Items

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  2020-03

  USS America 19-20

  At the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, I am aboard USS America (LHA-6) homeported in Sasebo, Japan. We are at sea for a routine patrol when the crew becomes generally aware of some sort of flu or virus that is hitting, I recall an email from home that everyone is wiping down groceries and that most of the country will be doing some sort of semi-quarantine period. Our skipper (captain of the ship) announces over the 1MC (ship's speakers) that Thailand does not have many cases of whatever is going around, and that we will be making a liberty port as scheduled in the country for the "Cobra Gold" exercise, which is a joint exercise with the Royal Thai Marines. We pull in to Pattaya, Thailand and enjoy about a week or so of liberty, there are no masks or guidelines in place, and it was an incredible experience. I visited a local zoo and held a baby lion, I pet an elephant, and enjoyed local cuisine (extensively). Upon shipping back out to sea, skipper once again comes on the 1MC to announce that further port calls will be cancelled as the virus we are loosely aware of seems to be more serious than we all thought. Big news hits when the USS Theodore Roosevelt's entire crew is hit by COVID, forcing one of our 11 aircraft carriers to make emergency port in Guam. This led to my ship taking over as the only flattop in 7th fleet (the Pacific), as I believe the Reagan is in the Arabian Gulf at the time (I could be misremembering). To even be allowed to pull in to Okinawa for fuel and supplies, we have to cut masks for the entire crew out of brown uniform undershirts to meet local requirements about masking. The whole crew felt isolated from COVID at this time, it is a foreign concept we only understand from tidbits of information from family over emails, and official guidance coming down from our chain of command. Eventually as it progressed and we return to our homeport of Sasebo, and reality sets in. Severe restrictions are applied, such as being barred from leaving base except to travel to your residence if you had an off post apartment (most of us did not have this), and the morale of the crew collapsed. The restrictions, of course, were ineffective, often contradictory, and usually at the expense of the individual seemingly for show. The story only comes up in conversations with people discussing the initial outbreak, because I did not really participate until months later.
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  2020-03-04

  Sailors in Vietnam

  My Covid travel story is a bit unique. I was in the Navy at the time assigned to the USS Bunker Hill, a guided missile cruiser attached to the Theodore Roosevelt strike group. We deployed from San Diego, CA to the South China Sea area of operations early January 2020. When we left for deployment, covid had started gaining traction but was nowhere near the global pandemic levels it would soon reach. In the first week of March 2020, the Bunker Hill pulled into Da Nang, Vietnam on a port visit/diplomatic relations mission. We were scheduled to be there for four days, and the first three days were filled with adventure, laughs, and “drinking like a sailor.” On the fourth day, an all-call message was sent out to every crew member to immediately return to the boat. Once assembled our captain informed us of major covid outbreaks in Da Nang and outlying villages along with the outbreak back home stateside. For the remainder of that fourth day, we were restricted to the pier and not allowed to leave our mooring station. Fortunately for us, food and beer were provided on the pier to provide some sort of leisure. Although we knew dark times laid ahead of us, everyone in the crew including senior leadership, unwound and drank with reckless abandon. We were only 2 months into a 9-month deployment and we knew that this would be the last bit of freedom until we returned home, and we made sure to savor every sip. The next morning we lined the rails of our ship in our dress white uniforms saying goodbye to dry land for the next 5 months. The time at sea was the least of everyone's worries, rather we frantically tried to make sense of the global situation with Covid and what kind of world we would be returning to upon completion of our deployment.
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  2021-08-05

  SECDEF is expected to formally announce a mandatory vaccine policy for active-duty troops on Friday, according to Fox News.

  I was active duty military for nine years and am now a reservist. My time in the military is almost done but I keep in contact with a lot of people who are still on active duty. I also keep myself up to date on military matters out of curiosity I guess. I am a corpsman in the Navy so I was really interested to see how the military would handle this pandemic. I was unsatisfied with the late response in a lot of matters (like masks and limiting gatherings) but this news is something that I am proud of. Working in the medical field out in the civilian world I have seen the impact of the COVID virus more than I would have to be on active duty. I have seen firsthand how relatively young and healthy people can become ill and die. I wanted to add some screenshots of the comment section to this post as well just to show that the military members are divided on the issue of vaccines just like civilians are. The difference is that active-duty members don't have a choice. If Uncle Sam says everyone needs to be vaccinated then that's what's gonna happen. Like someone on the comment section said "they injected us with anthrax, so I'm sure well fine with this vax shot"
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  2020-08-13

  DOD covid-19 military cases

  This is an update of the number of coronavirus cases in the military.It shows a significant difference between the military branches with the army leading with the highest number of cases.
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  03/30/2020

