Then in late March, to protect our most precious resource, we sent virtually everyone home from work, and converted largely to a telework status here at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The Comm Group overcame many challenges and greatly expanded our network capabilities. While there was fear in the air, we adapted and responded to the challenges before us to keep the mission operational.
It’s amazing, and sad, how much one virus has changed our everyday life. I still have not been to Walmart since March. Concerts, fairs, festivals, plays and sports events have largely been banished from our existence. Even churches were closed for a while. I’ve always enjoyed seeing the Pet Parade at the Pumpkin Festival in Circleville, but not this year.
Many of our favorite restaurants and shopping places have been devastated. More importantly, we are largely hunkered down, avoiding human contact to protect ourselves. Meanwhile, we’re missing out on much of the joy in life, which we all need. We are social creatures, and need varied social interactions to sustain and rejuvenate our spirits. Cabin fever has certainly entered my consciousness, which I hadn’t thought about since leaving Alaska.
Meanwhile, this has become the new “normal” – complete with social distancing, masks and sanitizer everywhere. Masks make it difficult to recognize who people are, and we’re missing all the facial expressions that are a significant part of our communication. Meetings have pretty much all moved to virtual affairs. Even if the camera is turned on, there are time lags and gaps, preventing you from seeing many of the facial expressions and body language. More than one person is consistently trying to talk at the same time, because those visual clues are lacking. We’re resorting to putting up our hands electronically, bringing back memories of grade school.
All this said, look at how we have adapted, with online purchases, teleworking, virtual meetings and a variety of web solutions. We mandated connecting with employees one on one, becoming better wingmen. One friend initiated zoom family meetings, seeing their extended family weekly now versus once a year in person. Teleworking offers many positives, including reduced costs for all, but we need those social interactions, or we lose our zest.
We as a society challenged the traditional way of doing things, to adapt to the new COVID-19 environment and came up with many improvements to enable us all to live more fulfilling lives.
As I look out my window, I see several different aircraft and four Army helicopters on the ramp. We are a part of the U.S. Air Force, performing our mission throughout this pandemic, enabling our country to project power as needed to defend our way of life. While doing so, we need to continue to be wingmen for our fellow airmen, to interact with each other, to pay attention to our physical and spiritual wellbeing.
As a team we have met the challenge, adapted and overcome the obstacles presented, demonstrating the resilient character within each of us. Forced change can be a good thing.
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