WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – Col. Tom Sherman, 88th Air Base Wing and installation commander, addressed the Wright-Patt workforce on COVID-19 during a live Facebook town hall meeting on March 12.
The town hall is the first of weekly COVID-19 updates that Sherman and his team will conduct to ensure the most accurate and up to date information is relayed.
Today, installation leaders came together to evaluate the current conditions with COVID-19.
“The situation is rapidly changing and evolving so we are doing a continual round of assessments and analysis to make the right decisions for the installation,” said Sherman.
Sherman stated along with DoD and Air Force directives, they will stay in lock and step with the local and state guidance.
Currently, all services on the installation will remain open and operate on normal hours. This includes the medical center and child care centers.
Leadership is currently assessing the child care centers and are looking into all possible options in order to preserve the safety of the families and their children while continuing the installation’s mission.
Col. Michael Foutch, 88th Medical Center commander, stated that they are working closely with the Center for Disease Control and the Ohio Department of Health to monitor COVID-19 developments.
Due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the state of Ohio, Wright-Patterson AFB went into Health Protection Bravo to elevate awareness.
To protect the health and safety of the 88th Security Forces entry control defenders and the Wright-Patt community entering the installation, CAC/ID cards will no longer be handed to the defender upon entering the base. Drivers are to hold their card and show the back barcode to the defender to scan. Once scanned and verified, the defender will give instruction to proceed.
“Misinformation is our greatest enemy and that is why we want to share this information with you,” said Sherman. “Keeping a line of communication open with you is crucial. Know that we are going to make prudent decisions to ultimately do the best we can to protect the people that live and work on Wright-Patterson and that is our primary responsibility.”
To stay abreast of the latest information on COVID-19, go to the Wright-Patterson AFB’s COVID-19 information page at www.wpafb.af.mil/corona/. The page is continuously updated as new information is being received.
Details for the Facebook town hall meeting will be forthcoming. Viewers can submit questions to 88abw.pa@us.af.mil or can go to Wright-Patt’s COVID-19 information page to see if your questions have been addressed in the Coronavirus questions and answers.