Many Naval District Washington (NDW) personnel are adhering to Physical Distancing guidelines and are teleworking to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. 

Despite the lack of face-to-face contact, NDW Command Master Chief Michael Carbone says it’s important to check up on each other as we navigate this period.

“We need to know if they’re hurting,” said Carbone. “On any typical day in the Navy, leadership is able to conduct muster, inspection and just talk to people. And when you know your people, you’re able to know when they’re up or down. You’re able to pull them aside and see if they need help. With the pandemic and social distancing, it makes it impossible for you to do that in person, so we have to create that.”

“So, some people might say ‘Why do I have to muster? Why are people checking up on me? Why am I getting all these phone calls?’ It’s because we care. We need to know if our people need anything and what we can do to make things better.”

Carbone says he’s hearing stories about NDW Sailors committing acts of kindness and cites Yeoman 2nd Class Caesare Rivera as an example of someone helping others during the pandemic.

 “Rivera was telling me a story about how the people in his building are pulling together. There was one person in his building who was bound to a wheelchair because of an illness and they went out and bought groceries for her because she couldn’t go. That made me proud. We have people who are professionals every day and have good hearts. Not only does he do good things in uniform, but when no one is looking, he also does great things,” said Carbone.

Carbone encourages NDW Sailors and civilians to continue to work together and do their part to defeat COVID-19.

“We’re going to get through this. We’re fighting an enemy that’s on our shore. We’re used to going overseas and fighting there. Now it’s impacting not only how we fight as a team, but it’s impacting how we come together as a family or tribe. It’s very, very important that we continue to be who we are and reach down deep to help each other during these hard times,” says Carbone.

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