Communications, Ethics and Command Decision
Write 4-5 page analysis of ethical aspects surrounding a decision of the commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt to disseminate a plea for help for his COVID-19-stricken ship and write a communication detailing lessons learned from the incident.
SCENARIO
Captain Crozier, Commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, wrote and emailed a controversial letter that pleaded for help for crew members stricken by the Covid-19 virus in March of 2020. The communication was sent to several recipients and was eventually leaked to the news media. The situation became front-page news and was actively debated in the media. Senior leaders believed that Captain Crozier may have avoided his chain of command for fear that his immediate leader would suppress the issue and expose the sailors to unnecessary danger. His decisions and actions that lead up to his writing the letter are fraught with ethical dilemmas.
In this assessment, you are asked to analyze the ethical aspects surrounding Captain Crozier’s decision to widely disseminate the emailed letter.
Complete both parts of this assessment in a single Word document.
PART 1: ANALYZE THE SCENARIO
Analyze the ethical decision that the Captain faced as it relates to how he communicated his plea and in the context of his position. Consider the sender, receiver, message, and channel.
Analyze the primary failures and successes of the Captain’s communication strategy. Make sure to consider how the letter was distributed, the Captain’s possible intent, and the content of the letter.
If this situation had occurred in the private sector and not the military, would the outcomes have been similar or different? Defend your reasoning.
PART 2: WRITE A COMMUNICATION
Imagine that you were the commanding officer of another naval ship who had followed this sequence of events closely. Your ship’s Public Affairs Officer reports to you and is responsible for many of the ship’s external communications, and you are anxious to share your lessons learned from the USS Theodore Roosevelt situation.
Send a communication to your Public Affairs Officer that conveys and re-enforces the primary lessons learned from the incident on the USS Theodore Roosevelt.
