OKLAHOMA CITY –“Sooner or later, in the coming weeks, we will probably come in contact with someone” who is infected withCOVID-19, Maj. Gen. KennethKamper, the commander at Fort Sill, said in a ‘town hall’ broadcast March 24.
That day arrived sooner rather than later.
On March 26, just two days after Kamper’s program was live-streamed on the internet, the post announced that a Department of the Army civilian from Fort Sill test-ed positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
And Fort Sill announced March 28 that a Basic CombatTrainee and a family member of an active-duty servicemember from the Army post tested positive for COVID-19.
That brought to three the number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases at Fort Sill.
All three are “taking appropriate actions to mitigate the spread” of the disease, according to Jessica Tackaberry, media relations specialist in the Fort Sill Public Affairs office.
The family member is a Comanche County resident and is in isolation at an off-post residence, Ms. Tack-aberry said. The Trainee is in isolation, has had “limited exposure to the Fort Sill community,” and is experiencing “mild symptoms” of the disease, Ms. Tackaberrysaid Saturday. The civilian is a resident of ComancheCounty and is in isolation at a residence, she said. “This individual continues to experience only mild symptoms,” Ms. Tackaberry said Friday.
The trainee “went through an aggressive screening process when going through reception and during the initial days of Basic Combat Training,” Ms. Tackaberry said.
Leaders monitor and assess trainees “on a daily basis.”
Fort Sill continues to conduct reception, training, and integration of future Soldiers, Ms. Tackaberry noted. Initial screening at military entry processing stations, during reception and throughout BCT “is ensuring that Fort Sill can continue its mission while limiting the impact and spread of COVID-19,” she said.
Reynolds Army Health Clinic at Fort Sill, in collaboration with and in support of Comanche County, is tracing where the trainee, the civilian and the family members had contact with others on Fort Sill “and will advise those individuals,” Ms. Tackaberry said. The Comanche County Health Department is taking the lead in tracing the contact of COVID-19 exposure out-side Fort Sill, she said.
Fort Sill is following guidance outlined by the Centers for Disease Control, the Defense Health Agency and theU.S. Army Public Health Center, Ms. Tackaberry said.
“We continue to take every precaution to protect our force. Our top priority remains the health, welfare and safety of our service members, families, workforce and the entire Lawton-Fort Sill community,” she said.“We will continue to work with our local health partners to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Fort Sill under-stands the COVID-19 threat and is working diligently to minimize its impact.”
The disease is “fluid and dynamic,” General Kamper noted during his broadcast.
PEOPLE IN QUARANTINE HAS MULTIPLIED TO 604
In less than a month, the number of people at Fort Sill in quarantine as a safety precaution to avoid potentially spreading the corona-virus has multiplied from seven Soldiers to 604 military personnel, family members and civilians who work at the Army post, officials said March 25.
“We are following guidelines set by the Department of Defense and the Centers for Disease Control on self-quarantine,” Kamper said. Soldiers returning from high-risk areas are “adhering to these procedures,” and others in the community have volunteered to self-quarantine “for numerous reasons,” he said.
Those who are voluntarily quarantining themselves “can do so on or off post in their personal quarters or government-provided quarters,” Kamper said.
The number of individuals in self-quarantine soared because “We recently had a unit return from South Korea, a high-risk area” identified as a ‘level 3’ country that has a travel health notice, Kamper explained.
Additionally, he said, “Before the stop-movement order was in place, servicemembers and their families were on spring break. When they returned to Fort Sill they were asked to self-quarantine.”
FORT SILL ‘CONTINUING ITS VITAL MISSION TO TRAIN SOLDIERS'
Fort Sill is “continuing its vital mission to the nation to train United States Soldiers” for operational an combat deployments, the general said.
Consequently, earlier this month 600 Soldiers arrived at the post and, “We sent an artillery unit to South Korea” on March 21, he said.
Approximately 300 Army personnel were scheduled to return soon to Fort Sill from South Korea, Kamper said, but that movement apparently has been interrupted by a dictate from the Pentagon. Defense Secretary Mark Es-per imposed a stop order on all troop movements overseas for 60 days to attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the military, the Pentagon announced March 25.
The stop movement order will apply to all U.S. forces, civilian personnel and families – including those scheduled to return stateside and those scheduled to deploy –with some exceptions, Espertold Reuters news agency. Approximately 90,000 service members are expected to be impacted by the latest freeze.“
This measure is taken to aid in further prevention of the spread of [COVID-19], to protect U.S. personnel and preserve the operational readiness of our global force,” according to the DOD statement.
There were 227 service members, 81 civilian employees, 67 dependents and 40 contractors who tested positive for the illness COVID-19as of March 25.
To slow the spread in its ranks, the Defense Department raised the health protection condition for all U.S. military installations globally, including Fort Sill, to HPCON Charlie, its second-highest level.
Earlier this month the Pentagon froze most domestic travel until May 11 for service members, civilian employees, and their family members. The latest order builds upon those restrictions and will impact “exercises, deployments, redeployments,” among other activities, officials said.
60-MILE TRAVEL RADIUS; TRANSFERS ON HOLD
Fort Sill’s Soldiers are forbidden from traveling beyond a 60-mile radius of the post, “through April and probably into May,” Kamper said.
He also said that for now, trainees who have graduated at Fort Sill are not being sent to other Army posts. Nor are soldiers whose military occupation specialty will require them to undergo Advanced Individual Training (AIT) atone of numerous AIT schools across the U.S. and varies from four weeks to a year in duration.
Soldiers who have a military occupation specialty of field artillery or air defense will perform their AIT at Fort Sill. Post officials are “still working the time frame on how this will be implemented during these challenging times due to COVID-19,” said Jessica Tackaberry, media relations specialist in the Fort Sill Public Affairs Office.
Soldiers whose transfer stateside or overseas have been temporarily frozen “will not just sit in their barracks,” Command Sgt. Major John W.Foley said. “We plan to keep them PT sharp” and performing “repetition of basic Soldier tasks,” he said.