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HOHENFELS, Germany -- The Joint Multinational Readiness Center made the health of U.S. Soldiers and multinational allies and partners a top priority as personnel arrived to the Hohenfels Training Area, Germany, for exercise Saber Junction 20 in July.
“For Saber Junction 20, JMRC is creating the safety bubbles that will protect all forces along with the local community during the exercise,” said Lt. Col. Kristopher Gillett, executive officer at JMRC.
JMRC integrated COVID-19 prevention and protection measures into every training event during Saber Junction 20. This included techniques such as temporarily restricting movements, social distancing, and rotational shift work to ensure Soldiers’ readiness.
Soldiers who arrived to Camp Albertshof were given a JMRC welcome brief, and COVID-19 mitigation safety brief. They also completed a medical screening before entering their two-week restriction of movement. All incoming personnel were tested when they first arrived and again in the middle of their incubation period.
“We do this in order to protect our Soldiers, families, and the people we are being hosts to,” said Maj. Meredith Hettinger, the chief nurse at the U.S. Army Health Clinic Hohenfels.
During the exercise, which will begin early August, risk of transmission will be minimized by implementing strict social distancing procedures in addition to employing frequent handwashing and sanitation.
Testing and monitoring will also continue during the exercise. When Soldiers in enclosed vehicles or small spaces cannot socially distance themselves, they are still required to wear a face covering and frequently sanitize their work and living environments.
“Periodically, throughout the exercise, JMRC will conduct surveillance testing of a certain percentage of the rotational force,” said Gillet.
If a Soldier becomes symptomatic or has a positive test result, they will be immediately moved into isolation and JMRC trace teams will be activated.
“If the result from any of the tests conducted came back positive, that Soldier would be removed from training while a designated team will trace the patient’s contact list for possible exposures and those personnel would be screened, tested and quarantined if necessary,” said Hettinger.
The U.S. Army already held many measures in place to test and respond to the COVID-19 environment for community members and multinational allies and partners.
At JMRC, the command set the standard for all other combat training centers in executing COVID-19 prevention and protection measures.
“JMRC was the first combat training center to resume collective training in a COVID-19 environment during Defender Europe 20 exercise,” said Gillett.
Saber Junction 20 is a 7th Army Training Command-conducted, U.S. Army Europe-directed annual exercise designed to assess the readiness of the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade to execute unified land operations in a joint, combined environment, and to promote interoperability with participating ally and partner nations.
This year’s exercise will take place primarily at Grafenwoehr and Hohenfels Training Areas in Bavaria. U.S. military forces stationed in Europe routinely conduct these types of exercises with allied and partner nations to enhance interoperability and readiness.
For more information about Saber Junction 20, visit https://www.7atc.army.mil/SaberJunction/.
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| Date Taken: | 07.24.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 07.25.2020 08:57 |
| Story ID: | 374520 |
| Location: | HOHENFELS, BY, DE |
| Web Views: | 258 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, JMRC conducts COVID-19 prevention measures in preparation for Saber Junction 20, by SPC Ravenne Eschbach, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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