Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Tyler Fraser | 200421-N-HH215-1002 YOKOSUKA, Japan (April 21, 2020) – Mass Communication...... read more read more
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By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ian Cotter, CFA Yokosuka Public Affairs
YOKOSUKA, Japan — The year 2019 was full of good news for myself and my family. In January, I received long-awaited orders to Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in August, my wife and I found out we were going to become parents, and as the year came to a close, I had new career opportunities and further education to look forward to. All the while, a seemingly foreign and uninteresting coronavirus disease was slowly becoming more and more prevalent in the media.
After my wife, Ashley, and I sold our house in Florida and got all of our household goods packed for shipment, we began the process of moving overseas. She was five months pregnant at the time, and we made sure to have all of the essentials for our newborn packed up so that they would be in Japan when we finally got our apartment. Our overseas screenings were complete, our dogs began their quarantine process and Ashley had her no-fee passport in hand. All we had to do now was wait to leave.
While in C-School in route to Yokosuka, COVID-19 became more and more prevalent in the news. Again, this was a trifle disease at the time, about as foreign as Ebola, Zika or SARS; it was just another overseas flu that many people expected to fizzle out over the coming months. Since my wife was pregnant, she decided to fly to Japan earlier than myself while she was still in a pregnancy window that allowed her to fly. That way, I could arrive and be present for the birth of our first child, Zachary and we could take our child home from the hospital. Otherwise, she would have to stay in the United States and have the baby, while I would’ve been half a world away at CFAY.
Then, things began to become more real. Six hours after Ashley landed in Japan, the Department of Defense stopped all dependent PCS travel. My C-School wrapped up a week early so that people could get home to their families before the virus spread. Each day, more and more information was being released about this new and deadly virus. I was constantly on the phone with my administrative office trying to piece together the details of what was going on with my travel. At that time, towards the end of March, I was to still fly out to Seattle from Baltimore, and then catch the Omni rotator flight to Yokota on the 23rd. On the day of my flight, I packed up my things, crated my dogs for travel, and flew to Seattle.
After landing, I went to the Air Mobility Command department at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to inquire about my flight the following day. The woman behind the counter informed me that all I needed was a copy of my orders, my flight itinerary, my CAC card and a signed waiver from an O-7 or above endorsing my travel. Signed waiver? Apparently, over the days prior, a new guidance was released stating that service members could only complete PCS travel if they were endorsed at the admiral or general level or higher. I didn’t have the paperwork to travel, so I was stranded in the state where the virus was introduced to the U.S.
I spent a few days in a hotel room in Washington not knowing what was going to become of my situation and on the phone with my detailer, my gaining command and my administration department getting conflicting information. My detailer instructed me to call around to commands nearby to find out if I could be assigned temporary duty there until mid-May or June. This was going to keep me separated from my wife for our son’s birth, the situation we sought to avoid by her travelling to Japan early. Meanwhile my administration officer and gaining command were working on acquiring endorsement from Rear Adm. Brian Fort, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Japan. Everything seemed up in the air, except for myself of course, and all I could do was wait.
Soon, my gaining command and administration officer sent me an email with my signed waiver. I could not have been happier, and was immediately booked on the next AMC flight to Yokota AFB. I arrived at the airport at 2 a.m., only to find out that my dogs’ travel paperwork, though valid up through the day of travel, would technically be expired when I landed due to the time difference. My dogs, at 2 a.m., would need to be seen by a veterinarian and given a new certification for travel. After a frantic taxi ride, a visit to an emergency 24-hour vet clinic in North Seattle, and about $1000 of unforeseen expenses, my pets and I were good to get on the flight. I had made it, and I sat down in my socially-distanced seat on the plane, and took off for Japan.
COVID-19 is a serious pandemic. Even after reaching CFA Yokosuka, more and more cases around the planet are highlighted in the news. I’m even writing this during my mandatory 14-day restriction of movement quarantine. Moving to a new duty station overseas is challenging enough, but throwing on a global pandemic to top it off is near impossible. I’m beyond grateful to those who helped me come home to my family, but it has come at great personal, emotional and mental cost. The struggle is far from over.
The best thing I can do now, moving forward, is to continue practicing social distancing and following the guidelines set forth by my command. Thousands of service members are going through the same thing I just endured, and many have it harder. Torn from their families and set astray in a sea of ever-changing information and policy, the best thing we can do to help them get home is to follow the guidelines, hunker down, and stop the spread of COVID-19. If we can just hold ourselves to a high quarantine standard, thousands of Sailors, Marines, Airmen and Soldiers might just get to come home sooner, and with less heartache. The ball is in our court, and we must play wisely.
| Date Taken: | 04.20.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.21.2020 03:01 |
| Story ID: | 367922 |
| Location: | JP |
| Web Views: | 45 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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