No Result
View All Result
Reserve & National Guard
SUBSCRIBE FREE
No Result
View All Result
Reserve & National Guard
SUBSCRIBE FREE
Reserve & National Guard

National Guard leaders detail COVID-19 response amid omicron surge

Kari Williams
by Kari Williams
January 13, 2022
omicron

Sgt. Ethan Hart, a team leader assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment, pushes a resident down the hall at Loretto Health and Rehab in Syracuse, NY, Dec. 20. Photo by Staff Sgt. Alexander Rector

National Guardsmen deployed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 amid the omicron surge who have direct contact with the public are required to be fully vaccinated against the virus, according to leaders on a media roundtable.

Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said during the Thursday morning call that more than 15,200 Guard members across 49 states and territories are contributing to efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Ohio currently has the highest number of Guard members supporting the COVID-19 mission across all states and territories, Hokanson said.

Nearly 2,500 Ohio guardsmen are currently activated, with almost 2,300 deployed to hospitals, according to Army Maj. Gen. John C. Harris Jr., adjutant general of the Ohio National Guard.

“[Our] primary function is to ensure that we help hospitals meet capacity as they’re being overrun by the perfect storm,” Harris said, citing the combination of delta and omicron variants of the novel coronavirus.

The Guard, according to Harris, deployed medical and nonmedical teams to help area hospitals expand their capacity and assist in running testing sites.

RELATED: DOD authorizes awards for COVID-19 related service

“Medical teams are working side by side with clinical staff,” Harris said.

Nonmedical teams are providing environmental services, patient transport and conducting general administrative tasks, according to Harris.

Meanwhile, testing, according to Harris, is “probably one of the greatest ways” the Guard has helped the medical community extend its capacity. Some sites, he said, “are running over 1,000 people a day.”

Master Sgt. Bob Stephens said the testing facility that opened Jan. 3, in cooperation with Ohio State University, started out testing 291 people. As of Wednesday, it had administered 1,018 in eight hours.

“So numbers are going up. People testing is going up. And it’s all by appointment only at this certain facility,” Stephens said. “So that many people with appointments, it’s pretty serious.”

Harris said that his guardsmen who interact with patients and work at testing facilities must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. While some partially vaccinated guardsmen are on COVID-19 missions, they do not have direct contact with the public.

In New York, nearly 1,600 soldiers and airmen are supporting COVID-19 operations, according to Army Brig. Gen. Isabel Rivera Smith, director of joint staff of the New

York National Guard. At its height, the New York National Guard had 3,600 service members on duty.

In December, the Guard was asked to train up to 400 members as emergency-certified  medical technicians. The first class began Jan. 5, and those guardsmen are expected to be certified “as early as February,” Smith said. Their certification will be valid for three years.

Nine more classes are planned statewide starting this month and continuing into February, she said.

Soldiers and airmen who aren’t fully vaccinated are not on the COVID-19 mission, according to Smith. She said about 99% of the state’s Air National Guard is fully vaccinated, compared to roughly 83% of the Army National Guard, which has a June 30 vaccination deadline.

Air Force Col. Michael J. Bruno, chief of the joint staff for Joint Force Headquarters of the Colorado National Guard, said his guardsmen have been involved in operations, planning and logistics support, as well as providing testing.

The Guard has been the lead agency for vaccine distribution in Colorado and has added 200 service members among 33 locations to counter the omicron surge, according to Bruno.

Colorado guardsmen began providing support at long-term care facilities in November 2020, and with the most recent surge in cases, now have 20 Army units and nine Air Force squadrons supporting eight facilities across the state, Bruno said. 

The Guard also has partnered with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, through which nonmedical guardsmen are receiving training to become qualified medication-administration personnel and temporary nurses aides. Each requires 16 hours of training.

DiProfio said only those who are fully vaccinated can join the task force in Colorado.

