U.S. Navy Issues Standardized Operational Guidance 4.0
16 February 2021
WASHINGTON -- The Navy issued COVID-19 Standardized Operational Guidance (SOG) Version 4.0 to combat the coronavirus pandemic with NAVADMIN 037/21, Feb. 16.
The latest guidance updates the previously issued COVID-19 guidance and is intended to protect the health of individuals and units while preserving operational readiness. Although it is predominantly focused on the shipboard environment, this guidance applies to all uniformed Navy personnel at home and deployed.
This update incorporates updated Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidance based on our evolving understanding of the COVID-19 threat, incorporates lessons learned from the Fleet operating in the COVID-19 environment, and begins to integrate the benefits of vaccinated service members into policy. SOG 4.0 serves as a standard framework for the fleet. Commanders may provide more specific guidance, for subordinate units.
“The Navy’s duty to protect the seas and defend American interests has never been more important,” said Vice Adm. Phil Sawyer, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans and Strategy. “In addition to the disciplined adherence to our mitigation measures, the COVID-19 vaccine is key to improving the safety of our Sailors and maximizing operational effectiveness in the COVID-19 environment.”
This overarching plan includes guidance on immunization, an option for members of a non-operational units who are asymptomatic to conduct a 7 day quarantine followed by a negative test at Commanders discretion, guidance for units with a high percentage of immunized Sailors and community outreach guidance.
Vaccination will significantly help protect our Sailors and their families from the risk of infection.
However, many shipboard commands will still require current health protection measures like PPE, social distancing and routine cleaning. This guidance introduces opportunities for highly immunized units to reduce ROM requirements and other potential relaxations of mitigation measures, improving operational effectiveness and Sailor quality of life.. Fully immunized Sailors allow our Navy to begin to unwind the limits that have been placed on our Sailors at sea where the consequence of a wide spread outbreak is greatest.
The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery COVID-19 Readiness Guide (BUMED CRG) provides medical personnel amplifying guidance to address deployability, duty status, return to work, and return to exercise during the COVID-19 pandemic. It can be found at: https://esportal.med.navy.mil/bumed/rh/m3/m34/crg/default.aspx
For the latest updates on Navy COVID guidance please visit: https://www.navy.mil/US-Navy-COVID-19-Updates/
NAVADMIN 037/ 21 can be found at: https://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/reference/messages/NAVADMINS/Pages/NAVADMIN-2021.aspx