Fort Jackson, Shaw cancel graduation ceremonies because of coronavirus
Fort Jackson is canceling all of its weekly family days and in-person graduation ceremonies “for the foreseeable future,” according to a news release.
Also, Shaw Air Force Base has canceled its Airman Leadership School graduation scheduled for March 19, according to its website.
And Fort Jackson and the S.C. National Guard are considering enacting a work-from-home policy, but have not done so yet, according to spokeswomen.
All three entities said there are no cases of coronavirus among their troops and workers at this time.
Fort Jackson’s cancellation policy will begin with next week’s 2nd Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment graduation, and will continue to April 30 “at a minimum,” Brig. Gen, Milford Beagle, the post’s commander, said in a Facebook message to soldiers and families.
“I could not with a clear conscience allow family members to travel from around the country, some as far away as Alaska, Puerto Rico and California, to potentially put themselves or their soldiers at risk,” he said.
Family days at the post have been canceled. A graduation ceremony will be held for soldiers, but families can’t attend. However, it will be live-streamed on the Fort Jackson Facebook page, the release said.
Family days are held on Wednesdays, when families and friends are able to visit their soldiers for the first time in the 10-week basic training cycle. Graduations are held on Thursdays.
Each week, 800 to 1,200 soldiers graduate from basic training at the post, which is the nation’s largest basic training installation. About 3,000 to 5,000 family members and friends attend the ceremonies.
The families fill up Columbia hotels, eat at area restaurants and visit attractions throughout the region. So the cancellation will have repercussions in the local economy.
Fort Jackson in the release said officials are monitoring events associated with coronavirus “and will take all prudent measures necessary to ensure the safety of our service members, civilian employees, family members and the local community.”
Fort Jackson implemented a number of modifications to normal operations, the release said, including:
▪ Gate guards at all the installation access points now wear gloves and do not handle the identification cards.
▪ The post has increased sanitization measures including installing hand sanitization stations.
▪ The post has also placed posters and is publishing frequent updates on all media platform on how to minimize the spread of the virus.
“We doubled down on the protocols we already have in place, we’ve added screening measures and now we are minimizing the element of exposure for both our soldiers and our community through social distancing,” Beagle said. “This added change was needed based on conditions of COVID-19 both locally and across our country.”
The S.C. National Guard is planning to go forward with planned missions and training “without interruption until given other direction by the governor, National Guard Bureau, or Department of Defense,” said spokeswoman Capt. Jessica Donnelly.
She added that no major training exercises had been scheduled for this time and that the S.C. Air National Guard at McEntire Joint National Guard Base is following the same protocols.
Follow coronavirus updates at:
▪ Fort Jackson at https://home.army.mil/jackson/index.php/about/coronavirus-2019-prevention-and-updates
▪ Shaw Air Force Base at https://www.shaw.af.mil/Public-Affairs/COVID-19/
▪ S.C. National Guard at https://www.scdhec.gov/news-releases/dhec-announces-additional-possible-cases-2019-novel-coronavirus-south-carolina