Stuart P. Baker

Stuart P. Baker is a United States Navy officer, holding the rank of rear admiral.[1]

Stuart P. Baker
AllegianceUnited States
Service/branchUnited States Navy
Years of service1989–present
RankRear Admiral
Commands heldCarrier Strike Group 9
CVW-9
VFA-137
Battles/warsWar in Afghanistan
Iraq War
AwardsDefense Superior Service Medal
Legion of Merit (2)

Early life and education

Baker is a native of La Crosse, Wisconsin; graduated in 1989 from Miami University in Ohio with a Bachelor of Science in Paper Science and Engineering; and received his commission via the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps.[1]

Baker became an naval aviator in 1991.[1] He received a master's degree from the Naval War College.[1] He served in Operation Southern Watch stationed aboard the USS Constellation. After spending time with Carrier Air Wing Fourteen as a CVW-14 strike operations officer, he was deployed in support of United States operations in the Iraq War, serving with VFA-146 aboard the USS John C. Stennis in the Arabian Gulf and CVW-9 aboard the same ship. He also commanded VFA-137 on the USS Abraham Lincoln.[1] He was selected for promotion to rear admiral in 2017.[2]

Baker's assignments ashore have included being stationed with Strike Fighter Weapons School Pacific, the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center as executive officer of the TOPGUN program and United States Fleet Forces Command.

In 2020, Baker was the commanding officer of Carrier Strike Group 9, deployed in the Pacific; he was stationed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt,[3] the flagship of the strike group,[4] which consists of the Theodore Roosevelt and seven other ships.[5] The Theodore Roosevelt departed from its Naval Base San Diego home port in mid-January, with more than 6,000 sailors on board, for a seven-month deployment in the Western Pacific (Indo-Pacific Command) region.[4] In March, during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 aboard the ship, which was ordered to port in Guam. The Theodore Roosevelt's captain, Brett Crozier, urged to have most of the sailors immediately removed from the ship, quarantined ashore, and tested for the virus to prevent the spread of the disease.[5] Baker, his superior officer, disagreed, feeling such an action was impractical and too drastic.[5] On March 29, after four days of his pleas being rebuffed by Baker and other superiors, Crozier sent a four-page memorandum to ten Navy officers including Baker and his two immediate superiors, Admiral John C. Aquilino and Vice Admiral DeWolfe Miller III. Crozier begged for the ship to be mostly evacuated because of the risk to the crew.[6][7] A few days later Crozier was relieved of command by Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly, who blamed Crozier for sending his memorandum over "non-secure unclassified email" to a "broad array of people" and accused Crozier of having "unnecessarily raised the alarm" about the virus.[8] The day after Crozier's letter became public, the Navy began to evacuate the ship.[9] By 13 April 585 crew members had tested positive for the disease and one had died.[10] A Navy inquiry, whose results were announced on 19 June, concluded that Crozier and Baker made poor decisions regarding the coronavirus outbreak, so that Baker's scheduled promotion to two-star admiral will be put on hold.[11]

References
  1. "Rear Admiral Stuart P. Baker, Commander, Carrier Strike Group Nine". United States Navy. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  2. Baker Assigned to Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Signal, AFCEA (September 14, 2017).
  3. Sam LaGrone, Navy Probe into Letter From Carrier Roosevelt CO Ends Monday; Report Says Brett Crozier Has COVID-19, USNI News (April 5, 2020).
  4. Andrew Dyer, Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group deploys, San Diego Union-Tribune (January 17, 2020).
  5. "'There Will Be Losses': How a Captain's Plea Exposed a Rift in the Military". The New York Times. 13 April 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  6. Dan Lamothe, Shawn Boburg & Paul Sonne (April 16, 2020). "How an outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt became a defining moment for the U.S. military". The Washington Post. Retrieved 16 April 2020.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  7. Rebecca Kheel, Fired captain sent memo to fewer people than former Navy head alleged: report, The Hill (April 16, 2020).
  8. Kube, Courtney; Gains, Mosheh (2 April 2020). "Navy relieves captain who raised alarm about coronavirus outbreak on aircraft carrier". NBC News. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  9. Peniston, Bradley (31 March 2020). "US Navy Evacuating Aircraft Carrier Infected by Coronavirus". Defense One. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  10. Lara Seligman, Sailor from USS Theodore Roosevelt dies of coronavirus, Politico (April 13, 2020).
  11. Schmitt, Eric; Gibbons-Neff, Thomas (June 19, 2020). "Navy Inquiry Faults Two Top Officers Aboard Roosevelt for Handling of Virus". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
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