  Al Bailey Oral History, 2020/03/30

  Al Bailey grew up in the Midwest. He joined the Navy and worked on nuclear submarines for six years, has a degree in nuclear physics, worked in many nuclear power stations, and has been retired several times. He is an avid collector of paper money, enjoys ham radio, and is planning to go to law school this August. He has been married twice and has five children. Al and his wife Sara Bailey are currently living in Florence, Kentucky, with their youngest daughter Melanie. Sara is working in Kentucky at a chemical plant and is currently not required to stay home. Al’s life has been filled with many interesting events and experiences from his time in the military to 9/11 and more. In this interview, he reflects on current events related to COVID-19 and its political implications as well as how he and his family are handling the social distancing and isolation.
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  2020-06-22

  HERMIT HERALD VOL 1 ISSUE 41

  pandemic entries and BLM issues
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  2020-06-08

  A Clean Bill of Health And Ready To Go

  The USS Nimitz (CVN-68) Carrier Strike Group prepares to weigh anchor after completing the Navy's mandatory 14-day pre-deployment quarantine; a measure put in place to prevent outbreaks like the one that sidelined the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The Harry S. Truman could not return to port on the East Coast until the Nimitz had completed these added precautions.
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  2020-06-10

  A Carrier's Plight with COVID-19

  This screenshot shows a Navy medical technician conducting a COVID test in front of what appears to be the docked USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71). Forced to make an emergency disembarkation at Naval Base Guam in the early days of the pandemic, the ship found itself ravaged by the virus, which swept through its departments and corridors with alarming speed, prompting its commander, Captain Brett Crozier, to order the crew off the warship; an action that combined with a pointed (and public) memo to superiors that ultimately lead to his dismissal.
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  2020-06-12

  Containing COVID-19 aboard the USS Kidd

  After having been briefly attached to the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, the USS Kidd encountered a coronavirus outbreak on board while conducting operations off the coast of South America in April 2020. This screenshot of a posted dated June 12 provides a glimpse into the Navy's early attempts to combat the disease's spread before it could potentially cripple the vessel. Also note the face mask covering the eagle's beak on the US Navy emblem in the upper left corner.
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  2020-06-05

  Bumpin' Arms with the SECNAV

  Secretary Braithwaite welcomes home this aircraft maintenance technician from Attack Fighter Squadron 211 with an arm bump greeting to minimize the risk of exposure. All those present for the Secretary's address to the Truman's crew wear face coverings, especially given the outbreaks the Navy has struggled to contain on board several of their deployed vessels. Nevertheless, social distancing proved to be difficult on board ship.
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  2020-04-30

  USS Comfort, leaving NYC

  I took this photograph of the USS Comfort, a Navy medical ship, leaving NYC on the Hudson River. It arrived in early April to supplement the already overtaxed medical resources of NYC. I don't think it ever helped as much as we hoped, taking fewer than 200 non-covid patients, and treating between 180 and 190 Covid patients. All the same, it's a good sign that it is no longer needed.
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  2020-03-22

  Trump outlines national guard activations for New York, California and Washington

  Trump deploys national guard to help state governors with response to Covid-19,
• 
  March 13, 2020

  Military Changes

  During this time of social distancing and restraint of large gatherings, my brother was graduating from Army Basic Training. I, along with my parents and many other family members, made the trip from Dickson, Tennessee to Fort Benning Georgia. We went to watch his graduation ceremony and spend the few days he was allowed leave with him. However, the night before we were to leave we received word that the ceremony was cancelled and we wouldn’t be allowed to see our soldier as of that time. After hours of waiting to see what might change we finally were notified that the ceremony was still canceled but we were allowed to see our soldier and bring him off base. After traveling down to Fort Benning we got to watch his ceremony on our laptops and were then allowed to go pick up our soldier. We spent the remaining day catching up and doing as much as we could in as little as possible. Finally the end of the night came and we were headed back to our hotel when my brother got a a call that said he had to go back to base. Furious but helpless we had no choice but to bring him back. Once again because of the coronavirus precautions, and President Trump declaring the virus a pandemic that day, we had no clue when we might see him again. The next morning we got our final notification that we could go on base and spend the day with our soldier but he wasn’t allowed to leave and it would be his last chance to see us. We then went on base and spent what little time with him we could. That night we said our goodbyes and started home. My brother is now somewhere in the middle of the woods with the rest of his platoon in isolation. We have had little communication with him but he said that they will be spending five days in the woods, going back to the barracks for a shower, and right back into the woods for five more days. His base is now on lockdown and no civilians are allowed to enter. After this whole mess and scramble to see my brother I’m just happy we got to spend what little time with him we did.