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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2020
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Lolita C Baldor
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND (AP) — As
eight Navy midshipmen iled into their
economics class, instructor Kurtis
Swope pointed to the antibacterial
wipes on the desk. “Did you grab
wipes?” he asked, then told each one
to take two, wipe down the desk when
they arrive and again when they leave.
“That should be your process.”
As chairman of the United States
(US) Naval Academy’s economics
department, Swope broke his class
into two sections, so every student
could attend in person. Down the
hall another instructor, lanked by
chemistry equipment, stood in front of
two computers teaching in an empty
classroom. And another instructor sat
in her of ice, talking to a grid of camo-
clad students on her laptop.
Under the siege of the coronavirus
pandemic, classes began at the Naval
Academy, the Air Force Academy and
the USMilitary Academy at West Point.
But unlike at many colleges around
the country, most students were on
campus and many will attend classes
in person.
This is largely due to advantages
the military schools have. They are
small, each with about 4,500 students
who know that joining the military
means they are subject to more
control and expected to follow orders.
Their military leaders, meanwhile,
are treating the virus like an enemy
that must be detected, deterred and
defeated. They view the students as
the next generation of commanders
who must learn to lead troops through
any crisis, including this one.
“If you look at COVID19 as a
threat, it helps you frame it in a way
that I think you can then conduct
action against it,” said Brigadier
General Curtis Buzzard, West Point’s
commandant. The cadets, he said, are
getting lessons in “leading through
uncertainty and adversity. I’ve had
to do that throughout my career in
the Army, particularly in combat, and
they’re getting a little dose of it”.
The virus outbreak sent most
academy students home to inish
spring semester online. Air Force
seniors stayed and graduated early.
Now students have returned,
and one to two per cent tested
COVID19 positive on arrival and
went into isolation. Since then,
of icials said they have seen few new
cases. The Navy and Air Force will
randomly test 15 per cent of students
weekly; West Point will test 15 to 20
per cent monthly.
Because they need dozens of on-
campus rooms to potentially isolate
COVID students or quarantine those
who come in contact with infected
persons, the Navy and Air Force
academies are renting space off-site
for healthy students. The Navy, in
Annapolis, Maryland, is putting 375
students at St John’s College and
the Air Force, in Colorado Springs,
Colorado, will put 400 in three
local hotels.
“We know that with this population
that about 90 per cent of this age
group is asymptomatic,” Air Force
Academy Dean Brigadier General
Linell A Letendre said. “That’s what’s
really scary about this disease. How
do we ind those individuals who have
it when they don’t even know they
have it.”
To limit any spread, the academies
madephysical andacademicchanges.
At the Navy’s Michelson Hall, blue
tape marks seats that must remain
empty, red tape forms large arrows on
the loor showing students which way
to go, and stairways are designated
up or down. Signs remind students
about social distancing. Library books
borrowed online sit in paper bags for
pick-up.
The Navy has the smallest campus,
but two large tents were wedged next
to the dorm for dining. The Air Force
and Army, however, have been able to
create large outdoor classrooms and
meeting areas.
“I wanted outdoor classrooms for
a long time and we’re inally getting
them,” said Letendre. “I never waste a
good crisis.”
At West Point, instructors tested
their classroomair quality. They added
time between classes for cleaning.
And faculty walk the halls to ensure
students follow health procedures.
The Army and Navy academies
will limit students’ movements off
campus. That may be dif icult,
since the tourist- illed restaurants
of Annapolis’ waterfront are
nearby. Air Force leaders said
they will let students go to stores
or take-out restaurants initially,
but will clamp down if there are
COVID19 cases.
“I don’t know that anyone else
can demand the same things we
At US military academies, COVID-19 is the
enemy to be defeated
do with respect to self-discipline.
That’s just part of being in an
academy,” Director of West
Point’s Systems Engineering
Programme Colonel Matthew
Dabkowski said.
“There’s a level of control with
respect to the staff and faculty
and the cadets that, I think,
is helpful.”
Academyof icialssaidroughly
50 per cent of their classes will
be in-person, the rest will be
online or a mix. Some students
will attend in person more often
if they have lab work.
Students attending acad-
emies also need hands-on mili-
tary experience. The virus made
some of that impossible this
year, and some students missed
critical time in military units or
on ships.
“You can do academic course
work online. We can teach
online,” Naval Academy Provost
Andrew Phillips said. “But the
professional experiences they
missed this summer are very
hard to make up.”
Phillips said most juniors who
must pick their service specialty
now did not get out to active-duty
units but will, he hoped, choose
wisely. Navy students heading to
the Marine Corps, however, got
a shortened summer experience
because Marine leaders felt
strongly about seeing them
in person.
“You want an individual who
is a good it for the Marine Corps,
whose attitude is right,” Phillips
said. “And you really only can
judge that face to face.”
Technology
is
also
a
challenge, with thousands online
for classes. Many instructors
want students to have their
cameras on, which requires
more bandwidth.
Swope, for example, has
one computer set up showing
his online students; his iPhone
camera faces the class, so they
are visible online, and his iPad
displays his lessons.
Instructors have to be ready to
provide online classes to students
in isolation, and also be prepared
to teach from home if they are
quarantined. Celeste Luning
started her junior leadership class
at the Naval Academy seeking
volunteers toset up thecomputers
if she’s not there. “Have you had
in-person classes yet?” Luning
asked. Amid the chorus of “no”,
she turned to her computer to
address thoseonline, “Can you see
your classmates?”
One voice from the computer
summed it up. “It’s pretty weird,”
he said.
Academy Cadets start the school year with a class held outdoors at the United States (US) Air Force Academy.
PHOTO: AP