“We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.” Churchill or Orwell or Kipling - take your pick.
Just be thankful that all of our “rough men” DO stand watch in the night, rather than “phoning it in to the office”.
Again, nobody has ever suggested that every job can be done remotely. And working remotely isn’t ‘phoning it in’ unless one is a total slacker and would be so at home OR in the office.
The equipment those rough men are using are designed and managed by people who work remotely.
The U.S. military has been doing remote work for more than a century. Industry was late to the game.