The Measured Evolution of COVID-19 Defense at the Joint Readiness Training Center

Photo By Raymond Barnard | A Soldier washes his hands during Rotation 21-09 at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana. U.S. Army Photo  

FORT POLK, LA, UNITED STATES

09.01.2021

Story by Maj. Jennifer Dyrcz 

Joint Readiness Training Center Operations Group

FORT POLK, LA – The Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) and Fort Polk is preparing for its twelfth
brigade formation, the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), to join them
through the month of September for training rotation 21-10. Along with traditional preparation such as
scenario development, equipment repair and doctrine review comes the added layer of COVID-19 safety.
When the nation-wide lockdowns began in March of 2020, the leadership and health officials at JRTC had
about 90 days to implement measures which would protect the 4th Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB)
from Ft. Carson, Colorado. The northern part of Fort Polk, typically where training rotations were housed,
immediately turned into “the North Fort Safety Bubble”. All Observer, Coach, Trainers (OCTs) and support
staff had to present credentials to be allowed entry and only after they had passed a COVID test for that
month’s rotation; measures allowing for stringent mitigation of possible outbreak.
Once in “the Bubble” OCTs had to have a temperature and health screening each time they went into and out
of “The Box” where the bulk of the brigades trained, as well as the standard observance of social distancing
and masking.
“These protective postures enabled us to maintain training and Army readiness, all while making sure the
training formation, Soldiers and Families of Fort Polk stay safe,” Brig. Gen. David S. Doyle, commander of
JRTC & Fort Polk.
With each new rotation came evaluations of how to best maintain realistic training during a global pandemic.
Once the COVID-19 vaccine was given emergency authorization for use, the JRTC community was
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encouraged to get vaccinated. By the summer of 2021 several brigades were authorized to train without
masks.
However with the rise of the Delta variant, JRTC had to reexamine measures and during this August’s
rotation 21-09, the Soldiers of the 54th SFAB from the Indiana National Guard, were issued wristbands
denoting vaccination status. These were used assist the OCTs to be more precise in measuring risk in contact
tracing to help keep more people in the training scenario.
“From the beginning, over a year ago, JRTC and Fort Polk have implemented safety protocols based off of
Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Department of Defense (DOD) guidance. With each new brigade’s
rotation the team here rigorously reviews the training environment in regards to COVID mitigation, and they
flex as necessary. These wristbands are just one more tool keeping our training areas, our Soldiers, Families
and support staff safe,” said Col. Andrew Saslav, Commander of Operations Group, JRTC and Fort Polk.
Even with the U.S. Secretary of Defense’s mandate for all Soldiers to receive the vaccine “immediately”,
JRTC expects to still use its tool of “wristbanding” for 3/101st DIV (ABN).
Which each new rotation and each new advance in safety JRTC leadership will assess the most appropriate
measures needed to keep the formations, the trainers, families and the local community safe. This in turn
allows the thousands of Soldiers who come to JRTC and Fort Polk each month the ability to feel protected
while training to conduct large scale combat operations, a mission which enables the Army to support global
deployment and readiness needs.
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• Date Taken: 09.01.2021
• Date Posted: 09.02.2021 12:08
• Story ID: 404425
• Location: FORT POLK, LA, US