Fort Jackson remains at the forefront of the prevention and containment of COVID-19 in order to protect the community while still training a majority of America’s Initial Entry Training Soldiers.
“Soldiers, as many of you know, took an oath to our country to support and defend our great nation against enemies foreign and domestic,” said Brig. Gen. Milford H. “Beags” Beagle Jr., Fort Jackson’s commander during a virtual town hall streamed live on Facebook March 26. “The way we do
that is by protecting our force, so we can protect our mission. We train our nation’s most precious resource, your sons and daughters.”
“We remain ready because our nation will never ask us if we are ready – they expect it,” he added.
Continuing to train is a part of national defense. On March 31, the first group of Basic Combat Training graduates from February were shipped to Fort Lee, Virginia.
“As we do our part to mitigate the effects of this pandemic, we must remain prepared to carry out our core national security missions,” said Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper, in a memorandum to the force. “Our adversaries may look to exploit this crisis, as much of the world’s attention is directed toward the coronavirus.”
He also called on Department of Defense personnel to remain vigilant.
“During these times, it is important that we minimize person-to-person interaction and practice social distancing, whenever possible,” Esper said. “I know this can be challenging in certain situations, as every unit, installation, and mission is unique. There are, however, some
commonsense rules that we should all follow: do not crowd large groups of people into confined spaces for meetings or briefings; conduct tasks such as physical training and maintenance in small groups; and use teleworking and other virtual tools to enable staff work, when possible. I
trust our commanders around the world to make the best decisions for their troops as they balance mission requirements with force health protection."
To aid with these guidelines, Fort Jackson is temporarily changing how, when, and where services are delivered to retirees. The changes include modifications to installation access, medical services, the commissary, the Identification (ID) Card facility, and other services that currently remain in operation.
MEDICAL
Effective Monday, Moncrief Army Health Clinic will provide retiree enrolled beneficiaries their medical benefits at the Moncrief Medical Home. This applies to retiree beneficiaries who normally receive their health care at
Moncrief Army Health Clinic on Fort Jackson. Moncrief Army Health Clinic will remain open every day to those retirees who live in housing on Fort Jackson, active duty service members, and their dependents. The address for the Moncrief Medical Home is 1021 Pinnacle Point Drive, Columbia, S.C. 29223 and the telephone number is (803) 562-2107.
Specialty medical referrals may be referred to Moncrief Army Health Clinic, where possible. Otherwise, the off post referral system will continue to be used for specialty appointments.
PHARMACY
For pharmacy support, beneficiaries who do not live on the installation and are not enrolled at Moncrief Army Health Clinic or Moncrief Medical Home, may continue receiving their medication at the Moncrief Army Health Clinic pharmacy on Fort Jackson each Tuesday and Friday.
Another option for non-enrolled beneficiaries is to use the TRICARE Mail Order Pharmacy at (877) 363-1303 or https://militaryrx.express-scripts.com/home-delivery (copay applicable) or visit a local pharmacy in their community.
Beneficiaries who are enrolled at Moncrief Army Health Clinic should
continue receiving their health care and medication at Moncrief Medical Home, until further notice.
INSTALLATION ACCESS
Retirees will have access to the installation and all available services on Tuesdays and Fridays. Exceptions include the following: The ID Card Facility will remain open to retirees daily by appointment only, with walk-in appointments accepted.
The Department of Human Resources will provide appointment rosters to installation security guards to ensure access. For lost and expiring ID cards, installation security guards will validate a second form of identification and expiration dates before referring personnel to the ID card facility for a walk-in appointment.
Also effective April 6, off-post beneficiaries will be allowed to use the Commissary, The Exchange, and other services that are still operating on Tuesdays and Fridays only. This is a temporary restriction, which will be rescinded once conditions allow.
“This decision was not made lightly and I respect our retirees and veterans and their service to our nation,” Beagle said. “COVID-19 does not discriminate who it infects, and I want to keep them safe and healthy as well. The more we work together, the quicker we will be able to return to normal operations. By separating our retirees from our other populations, we will protect our most vulnerable populations from
the spread of COVID-19.”
Our primary means of combating COVID-19 are social distancing and sanitization procedures. These changes preserve access to essential services, while helping to keep everyone safe and healthy. The more we work together, the quicker we will return to normal operations. By creating time and space separation at critical shared services, we will better protect everyone from the spread of COVID-19.
Post officials will continue to follow guidance from The Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and working with South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control to protect the soldiers, civilians, their families and our neighboring communities.
For timely information, follow Fort Jackson social media platforms and visit our COVID-19 prevention and updates page at https://home.army.mil/jackson/index.php/about/COVID-
19-Prevention-and-Updates.
Download the Fort Jackson app, available on Apple and Android devices, to receive current updates and notifications. Visit the Fort Jackson website at home.army.mil/jackson or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/fortjackson for updates.
Date Taken: | 04.02.2020 |
Date Posted: | 04.03.2020 09:09 |
Story ID: | 366490 |
Location: | FORT JACKSON, SC, US |
Web Views: | 62 |
Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fort Jackson ramps up COVID-19 response, by Robert Timmons, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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