Deployed! Now What? Rim of the Pandemic 2020 By LT Jack “BRAD” Oberman, USN
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n January of 2020 the HSC-21 Blackjacks were already preparing for the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, better known as RIMPAC. RIMPAC is an exercise meant to bring together all our allied Navies in a show of strength, unity, and comradery. Yes, we were bright eyed and bushy tailed – optimistic this would be the best summer of our lives. Plans were put in place to fly with the Aussies to execute a SINKEX and work with the Marines to conduct over land missions. We were even excited to just fly logistics runs to and from ships of all nationalities. Not to mention, of course, the untold shenanigans that would ensue over the long 4th of July weekend we would have free for liberty…but we all know what happened next. 2020 struck its first and most devastating blow – a global pandemic. In an instant, RIMPAC and all our summer plans were cast into doubt. First the Marines pulled out. Then other countries began to withdraw as well. But the show must go on – this was our chance to prove to the world the might of the US Navy and her allies could not be stopped even by a plague. This is how we, the Blackjacks, contributed to that fight and demonstrated to the Navy that the HSC Community is always prepared to adapt to accomplish the mission. First, RIMPAC was delayed by almost two months and shortened to account for an all surface exercise with the mighty USS Essex (LHD-2) spearheading as the flagship. Of course, with her new responsibility, it became the utmost priority that we do not bring any traces of COVID-19 onboard. This meant we would begin the long process most of us are now Rotor Review #151 Winter '21
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well familiar with in 2020: Restriction of Movement (ROM). Throughout the year we’ve seen many variations of ROM, from as easy as staying home from work for two weeks to as strict as quarantining in a hotel room where every meal is dropped off in styrofoam packages. Neither of these extremes were a viable option for us. Being required to ROM at home or in a hotel for weeks on end would prevent us from keeping our flight currencies, accomplishing milestones for next summer's deployment, and performing much needed maintenance actions to ensure our aircraft were ready to perform underway. As always, we Blackjacks are solution oriented – and the answer was simple: ROM and continue to work at the same time. That is right, to stay operational our detachment moved into hotels and took over HSC-6’s empty hangar while they were on deployment. We completely separated ourselves from Home Guard and essentially became a new squadron on the seawall. Each Sailor was given their own hotel room at the Navy Gateway onboard Naval Amphibious Base Coronado and we caravaned to and from our new squadron spaces in duty vans. Meals were dropped off outside our hotel rooms and at squadron spaces depending on where you signed up for in the google doc the night prior, allowing for flexibility with the flight schedule to ensure everyone was fed. In theory, it was a perfect system with everyone is in quarantine and working and being fed, but it only took a few days for the flaws to shine.
