926-5409-4827-9672-C387E38733D6 at ttu.edu>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Again, as you are teaching your online classes, a timely example for class discussion is the letter written by Captain Brett Crozier of the USS Theodore Roosevelt to US Navy officials soliciting resources to mitigate coronavirus infection on the 5000-sailor aircraft carrier.  Captain Crozier was fired following news coverage of this letter but was cheered by sailors as he exited the ship.  The 4-page letter uses numbered headings, lists, short sentences, and plain language.  It is available at
> https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6821571/TR-COVID-19-Assistance-Request.pdf.
>
> Ironically, as several military new sources are reporting, Theodore Roosevelt himself is responsible for a similar letter circulated to the Associated Press during the 1898 Spanish-American War, as he explains in the 1899 autobiography, The Rough Riders.  The ?round-robin letter? is at https://books.google.com/books?id=zmR_ltzDGwEC&pg=PA295&lpg=PA295&dq=APPENDIX+C+THE+%22ROUND+ROBIN%22+LETTER.
>
> I think the two letters could make for interesting comparative analyses from historical, rhetorical, and ethical perspectives.
>
> Sam
>
> Sam Dragga
> Professor Emeritus, Texas Tech University
> Editor, Technical Communication
> sam.dragga at ttu.edu
> 1-806-543-6099
>
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> Message: 2
> Date: Sun, 5 Apr 2020 21:25:48 +0000
> From: "Tebeaux, Elizabeth D" <e-tebeaux at tamu.edu>
> To: "Dragga, Sam" <Sam.Dragga at ttu.edu>
> Cc: "attw-l at attw.org" <attw-l at attw.org>
> Subject: Re: [ATTW-L] Captain Crozier's letter
> Message-ID: <F2D7E6D3-7617-4DE2-A3D4-59EE7562D752 at tamu.edu>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> As I just responded to Sam, following chain of command is critical.  The military cannot allow wildcatters.  Roosevelt responded as President, not as a military officer.  General Jack Kemp said he thought the decision should been made by a lower level admiral who would have identified more closely with the commander, but the head of the defense department had the authority to do what he did.  Again another perspective.
>
> Unless you have served in the military, you may have difficulty understanding the military perspective.  I do, as my father served in WAII.
>
> Again, this is a good study in rhetoric.  Had the captain thought carefully about who else might read his letter, he might have saved his job and sent fewer copies.  Perhaps he was also feeling ill.
>
> Elizabeth Tebeaux
> Professor Et
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Apr 5, 2020, at 2:27 PM, Dragga, Sam <Sam.Dragga at ttu.edu<mailto:Sam.Dragga at ttu.edu>> wrote:
>
> Again, as you are teaching your online classes, a timely example for class discussion is the letter written by Captain Brett Crozier of the USS Theodore Roosevelt to US Navy officials soliciting resources to mitigate coronavirus infection on the 5000-sailor aircraft carrier.  Captain Crozier was fired following news coverage of this letter but was cheered by sailors as he exited the ship.  The 4-page letter uses numbered headings, lists, short sentences, and plain language.  It is available at
> https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6821571/TR-COVID-19-Assistance-Request.pdf<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__assets.documentcloud.org_documents_6821571_TR-2DCOVID-2D19-2DAssistance-2DRequest.pdf&d=DwMGaQ&c=u6LDEWzohnDQ01ySGnxMzg&r=swYNluFs0a1sUtl6MwAUWcaQenK5NHFz1yTvxsYzlVA&m=mLKCZ0oPYe3y6cKZOSissygZk2CUFNZKEzdB6C5mXlw&s=-hlCsbkLIZf6NkVN0NO-b3vUDirLC5Q3bnPVjOQMlXU&e=>.
>
> Ironically, as several military new sources are reporting, Theodore Roosevelt himself is responsible for a similar letter circulated to the Associated Press during the 1898 Spanish-American War, as he explains in the 1899 autobiography, The Rough Riders.  The ?round-robin letter? is at https://books.google.com/books?id=zmR_ltzDGwEC&pg=PA295&lpg=PA295&dq=APPENDIX+C+THE+%22ROUND+ROBIN%22+LETTER<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__books.google.com_books-3Fid-3DzmR-5FltzDGwEC-26pg-3DPA295-26lpg-3DPA295-26dq-3DAPPENDIX-2BC-2BTHE-2B-2522ROUND-2BROBIN-2522-2BLETTER&d=DwMGaQ&c=u6LDEWzohnDQ01ySGnxMzg&r=swYNluFs0a1sUtl6MwAUWcaQenK5NHFz1yTvxsYzlVA&m=mLKCZ0oPYe3y6cKZOSissygZk2CUFNZKEzdB6C5mXlw&s=QA8JN3s1slWmEd5Q7ZPI15petzdgUVnvOAPfQBNONMo&e=>.
>
> I think the two letters could make for interesting comparative analyses from historical, rhetorical, and ethical perspectives.
>
> Sam
>
> Sam Dragga
> Professor Emeritus, Texas Tech University
> Editor, Technical Communication
> sam.dragga at ttu.edu<mailto:sam.dragga at ttu.edu>
> 1-806-543-6099
>
> *************************************
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