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A26 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 6 June 2020
Navy carrier sidelined by virus is back operating in Pacific

By LOLITA C. BALDOR don't recover in time will
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ten be transported back to the
long weeks after a massive U.S. The ship is expected to
coronavirus outbreak side- continue operations in the
lined one of the Navy's sig- Pacific, and then would
nature warships, the U.S.S. likely head home to San Di-
Theodore Roosevelt has ego later this summer.
returned to sea and is con- The Roosevelt has been at
ducting military operations the center of a still unre-
in the Pacific region. solved controversy that led
Lining the flight deck in their to the firing of the ship's pre-
dress white uniforms, sailors vious captain, the resigna-
wearing white face masks tion of the Navy secretary
stood a virus-safe 10 feet (3 and an expanded investi-
meters) apart in a final, for- gation into what triggered
mal thank you as the ship the outbreak and how well
sailed out of port in Guam top naval commanders
on Thursday and headed handled it.
into the Philippine Sea. Sardiello, had previously
"We manned the rail, which captained the Roosevelt
we don't normally do. There but was abruptly sent back
was a lot of symbolism in to the ship in early April to
that," Navy Capt. Carlos take command after Capt.
Sardiello told The Associ- In this June 4, 2020, photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt Brett Crozier was fired for
ated Press in an interview (CVN 71) departs Apra Harbor in Guam. urging his commanders to
from the ship Thursday. Associated Press take faster action to stem
"They're excited. They're the virus outbreak onboard.
fired up to be back at sea And in late March, the ship the ship. They fought and Drimmelen, of Ogden, After a preliminary review
doing the mission." with only about 3,000 crew got it back. So I thought Utah. "It was very comfort- last month, Adm. Mike Gil-
The Roosevelt pulled into aboard went out to sea for it was appropriate," said ing to be back in our nor- day, the Navy's top officer,
Guam on March 27, with a roughly two weeks of train- Sardiello, who asked one mal atmosphere. Every- recommended that Crozier
rapidly escalating number ing, including the recerti- of the other Navy ships to body was happy." be reinstated as ship cap-
of sailors testing positive for fication of the flight deck borrow their flag. "The ship Sardiello said that watch- tain. But the Navy decided
the virus. Over time, more and fighter squadron, such was clean and the ship ing the sailors board the to conduct the broader in-
than 1,000 were infected as takeoffs and landings on was healthy with no COVID ship was a great feeling, vestigation.
with COVID-19, setting off the carrier. cases. So I said, OK, we're But he knows he's not done That review, which effec-
a lengthy and systematic Earlier this week, the Roos- going to fly that one time yet. There are still about 350 tively delays a decision on
process to move about evelt wrapped up training on the way into Guam as a sailors on Guam who are ei- Crozier's reinstatement,
4,000 sailors ashore for and returned to Guam to symbol to bolster their mo- ther in isolation or are there was finished and submit-
quarantine and treatment, pick up nearly 1,000 sailors rale." as support staff. ted to Gilday at the end of
while about 800 remained who had been left there to RS1 Katie VanDrimmelen "More and more of those March and he is still review-
aboard to protect and run either complete their quar- was one of the sailors left sailors are meeting the re- ing the extensive report,
the high-tech systems, in- antine or to manage and ashore during the two- turn-to-work criteria, and which includes several hun-
cluding the nuclear reac- work with those still on the week training. She had test- we're flying them on board dred pages of interviews,
tors that run the vessel. island. As the ship sailed ed positive for the virus and every single day. So we're documents and recom-
Slowly, sailors were me- into the port, it was flying a was in quarantine for about whittling down that number mendations.
thodically brought back flag with the words "Don't five weeks. Walking back day by day," said Sardiello. Cmdr. Nate Christensen,
on board, while the others Give Up the Ship," a famous onto the ship, she said, was "But I really want those 350 spokesman for Gilday, said
who had remained went Navy battle cry from the like being welcomed home remaining back. And we're is will take time for the ad-
ashore for their mandat- War of 1812. from a deployment. working hard on that." miral to finish his review and
ed two-week quarantine. "Our sailors didn't give up "It was amazing," said Van- He said that any sailors who make any decisions.q
U.S. moves forward with plan to end wild bird protections

By MATTHEW BROWN are covered under the law, and independent scien-
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — and the changes have tists have said the change
The Trump administration drawn a sharp backlash could could cause a huge
moved forward Friday from organizations that ad- spike in bird deaths — po-
with plans to scale back a vocate on behalf of an es- tentially billions of birds in
century-old law protecting timated 46 million U.S. bird- coming decades — at a
most American wild bird watchers. time when species across
species despite warnings The study did not put a North America already are
that billions of birds could number on how many in steep decline.
die as a result. more birds could die but The proposal would end
Officials said in a draft said some vulnerable spe- the government's de-
study of the proposal that it cies could decline to the cades-long practice of
could result in more deaths point where they would re- treating accidental bird
of birds that land in oil pits quire protection under the deaths caused by industry
or collide with power lines Endangered Species Act. as potential criminal viola-
In this March 29, 2020, file photo, a bird flies among wind tur- or other structures. Former U.S. Fish and Wildlife tions under the Migratory
bines near King City, Mo. More than 1,000 species Service Director Dan Ashe Bird Treaty Act. q
Associated Press