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Home » News & Analysis » First Deck Log of 2021 Plays Up One Crew’s High Sea Saga of Piracy, Drug Patrols and COVID-19
First Deck Log of 2021 Plays Up One Crew’s High Sea Saga of Piracy, Drug Patrols and COVID-19
December 31, 2020 1:33 PM
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114) sails towards the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) while conducting routine underway operations. McCain is assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, the Navy’s largest forward-deployed DESRON and the U.S. 7th Fleet’s principal surface force. U.S. Navy Photo
The Navy’s annual tradition of writing its first deck log of the New Year in verse homed in on the global pandemic and how it affected the crew of one Pacific-based guided-missile destroyer.
Army Reserve Sgt. 1st Class Eric Monson, observer coach/trainer assigned to 1st Battalion, 383rd Regiment, conducts a demonstration at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, on Aug. 21, 2020, of the new Army Individual Weapons Qualification standards that will take effect on Oct. 1, 2020. The Army has seen an increase in COVID-19 cases even as it ramps training back up. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Master Sgt. Anthony L. Taylor)
2. COVID-19 Hits the US
COVID-19 would halt PT tests, turn recruiting efforts virtual, make more than 100,000 sick and claim the lives of more than 5,000 veterans and 155 DoD-connected personnel. No respecter of persons, the virus at one point would force most of the Joint Chiefs to quarantine after an exposure event at the White House that infected at least two senior officers. It would also put the spotlight on the military logistics enterprise with Gen. Gus Perna, former head of Army Materiel Command, tapped to lead a nationwide vaccine distribution effort known as Opera