BANGOR — In his final days as leader of the Navy's installations in the northwest, Rear Adm. Christopher “Scotty” Gray and his staff has been focused on thwarting coronavirus, canceling tours and curtailing public engagements. Even the ceremony honoring his time here and installing his replacement, Rear Adm. Stephen D. Barnett, has been reduced to an "internal" formality.

Gray's next assignment will likely be more of the same. He'll become rear admiral in charge of Navy installations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

The location? Naples, Italy.

"Just lucky I guess," Gray said of being a leader in two different coronavirus-afflicted areas.

Kidding aside, Gray noted that for the Navy, coronavirus is a national security threat. An outbreak aboard one of Bangor's ballistic missile submarines could prevent deployment.

"This thing spreads so easily — it’s really hard to get a handle around," he said. "We’re taking it very seriously."

The pandemic makes for an arduous end in the Pacific Northwest for Gray, who said he's enjoyed his approximately two-year tour based at Bangor, overseeing a Navy region that spans the Arctic to Iowa. Gray, 55, beams with pride over the varied but paramount Navy specialties here: the nuclear weapon-armed Trident submarines at Bangor; the multiple aircraft carriers and the shipyard that keeps them rumbling in Bremerton; the EA-18G Growlers on Whidbey that provide electronic warfare leadership for all branches of the armed services.

"We executed some of the most critical national missions here, some of which are one-offs in the entire world," said Gray, a Virginia native who piloted Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft earlier in his Navy career.

Gray wasn't shy about asserting the Navy's opinion in wider discourse. He trumpeted a study that found more than 78,000 jobs in or supporting the Navy provide a $10.7 billion boost to the local economy, which he called a "shock absorber" in hard times. When the nation's political leaders resorted to brinksmanship that led to government shutdowns, he went public with advice for sailors that suggested they keep some savings in case of a government shutdown.

"Let's all hope for the best but plan for the worst so we are better-positioned to endure the hardships of any future shutdown," Gray wrote in an all-hands message.

He also was boisterous in the defense of Navy SEALS, who have applied to use state parks as training grounds, and of the Growler aircraft based at Whidbey Island. He says sometimes it's easy for people to forget the Navy and its purpose in the world.

"You may not like the military, you may not like the Navy, but it’s essential fact that we are needed. There’s always wolves circling. We’ve been at peace for so long, sometimes you take it for granted."

Rear Adm. Stephen D. Barnett is taking Gray's place. The Tennessee native said his top priority is a seamless transition. Barnett is no stranger to the Pacific Northwest, having been an officer on board Whidbey Island-based Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance squadrons in thr 1990s.

"It was my first tour," he said. "I'm very partial to the area."

Later, he flew more than 250 missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. As a flag officer, he was most recently deputy commander of Navy Installations Command in Washington, D.C.

Like his predecessor, Barnett will live in one of the historic officers quarters constructed in the late 1800s at Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton.