The world we left when we got underway in early March to test newly installed systems was not the world we returned to 13 days later. When the USCGC Kimball (WMSL-756) left Honolulu, the coronavirus outbreak was largely confined to China, and there was still optimism it could be contained. While underway, daily situation reports from across the Pacific Area increasingly focused on the Coast Guard’s response to the M/V Grand Princess cruise ship, which had COVID-19 cases, heading for San Francisco. We could sense the outbreak spreading to the United States, but we were isolated from it and our ability to get information at sea was limited. When we returned to our homeport, we found store shelves empty, we heard the term “social distancing“ for the first time, and the virus dominated all aspects of daily life. We had to adapt—quickly.
The Coast Guard’s priority remains operational readiness, and for Kimball that means getting this new ship through the last few months of testing and certifications to be deemed ready for operations, while simultaneously taking care of the crew and our Ohana (families). It is a balancing act. Cutters are a team sport. Everything we do requires work in close groups, yet we needed to determine to what extent we could socially distance ourselves to prevent the spread of the virus.
We split the crew into four sections with each working two days on the ship followed by six days off. We systematically sanitize the ship between duty sections to minimize cross-contamination, judiciously use our limited cleaning supplies, and all hands know what to do at the first sign sickness. When not on watch, the onboard crew does department and division work, and we have become creative with the types of work the crew can do from home because much of our work is not well suited for telework. We have to balance social distancing with the need for operational readiness. Every decision about how and what we do is a risk calculation.
Right now, Hawaii is about a week into a “stay at home” order and a mandatory 14-day quarantine for anyone arriving in the State, including residents. Because of the mission essential nature of our work, the crew can get to the ship, and we are working with the State to get critical experts to Hawaii to continue Kimball’s final preps for full operations. Almost all other aspects of daily life have been confined to our homes.
My crew is taking this in stride, and talking to my peers, I get the impression most Coast Guardsmen and their families are handling this crisis well and morale remains high. I see clear lessons learned from the 2019 partial government shutdown that directly impacted the Coast Guard. For example, a website accessible from outside the Coast Guard’s internal network was quickly established to consolidate and share all relevant information with our workforce, allowing all hands to stay up to date on current information even while social distancing and working from home. Teams at various levels were assembled to address new concerns and push out updates to policy quickly so we can adapt as the situation requires. The flow of information and quick answers to deck-plate level questions and concerns has been well coordinated. Having been through that crisis just a year ago, there is a sense that the team will come together to get everyone through it, just as we did before.
Once my crew knew they would continue to be paid (a residual fear from last year’s shutdown), most adjusted well to this new norm. Previously we had been leaning forward to identify and resolve personnel issues as a crew, and so shipmates have been comfortable coming forward with concerns, problems, and ideas.
Photo courtesy of the author.
The biggest challenge for my crew has been the Department of Defense decision to halt all permanent change of station (PCS) transfers—including household goods and personal vehicle shipments—which also impacted the Coast Guard. Our transfer window is a few months every summer. Like other Coast Guard units, a third of my crew already was making preparations to transfer when everything halted. Because we are “optimally manned,” the Kimball doesn’t have spare bodies to fill gaps and every vacancy hurts, which requires close coordination of personnel transfers. Who can move when from various units? What skills are lost versus gained? How to balance each unit’s operational needs, and what pre-arrival training is or is not mission critical? These questions create an innumerable number of tentacles that stretch everywhere. PCS season is a significant challenge in a normal year. Coast Guard leaders knew this was a top concern and actively worked on a solution, with an update announced last Friday. While the goal is to execute all 10,000 planned transfers, it will not be business as usual and transfers will be conducted as conditions allow. All units and personnel must remain flexible to adapt to unforeseen challenges. Whatever happens, we’ll do what we always do: come together and work the problem.
The crew of the Kimball is adapting with creative mitigation plans. Just when we thought we had enough on our plate, for example, Hawaii came under a tsunami watch. Until the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center could confirm there was no threat, we went full speed ahead recalling the crew to get underway within 90 minutes, before the first predicted wave. It was yet another test of our ability to work under pressure to triage and prioritize a complex problem as a team. It’s what we do.
There is always something to keep us on your toes! Getting a cutter ready for operational tasking is challenging work with never a dull moment. And everything requires an “all-hands-on-deck” effort. Despite the added challenges of the coronavirus, the Kimball crew is answering all bells, which is why I love my job.
