I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the comment “I can’t wait for 2020 to be over and for 2021 to be here.”
While we’re hoping for an easier year ahead, the crew of the USS ILLINOIS have spent 2020 preparing for deployment in 2021. They are scheduled to leave port in February for a 6-month deployment.
Recently I participated in a virtual meeting where Commander Ron Hatt talked about all of the things that had to be accomplished this year in order to be properly prepared for a successful deployment. The submarine had to pass three major inspections to obtain certification on combat readiness, the ability to have safe nuclear reactor operations and to ensure proper supply management operations. In order to accomplish these goals, the crew has been participating in a Fleet Responsive Training Plan for the last 12-13 months.
While doing this training, new personnel arrived to serve on the USS ILLINOIS as former crew members transferred to other submarines or detached from military service. COVID has made training more difficult. It’s hard to keep social distances when you have a crew of 130 in a confined area. It’s even harder to build the comradery that increases team effectiveness.
Before the virus started affecting all of us, crew members could meet for social events or group physical fitness exercises. Now extra effort had to be made to build team spirit while still observing social distancing guidelines.
Many of the crew members are married. COVID also has made family lives more difficult. In the past the Family Resources Group (FRG) would arrange for picnics and social gatherings so that spouses could meet and support each other as they face some of life’s challenges, especially those that arise when raising young children. They live in Hawaii so when a sudden problem occurs or an illness happens, they do not have the ability to ask for help from family members that live thousands of miles away. The wives truly get by with a little help from their friends while their husbands are at sea. (Currently there are not any female crew members.) The FRG serves to try to make sure that things are good at home so the crew can focus on their mission.
If you would like to learn more about the USS ILLINOIS, visit the following websites: www.786club.org or www.csp.navy.mil/illinois.
