The Pentagon reported having 49 military personnel who have tested positive for the new coronavirus, as well as 19 dependents, 14 civilian employees, and seven contractors, as of 5 a.m. March 18. The total has risen from 37 confirmed cases as of March 16. Brig. Gen. Paul Friedrichs, the Joint Staff surgeon, said 936 patients have been tested for the virus by Defense Department labs as of March 17. Those who have contracted the coronavirus are not showing more severe symptoms than expected. As DOD begins using its resources to help the country address the global coronavirus pandemic, the department is in contact with governors nationwide about which states need more swabs, masks, ventilators, hospital beds, and assistance from two hospital ships.
The Air Force’s rapid global mobility mission has ramped up to address the outbreak of the new coronavirus, with USAF aircraft ferrying test kits in support of the Department of Health and Human Services while the U.S. tries to stem the COVID-19 threat. Chief of Staff Gen David Goldfein confirmed there was a “pretty significant movement” into Memphis on March 17, which is a hub for commercial cargo flights to disperse the tests. USAF mobility aircraft also are flying spare parts into bases like Aviano Air Base, Italy, so they can keep flying even though the surrounding region is in lockdown.
Air Force Basic Military Training might not be on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s getting some major, immediate changes to halt the coronavirus’ spread. Starting March 18, incoming recruits will now undergo a two-week-long restriction of movement (or ROM) at the start of their training, according to an Air Education and Training Command release issued the same evening. Social distancing will also be factored into incoming trainees’ living arrangements, the command said.
The evolving COVID-19 crisis has not yet impacted Air Force recruiting, but it’s only a matter of time before the pandemic takes its toll. “So far nobody has reported any issues with recruiting, but common sense would say that as the nation limits its movement, at some point, that is going to have an impact,” Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein told reporters on March 18.
Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition Will Roper recently announced the creation of AFVentures, which will serve as an “umbrella organization for the Air Force’s efforts to work with small businesses to fund critical technologies for the warfighter,” according to a release. During this year’s event, Roper also said the service intends to divvy up almost $1 billion in contracts among "more than 550 small businesses," including 21 "big bet" organizations who will receive four-year, fixed priced follow-on contracts from AFVentures. These companies are working on a variety of new technology, from an Advanced Battle Management System sensing network to a new Vertical Take Off and Landing unmanned aerial system, and Augmented Reality contact lenses.
Astronaut Al Worden died March 18 at the age of 88. A former USAF fighter pilot, he was the Command Module Pilot for the all-Air Force Apollo 15 mission, during which he made the first "deep space" spacewalk.
Two New Jersey men have been arrested for using drones to smuggle contraband into a federal prison adjacent to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., after a combined Air Force Office of Special Investigations and U.S. Department of Justice investigation. On March 12, OSI
agents from Field Investigations Region 3, Detachment 307 at the base caught the two men—Nicolo Denichilo, 38, of Jersey City, N.J., and Adrian Goolcharran, 35, of Union City, N.J.,—at a “launch site” near Fort Dix after officials saw a drone flying over a housing unit at the prison. OSI said they were “especially interested” in the case because the flight path of the drones directly conflicted with the flight path of USAF aircraft at McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
