16 July
Indiana National Guard medical personnel are supporting state-wide Covid-19 testing. Over 47,000 employees at 520 long-term care facilities are being tested with an aim to reduce asymptomatic viral spread. The guard are assisting OptumServe under an initiative by the Indiana State Department of Health. Kansas National Guard are helping in packing boxes of food for distribution to the communities. The members are working to reach five million meals mark. Meanwhile, North Carolina Army National Guard’s 449th Theater Aviation Brigade is helping distribute meals and fresh produce to about 250 families at the Midway Elementary School in Dunn.
Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA) has cancelled 2020 airshow scheduled for November this year as part of efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19 pandemic. The next airshow will be held together with the US Air Force’s 75th anniversary from 23-24 April 2022 at JBSA-Randolph. JBSA and 502nd Air Base Wing commander brigadier general Caroline Miller said: “I know this is disappointing, but this decision was made with the health and safety of the JBSA members and surrounding communities in mind.”
The US Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) is supporting the department’s employees to continue to operate in a telework environment. The agency and Joint Force Headquarters Department of Defense Information Networks have helped increase networking capacity such as new circuits, increased bandwidth and increased conference call lines to keep the department working since the pandemic started. The Army’s virtual private network access and reliability has been raised by nearly 300% while increased VPN access by more than 1,000% to about 122,000 telework connections per day. DISA is considering maintaining these increased capabilities even after the crisis subsides.