Retired Naval helicopter pilot, John Schultz, explains how COVID-19 has affected his work environment.
The former Navy pilot flies drones and is considered an essential worker.
He is concerned about his family’s safety: “It makes me nervous because there is nothing I can really do except for…um…wash my hands and try to keep clean,” said John Schultz, Avian drone pilot/retired Navy helicopter pilot.
Schultz lives in Maryland, 22 miles away from the Webster Outlying Field airbase where he has worked for several months.
John Schultz leaves for work at 6 a.m. He was previously a helicopter pilot for the Navy before he got his current job. 
John Schultz checks over the results of a drone test flight. Typically, he would have conducted this work in his office at Webster Field. 
John Schultz is teleconferencing with his co-workers when he isn’t scheduled to fly. When he went to the office after April 6 he had to wear a mask.
Schultz is considered an essential worker because he is a contractor for the U.S. Navy and their job is to protect and defend the sea. As a pilot focused on that mission, the work must continue despite the pandemic.
Schultz’s job includes testing drones that have a similar size to a news helicopter.
The workers who test the drones stand close together in a confined space the size of a shipping container.
To keep workers safe from contamination from COVID-19, the Department of Defense ordered that all people on military facilities and within 6 feet of each other wear a cloth mask.
This order was issued on April 6 in Maryland.
As part of the government requirements and regulations, Schultz’s workplace created a number of policies to eliminate large meetings and move meetings online using video conferencing.
“We don’t get to eat as a group like we used to, which is kind of isolating,” said Schultz.
Since Schultz works both at the office and at home he has to constantly think of the possibility of getting sick.
Because of this consideration, Schultz always has his mind on washing his hands and keeping his hands away from his face.
“I volunteer [to go shopping] since I’m exposed to everything anyways. So when you do things like touch your face and, uh, when you’re conscious about it, thinking about it the entire drive home, ‘Don’t touch your face, don’t touch your face’. It uh, it brings the reality of this uh virus situation,” said Schultz.
Schultz is concerned by a recent death in his family and how the lock down impacted his ability to properly mourn their passing.
“A lot of disappointment [about a death in the family] and a lot of anxiety and a lot of overall um well uncertainty [about] what’s coming in the future,” said Schultz.
Schultz and his family have been affected by the lock down and he continues to worry about the well-being of his family and workplace safety.
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