For more information about the National Guard’s COVID-19 response, visit the Guard’s website

Read comments
Tags: Colorado National GuardCOVID-19National GuardNew York National guardOhio National GuardOmicron
Kari Williams

Kari Williams

Kari Williams is an associate editor for AmeriForce Media. She has more than a decade of experience in the journalism industry across print, digital and social media platforms throughout the Midwest. She found a passion for covering veterans issues through her work as a writer and editor for VFW magazine. Kari has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mass communications from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. When she’s not writing about the military or working on freelance projects, she enjoys working out in her home gym, hanging out with her two rescue dogs and checking out live music and pro wrestling shows. She resides in Maryville, Illinois, just a short drive from Scott Air Force Base.

Related Posts

‘Retrograde’ documentary captures humanity behind withdrawal from Afghanistan

by Will Martin
2 days ago
0
Retrograde

National Geographic's "Retrograde" captures the humanity behind America’s abrupt Afghanistan exit and its impact on those who remained.

Read more

AFRC warns of fake social media accounts

by AmeriForce Exclusive
7 days ago
0
Social media

Air Force Reserve Command's social media manager warns of fake social media accounts and urges people to take precautions.

Read more

TRICARE, modernization atop list of legislative priorities

by Joseph LaFave
1 week ago
0
TRICARE

TRICARE, modernized equipment and parity with active-duty service components remain at the top of several military lobbyist’s to-do lists.

Read more

Hokanson to Army Guard Leaders: Tell our story

by National Guard Bureau
2 weeks ago
0
Hokanson

The National Guard is integral to the National Defense Strategy, Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson told Army Guard leaders Jan. 11.

Read more

OPINION: Individual Ready Reserve offers chance to ‘take a knee’

by Emily Solberg
3 weeks ago
0
Individual Ready Reserve

The Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) is a little-known option that could help with retention, according to one reservist and military...

Read more

Citizen airman becomes 2nd nurse in history to receive Distinguished Flying Cross

by Taneika Duhaney
3 weeks ago
0
Distinguished Flying Cross

A once-undecided high-school-graduate turned citizen airman is the second nurse in history to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Read more

Ads

Let's get social

The RNG Drill

News delivered directly to your inbox

Let's connect!

ABOUT US

  • OUR STORY
  • OUR TEAM
  • OUR WRITERS

MAGAZINE

  • GET PRINT
  • GET DIGITAL
  • GET THE NEWSLETTER

GET RESOURCES

  • VETERANS TOOLKIT

ADVERTISE

  • GET OUR MEDIA KIT
  • PUBLISHER’S STATEMENT

SUBMISSIONS

  • PITCH US
  • SUBMIT YOUR STORY

Never miss out on the latest stories.

© 2021 Reserve & National Guard by AmeriForce. Privacy Policy | Terms | Site by Swiss Commerce

Thank you for your interest in The Reserve & National Guard Magazine!

Thank you for your interest in The Reserve & National Guard Magazine!

No Result
View All Result
  • NEWS
  • YOUR CAREER
    • UNIT TRAINING
    • DEPLOYMENT
    • PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
    • RECRUITING & RETENTION
    • ENTREPRENEUR
    • TRANSITION
  • EDUCATION
  • MILITARY LIFE
    • MILITARY SPOUSES
    • MILITARY KIDS
    • PARENTING
  • OFF DUTY
    • ENTERTAINMENT
    • TRAVEL
  • HEALTH
    • FITNESS
    • MEDICINE
    • MENTAL HEALTH
  • OPINION
  • HISTORY
  • MONEY
    • PERSONAL FINANCE
    • BENEFITS
  • GET THE MAGAZINE
    • PRINT MAGAZINES
    • DIGITAL MAGAZINES
    • GET THE NEWSLETTER
  • RESOURCES
    • VETERANS TOOLKIT
  • ABOUT US
    • MEET OUR TEAM
    • OUR AUTHORS
    • ADVERTISE WITH US
    • SUBMIT YOUR STORY
    • PITCH US
    • CONTACT

© 2022 Reserve & National Guard by AmeriForce. Site by SCBW