Mission Readiness and Crew Safety Need Not Be in Conflict
There are ways to protect the health of sailors on a ship and remain ready for whatever mission becomes necessary.
By Jerry L. Mothershead
April 2020
According to news reports, more than 170 sailors on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) have been identified as infected with SARS-CoV-2. I write this as a physician and retired naval officer (and not as a representative of the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, or the Defense Threat Reduction Agency) who served 32 years, first in naval aviation and then Navy medicine, who reluctantly retired in 2002. I love the Navy and want to help. I have absolutely no idea what guidance ship captains have been given, nor do I have the right to know. And I certainly have no desire to interpose myself between those captains and their higher authority.
But I write to say that mission versus safety is not a binary choice.
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2020/april/mission-readiness-and-crew-safety-need-not-be-conflict
