{"id":26969,"date":"2021-03-26T18:51:26","date_gmt":"2021-03-26T18:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/03\/26\/how-changes-made-during-the-pandemic-will-stay-with-the-navy-after-covid-subsides\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:26:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:26:51","slug":"how-changes-made-during-the-pandemic-will-stay-with-the-navy-after-covid-subsides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2021\/03\/26\/how-changes-made-during-the-pandemic-will-stay-with-the-navy-after-covid-subsides\/","title":{"rendered":"How changes made during the pandemic will stay with the Navy after COVID subsides"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

To borrow a well-worn military clich\u00e9, the U.S. Navy\u2019s response to the fast-evolving COVID-19 pandemic of the past year was akin to building a fighter jet while flying it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sea service wasn\u2019t alone, as the novel coronavirus forced all of society\u2019s sectors to adapt fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But hectic times force innovation, and several changes the U.S. Navy made in the past year will likely remain with the sea service long after COVID-19 has faded from such prominence in our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From afloat ship training to teleworking, the historic public health crisis appears likely to fundamentally change how the Navy does business on several fronts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working from home had long been something that the Navy, and the military in general, had struggled to do properly, but the pandemic changed that, Navy leaders told lawmakers during a Senate hearing late last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have finally busted through the fact (that) \u2026 you\u2019ve got to form up in front of the flagpole every morning to get credit for actually being on the job,\u201d then-Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite<\/a> told senators in December. \u201cWe can do work from afar. We can be productive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t