The GiveBack Project: Naval Station Rota Helps Local Communities

May 26, 2020

With the goal of raising spirits and giving hope, Navy personnel at Naval Station Rota, Spain, with help from Boy Scout Troop 73, organized a GiveBack Project to help their Spanish hosts in local communities hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

Navy Lt. Cmdr. Christon Duhon and Navy Seaman Manuel Soto, both assigned to U.S. Naval Hospital Rota, along with Navy Chaplain (Cmdr.) Samuel Ravelo, conceptualized the project and brought it to life with the help of the Boy Scouts.

The GiveBack project name represents the welcoming, helpful, and supportive community of Rota and El Puerto de Santa Maria, and is a way for the base community to give back in this difficult time, organizers said. This project was developed not just to help a few families, but with the goal of aiding as many as possible within the Rota and El Puerto de Santa Maria communities.

''My family and I have lived in and loved this community for over a decade,'' said Dr. Marcy Baudistel Bond, a teacher at Rota David Glasgow Farragut schools. ''We feel blessed to be a part of such a beautiful and welcoming community. Giving back is something we wholeheartedly believe in and preach to our four children, so of course we were so happy to have the opportunity to give back to the community we call home.''

The GiveBack project offers two ways for the community to donate. First, the organizers have set up donation boxes for food or nonperishable items at the base chapel, the housing office and the Boy Scouts Hut in the base housing area. To date, the community has filled six tri-wall boxes with donations.

Additionally, the project established an online donation fund with 100 percent of the money donated being used to purchase food items from off-base grocery stores. So far, the community has given $940, which was used to purchase groceries from a local supermarket, which in turn matched a portion of the purchase with its own donation to the cause.

The GiveBack organizers are coordinating with the Naval Station Rota Spanish Liaison Office, which is in contact with city hall officials from El Puerto and Rota to organize the pickup or delivery of the donations from the installation to be distributed throughout the cities.

Giving food, water, or even clothing doesn't just supply a family with basic necessities, it gives them respite while showing that strangers do care, the GiveBack Project organizers said, adding that they will continue to emphasize and strengthen the bond between the naval station and the local communities.

(Courtesy of Naval Station Rota, Spain.)

Maryland National Guard Supports COVID-19 Test Site

May 26, 2020 | BY Army Maj. Kurt Rauschenberg , Maryland National Guard

Soldiers from the Maryland Army National Guard's 115th Military Police Battalion are supporting the first state-sponsored, community-based COVID-19 testing site at the Carroll County Agriculture Center in Westminster, Maryland.

Under normal circumstances, the center would be gearing up for spring and summer community events such as farmer's markets, tractor pulls and fairs. This year, however, the Carroll County Agriculture Center will be supporting the community with a different type of service: COVID-19 testing.

As the day came to open the large bay doors to community members in need of COVID-19 testing May 14, medical providers, health planners and volunteers were joined by soldiers from the Maryland Army National Guard to get things moving.

When the Maryland National Guard was activated in mid-March, the 115th Military Police Battalion began supporting the state's first testing site at FedEx Field in Landover and at other subsequent sites. More than 300 soldiers, eager to help their fellow Marylanders, supported these missions.

"We've supported the majority of screening and testing sites throughout the state, which in many ways is the main effort at this stage in the fight [against COVID-19]," said Army Lt. Col. Rob Wille, the commander of the 115th Military Police Battalion.

Wille said lessons learned at FedEx Field allowed for more effective and efficient testing throughout the state, including the one  in Carroll County. Many of the tasks these soldiers perform at the testing sites are inherent to their military police functions, he noted.

"The National Guard is often seen as a reassuring presence, because we're called on in times of real need or crisis," Wille said. "In most cases, our soldiers are of the local communities in which they serve. They know the people and the areas."

In Westminster, the Carroll County Health Department and Board of Commissioners recognized the need to bring these resources to the community, but it took additional partnerships to make it happen. Within the local health department are volunteers from Maryland Responds Medical Reserve Corps, a community-based, civilian, volunteer program; the county Department of Public Safety; Emergency Management; Public Works; and the sheriff's office.

"Our partners appreciate us safely managing the vehicle and pedestrian flow in and out of the sites," Wille said. "The Maryland National Guard providing this support allows local resources to focus on all other routine operations, this all helps increase public safety."

County Commissioner Board President Stephen Wantz, visited the testing site on its first operational day to personally thank all the partners.

"Having the guard on board is a tremendous help with the operation of this new community testing site," Wantz said. "They are providing an invaluable service to our residents and the region."

Joining Wantz was Carroll County Health Officer Ed Singer, who is no stranger to the Maryland National Guard.

Singer said the support from the guard is extremely helpful, because the Health Department staff is stretched so thin with COVID-19 testing teams, contact tracing, surge planning, personal protective equipment management and more.

Singer served in the Maryland National Guard from 1987 to 2002, and reflected on serving alongside some family members of the soldiers at the testing site and others in the guard still serving at the forefront of the crisis.

"The National Guard sure is a small world," Singer said.

Fort Drum Uses Wartime Expertise in Fight Against COVID-19

May 26, 2020 | BY Warren Wright

Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division's 10th Sustainment Brigade are using their wartime skills and equipment to support health care professionals at Fort Drum, New York, in the fight against COVID-19.

The brigade's 543rd Composite Supply Company, 548th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, have constructed a field shower and laundry facilities outside the Bowe Troop Medical Clinic, which is serving as Fort Drum Medical Activity's COVID-19 treatment facility.

Before leaving work for the day, health care providers use the shower facilities and leave their day's laundry before heading home.

"They are providing reassurance for us that when we finish up a day of seeing highly contagious patients, we can go out and not take it home to our families," Army Capt. Isaac Mills, the officer in charge of the COVID-19 treatment facility, said. "This is not only reassurance for us, but more so allowing our families to let us back into the house. My wife was very happy about the fact I was able to come home effectively safe."

Set up just outside the Bowe clinic, the soldiers constructed a tent with 12 shower stalls, and are using a laundry advanced system, or LADS, trailer that contains two large washer and dryer drums. The LADS can clean and sanitize sizable amounts of clothes with water hot enough to kill bacteria and other microorganisms.

Before showering, providers from Bowe secure their used laundry in special netted bags, which are then collected at the end of the day. Soldiers then wash and fold the clothes, ensuring they're ready for the Bowe team the next day.

"I'm glad to have the opportunity to help prevent the spread of COVID-19," Army Pfc. Trevarious Mathis, a shower and laundry specialist with the 543rd Composite Supply Company, said. "We try to help as much as we can by supporting [the Bowe clinic] through this hardship we face as a country."

Before and during the use of the showers, the soldiers continually monitor and maintain the specialized field pumping and water regulation equipment to ensure the Bowe staff has steady access to hot running water.

"We really appreciate their support," Mills added. "They were immediately willing to help. There was no question. When we needed them, they showed up, and we've been happy to have them here."

The shower and laundry facilities will remain at the Bowe clinic for the foreseeable future to support the MEDDAC providers' continued care for COVID-19 patients.

(Warren Wright is assigned to Fort Drum.)