Navy airman James Browder of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan works out in the Fleet Recreation Gym at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, March 13, 2024. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)
The U.S. Navy plans to keep its gyms and fitness centers open around the clock, seven days a week, at bases worldwide.
While some Navy gyms already operate 24/7, most do not, forcing sailors who work night shifts or odd hours to find other avenues for physical fitness.
Hoping to alleviate the problem, Navy Installations Command issued a March 8 memorandum authorizing bases to extend their fitness center hours.
Expanding access allows sailors to “fulfill the Navy mission and deploy at a moment’s notice,” the head of the command, Vice Adm. Scott Gray, said in a March 8 news release. It’s also “the right thing to do” for base residents’ quality of life, he added.
“We all know that exercise benefits one’s physical health, but it also reinforces mental, emotional, and social health, which are important for our Sailors’ overall wellbeing,” he said.
All Navy installations may outfit their fitness centers to operate outside normal business hours with staff or without staff, the memo states.
Several restrictions will apply to after-hours access, according to the release. Patrons younger than 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian; off-base guests will not be allowed, and pools and other “aquatic spaces” will be off-limits.
Base commanders are required to conduct risk assessments, get their gyms certified by the base safety office and develop standard procedures before expanding their hours, the release said.
Navy Installations Command, based in Washington, D.C., did not immediately respond to an after-hours request for comment Wednesday.
James Kitchen, a civilian machinery mechanic for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Wash., works out in the Fleet Recreation Gym at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, March 13, 2024. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)
No timeframe is laid out in the memo, but some Navy bases in Japan are already moving forward with the shift.
The Fleet Recreation Center at Yokosuka Naval Base south of Tokyo became 24/7 on March 5.
“I think it’s great,” Ross Nakahara, a nuclear engineer for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Wash., said at the gym Wednesday. “It gives you more options in the morning, or if you work a different shift.”
Petty Officer 3rd Class Eli Romine, an aircraft handler assigned to the USS Ronald Reagan, also felt the change was beneficial.
“A lot of people get off work late,” he said at the gym Wednesday. “So, it’s really convenient.”
At Naval Air Facility Atsugi, southwest of Tokyo, the gym is not yet accessible 24/7, but the base is “taking actions that will allow us to come into compliance and provide more exercise to our community,” spokesman Gregory Mitchell said by email Wednesday.
Stars and Stripes reporter Jennessa Davey contributed to this report.
