Rim of the Pandemic 2020

By LT Jack “BRAD” Oberman, USN

In 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 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.

With only four duty vans, the logistics of moving all the day and night check maintenance personnel, the aircrewmen, and the pilots became quite the puzzle. Assigning a duty driver meant we would have one less person working on the aircraft or being available to fly. Additionally, while the sign up for where you want your food delivery was a great idea – it did not feel so great when you woke up in the morning after flying until 2 AM only to find you had forgotten to switch your meal delivery from squadron spaces to your hotel room. Not to mention there were no gyms and we were not even allowed to go for a run by ourselves with masks on. Morale quickly sunk to an all-time low. We were kept away from our families. We were working as hard as ever and being fed mass produced galley food in styrofoam boxes that was cold and soggy by the time it got to you.

Our Home Guard leadership saw this happening and stepped up – they provided a box at the quarterdeck where family and friends could drop off care packages that would be delivered with the next meal delivery. The CO, XO, and CMC also dropped off food for cookouts so we could grill and have some delicious warm food for a change. JO’s from Home Guard took it upon themselves to make daily NEX runs for us, picking up almost anything requested by our sailors and dropping off a receipt to be reimbursed via Venmo. Next to the hangar was an open lot that we transformed into a makeshift outdoor gym. Sure, all we had was a couple of dumbbells and a medicine ball, but it served the purpose and allowed our Sailors to get out and get moving. The biggest morale boost though was when the entire detachment came out on their balconies after working a long day, blasted music, and had the most socially distanced party you have ever seen. Luckily, there was only one tenant at the hotel besides our detachment, and even he came out on his balcony during the festivities.

All in all, our maintenance team was able to accomplish a major phase inspection and over 100 special inspections while in our modified ROM. Additionally, we flew over 20 pilot and aircrew ACTC events and completed two HAC Boards via Zoom. This demonstrates the true dedication the Blackjacks have towards accomplishing the mission. The biggest takeaways we learned for the next working ROM into deployment scenario are to try and get more duty vans to help with the logistics of moving everyone to and from work, trying to get kitchenettes in as many hotel rooms as possible, or at least microwaves, to allow for Sailors to warm up their food, and to conduct our COVID-19 testing at the beginning of the ROM. Unfortunately, at the time, there were not enough COVID-19 testing swabs available and we were forced to wait until the last few days of our three-week ROM to conduct our tests. This revealed that we had three asymptomatic positive cases – forcing them to go into another two-week quarantine. Thankfully, due to our social distancing and mask requirements, we were able to prevent any spread or outbreak in the detachment. If we had been able to test at the beginning of the ROM, we would have quarantined COVID-19 positive personnel much sooner and would not have been undermanned for the first two weeks of RIMPAC – as they were required to fly out to Hawaii and meet us after their quarantine.

After three long weeks of ROM, the day arrived and we flew onto the Essex. Our mission had changed, there were no longer any other air assets onboard with us except some WWII aircraft that the ship was charged with delivering to Hawaii for VJ Day. Our regular plane guard mission was no longer required. Instead we maintained a MEDEVAC alert with procedures specifically put in place to transport COVID-19 positive patients to the hospital facilities onboard the LHD until they could be taken to a shore-based facility. These procedures were rehearsed multiple times with both aircrew and members of the medical team onboard. Additionally, we maintained our regular status as a logistics support platform, making runs to and from multiple ships engaged in the exercise as well as shore based runs.

COVID mitigations onboard the ship were much like mitigations anywhere else in the world: face masks were required, seating was limited to every other space at meals, and the gym was closed. These precautions helped prevent the infection's spread onboard the ship on the off chance an asymptomatic sailor had a false negative test prior to embarking. While these mitigations were reasonable, it didn’t change the negative impact they had on morale. With the gym being closed, especially, there was no outlet for Sailors to get away from work – if only for an hour. Sure, there was the flight deck to go work out on, but with a daily flight schedule there was limited opportunity to make your way out and into the sun. The ship’s leadership did their best to increase morale with beer on the pier, as there was no liberty allowed while we were in port. They served good old Bud Light and Kona Beers, it was better than nothing and really did make a difference in the quality of life while we were in port.

Overall, the underway itself was not too different than most any underway beyond COVID mitigations and lack of liberty in port. The real difficulties that we faced and overcame were in the ROM process, where the Blackjacks proved that not even a pandemic can stop the HSC Community from operating. The credit all goes to our Sailors, whose resiliency and perseverance kept us in the fight. We will be ready for whatever curveballs 2021 throws our way.