Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Cameron Stoner | 210204-N-UB406-0001 Sailors assigned to Commander, Submarine Force Atlantic’s...... read more read more
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Commander, Submarine Forces (SUBFOR) looks back on the establishment of the command’s COVID-19 battle watch team after one year of service, March 17.
“The SUBFOR battle watch team has been the unquestionable set of Silent Service leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to monitoring, tracking and reporting,” said Vice Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander, Submarine Forces. “But, even more important and perhaps much less known, they set the standards that have underpinned the fundamental premises for almost all COVID testing and vaccination policies across the Navy!”
The team, comprised of multiple Sailors throughout various SUBLANT departments, formed shortly after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.
“SUBLANT’s COVID-19 battle watch team was formed due to rapid changes with the pandemic,” said Lt. Gary Vanderwater, SUBLANT’s COVID-19 battle watch team commander. “By forming a task force dedicated to the pandemic, we are able to take formal guidance from the Secretary of Defense, U.S. Navy, and other official sources and work through them to create our own guidance tailored for the Submarine Force.”
Tasked with the challenge of tracking and combatting a new disease, the team quickly implemented methods of mitigating the risk of the disease transferring between Sailors.
“Our team utilizes the sentinel surveillance system, which is used for random COVID-19 testing to help identify individuals who may be asymptomatic,” said Vanderwater. “This testing helps reach the U.S. Navy’s goal of testing one percent of the entire Navy fleet per week.”
While the end of the fight against COVID-19 remains to be seen, SUBLANT’s battle watch team remains dedicated to ensuring Submarine Force Sailors have the proper tools and knowledge to minimize the potential of infection.
“Currently there are 16 Sailors on the team working on a rotating basis, ensuring there is always someone working to fight the pandemic and provide assistance to the Submarine Force,” said Vanderwater. “It’s important to emphasize that all the Sailors are volunteers who had no experience with this job, but were able to quickly adapt and learn what they needed to do and how to do it.”
The mission of the Submarine Force is to execute the Department of the Navy’s mission in and from the undersea domain. In addition to lending added capacity to naval forces, the Submarine Force, in particular, is expected to leverage those special advantages that come with undersea concealment to permit operational, deterrent and combat effects that the Navy and the nation could not otherwise achieve.
The Submarine Force and supporting organizations constitute the primary undersea arm of the Navy. Submarines and their crews remain the tip of the undersea spear.
| Date Taken: | 03.17.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 03.17.2021 09:41 |
| Story ID: | 391579 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 470 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Submarine Force COVID Battle Watch Team Maintains Sailor Readiness, by PO1 Cameron Stoner, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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