Over 150 recent graduates of Basic Combat Training, or BCT, at Fort Jackson, SC, were transported in a controlled movement via a contracted commercial airplane to begin training at the U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence.

Photo By Jose Rodriguez | Soldiers step off via a contracted commercial airplane after arriving at Kelly Field, San Antonio, TX from Fort Jackson, SC to begin training at the U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence, or MEDCoE, as part of the Army’s efforts restrict community contact with the trainees between duty stations due to COVID-19 concerns.  

SAN ANTONIO, TX, UNITED STATES

04.24.2020

Story by Tish Williamson 

U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence

JOINT BASE SAN ANTNIO-Fort Sam Houston, Texas – Over 150 recent graduates of Basic Combat Training, or BCT, at Fort Jackson, SC, were transported in a contracted commercial airplane to begin training at the U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence, or MEDCoE, as part of the Army’s efforts restrict community contact with the trainees between duty stations due to COVID-19 concerns.

Two civilian airplanes landed at Kelly Field on Friday, April 24, 2020 carrying soldiers who have been in a so-called “protective bubble” of training at Fort Jackson for the past several months. Each trainee was screened for COVID-19 as a new recruit before being sent to basic for at least 10 weeks. Prior to being released to MEDCoE, the soldiers were screened daily for the last 14 days and one final time just prior to the flight departing Fort Jackson. There were no stops in route and the only contact with the community was with the flight crew who were also screened and wore cloth face coverings as a protective measure.

Upon arrival at Kelly Field, drill sergeants assigned to MEDCoE donned personal protective equipment to screen each trainee in a hangar to ensure they were symptom free. When trainees passed screening at arrival, they were allowed to board sterile buses bound for Fort Sam Houston to begin their Advanced Individual Training in varying medical military occupational specialties to include Combat Medics, Respiratory Specialists, and Medical Logistic Specialists. Every aspect of the soldier’s travel was designed to limit contact with the community to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The soldiers were able to travel in this highly controlled fashion rather than commercial flights as an exception to the Department of Defense stop movement policy that was extended on April 20 to avoid the potential spread of COVID-19 within the military. This is the first time trainees have arrived via a chartered flight for training at the MEDCoE though the organization conducted a controlled air movement to transport graduating trainees from Fort Sam to their follow-on duty stations with the same type of control measures earlier this month. The current stop movement policy will be reviewed every two weeks and is expected to be in place until June 30.

The U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence (MEDCoE) is located at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas. MEDCoE is comprised of two Medical Training Brigades with four Medical Training Battalions, a Noncommissioned Officer Academy and several staff elements. MEDCoE is the Army proponent responsible to envision and design responsive Army Medicine capabilities, structure and doctrine that support the fielded force and the future force. MEDCoE trains, educates and inspires nearly 30,000 soldiers in over 360 training and education programs annually that include everyone from combat medics, doctors, surgeons, nurses, veterinarians, dentists, physical therapists and physician assistants to medical evacuation pilots, food inspectors, medical technicians, and hospital administrators. They are the largest civilian-accredited service school within the Department of Defense with 13 advanced degree programs that offer a total of 14 degrees; 5 Master and 9 Doctoral.

LINKS TO VIDEO STRINGERS (4x 30 Second video clips showing deplaning, screening, loading buses to Fort Sam Houston with ambient noise):

https://www.dvidshub.net/video/749481/medcoe-basic-combat-training-arrival-1-4
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/749482/medcoe-basic-combat-training-arrival-2-4
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/749483/medcoe-basic-combat-training-arrival-3-4
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/749484/medcoe-basic-combat-training-arrival-4-4

• Date Taken: 04.24.2020
• Date Posted: 04.25.2020 10:29
• Story ID: 368478
• Location: SAN ANTONIO, TX, US