Marines flip a container to rig it for a helicopter operation off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, Sept. 30, 2021.
Monday, October 04, 2021
Mandatory Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination of DoD Civilian Employees
Oct. 4, 2021
To defend the Nation and protect the American people, we need a healthy and ready Total Force. To accomplish this, the Secretary of Defense directed the mandatory vaccination of Service members against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by signing the memorandum, "Mandatory Corona virus Disease 2019 Vaccination of Department of Defense Service Members," on August 24, 2021.
On September 9, 2021, the President of the United States directed Executive Branch agencies to implement a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for Federal employees to ensure the health and safety of the Federal workforce and members of the public with whom they interact by signing Executive Order 14043, "Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees."
All DoD civilian employees must be fully vaccinated by November 22, 2021, subject to exemptions as required by law. Employees are considered fully vaccinated 2 weeks after completing the second dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine or 2 weeks after receiving a single dose of a one-dose COVID-19 vaccine.
New DoD civilian employees must be fully vaccinated by their entry on duty (start) date or November 22, 2021, whichever is later.
To meet this requirement, individuals must be vaccinated with vaccines that are either fully licensed or authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (e.g., Comimaty/Pfizer-BioNTech, Modema, Johnson & Johnson/Janssen); listed for emergency use on the World Health Organization Emergency Use Listing (e.g., AstraZeneca/Oxford); or approved for use in a clinical trial vaccine for which vaccine efficacy has been independently confirmed (e.g., Novavax). Those with previous COVID-19 infection(s) or previous serology are not considered fully vaccinated on that basis for the purposes of this mandate.
Those who are not currently fully vaccinated must meet the following deadlines, if using vaccines that are fully licensed or authorized for emergency use by the FDA, in order to be fully vaccinated by November 22, 2021:
•October 11: first dose deadline (if receiving the Modema vaccine);
•October 18: first dose deadline (if receiving the Comimaty/Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine);
•November 8: second dose deadline (if receiving the Modema and Comimaty/PfizerBioNTech vaccines); and
•November 8: first (only) dose deadline (if receiving the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine).
In accordance with Deputy Secretary of Defense Memorandum, "Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccine Guidance," December 7, 2020, DoD civilian employees are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at any DoD vaccination site, including military medical treatment facilities. They may also opt to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at locations other than DoD vaccination sites, including retail stores, private medical practices, and/or local and State public health department sites. Employees, including those who have already received COVID-19 vaccines, must be prepared to provide a copy of their COVID-19 vaccine record in order to meet forthcoming procedures for DoD COVID-19 vaccination verification.
Additional guidance, including procedures for processing vaccination exemption requests, will be published by the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (USD(P&R)). The USD(P&R) is authorized to rescind this memorandum as necessary for purposes of providing updated guidance.
Vaccinating DoD civilian employees against COVID-19 will save lives and allow for the defense of our Nation. Thank you for your focus on this critical mission.
Respirator Fit Test
Janet Rowe, a University of Tennessee Medical Center staff member, conducts a respirator fit test on Army 1st Lt. Sierra Brink with the 528th Hospital Center as part of the medical response team’s hospital onboarding and integration in Knoxville, Tenn., Sept. 23, 2021. Northern Command through Army North, remains committed to providing flexible Defense Department support to the whole-of-government COVID response.
COVID-19 Vaccine
Army Pfc. Ethan Hayes, a healthcare specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Company “Hoplites,” 2nd Battalion, 34th Armored Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, reconstitutes the COVID-19 vaccination before it was administered to soldiers at Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area, Poland, Sept. 30, 2021. The health of the force remains a top priority. The Army maximizes the use of mitigation techniques such as masks, physical distancing and rotational shift work to ensure readiness.
Smoky Scene
Airmen participate in Steadfast Nomad, a NATO level force-on-force exercise, at Aviano Air Base, Italy, Sept. 22, 2021.
Starry Security
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jacob Ucinski performs security with an M27 infantry automatic rifle during a tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel exercise at Udari Range Complex, Kuwait, Sept. 28, 2021.
Redesigned Joint Staff Badge Reflects Addition of Newest Military Service
Oct. 4, 2021 | , DOD News
The Joint Chiefs of Staff have, figuratively, unsheathed a new sword on the Joint Staff's seal: the Space Force.
The seal has been revised to include the Space Force.
"The revising of the Joint Staff seal, now including the United States Space Force, demonstrates our commitment to the future and ensuring that we have capabilities in all domains necessary to defend our country – land, air, sea and space," said Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The change is the first in the "JCS identification badge" since it was established in 1963. "Prior to that, members of the Joint Staff wore the DOD identification badge – the one members of that staff still wear," said David B. Crist, the JCS historian.
After the chief of Space Operations was made a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in February 2020, one of Crist's historians was looking at the JCS badge. "Chris Holmes was the first to look at the badge and realize there are four swords on it to represent the military services," Crist said. "So, to be consistent, if you have an additional military service, there ought to be another sword for the badge."
Crist and crew researched to ensure the four swords on the badge represented the services. They did. The members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff unanimously voted to change the badge to reflect the addition of the Space Force.
The Joint Staff reached out to the Department of the Army's Institute of Heraldry, which is based at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The institute provides heraldic support not only to the military, but to all federal agencies that request it and designed the original badge. "Charles Mungo, the institute's director, said he was wondering when he would hear from us," Crist said. "He told me he was waiting for somebody to say the badge has to change because there's additional service."
The institute presented three designs to the Joint Chiefs. Milley wrote to Mungo saying the chiefs had chosen the option that added a slightly elevated sword in the center of the old design to reflect force projection into space.
The change is subtle. The badge has the same oval laurel wreath representing achievement, courage and victory; it also has the same red, white and blue shield of the United States. The difference is there are now five, unsheathed swords representing the armed might of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Space Force.
The old badge is grandfathered for three years, Crist said. The newly designed badge will be issued to new members of the staff. He noted that the new badge is already available for sale.
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