459 ARW commander letter to personnel regarding coronavirus

  • Published
  • 459th Air Refueling Wing

Liberators,

     I hope each of you are well. In response to all that is going on related to COVID-19, more widely known as the ‘Coronavirus,’ I’d like to reach out to you directly. As you know, my first priority is taking care of airmen so I ask that you please make every effort to take care of yourself and your families. Your health is of the utmost importance because without you, our mission will not succeed. Your wing leadership is here for you and we’ll certainly help out in any way we can. We’re all in this together.

     Second, I’d like to note several changes that have occurred to the wing calendar in alignment with keeping you safe. The April UTA is now cancelled.  You’ll be able to reschedule the April UTA periods so contact your unit leadership to put together a new training plan.  No decision has been made yet regarding the May UTA. 

     Accordingly, the annual wing awards banquet has been postponed to a date yet to be determined. It definitely won’t be held in April or May and we’ll be sure to inform you when the new date is set. 

     Additionally, some upcoming Yellow Ribbon events and school tours are likely to be cancelled. The current DOD travel policy affects all domestic travel to include permanent changes of station (PCS), temporary duty (TDY) travel and restricts leave to the local area. These restrictions are in effect until May 11th. If you have annual tour scheduled between now and the end of May, you should make arrangements with your unit leadership and defer the dates to later this summer.

     For our full-time force, we’ll be as flexible as possible by maximizing telework and implementing alternate work schedules. Supervisors will arrange work schedules to help keep you safe while meeting the needs of the mission. We realize that as a result of numerous school district closings, some of you will have childcare issues.  Unfortunately, we cannot permit children in the work place for health and safety reasons during this public health emergency.

     However, there is some good news: as I write this, there are no reports of any 459th members testing positive for the coronavirus.  The flow of new information and guidance is fairly continuous so please follow the wing Facebook page and website for additional updates.  We’ve attached several useful links to the bottom of this message so please check them out for the latest information.

     Be safe, take care, stay connected, and we will get through this!

 

Sincerely,

 

Doug

 

Douglas E. Gullion, Colonel, USAF

Commander

 

COVID-19 INFORMATION LINKS

 

Air Force COVID-19 News and Information

Telework options and guidelines for the Air Force Reserve civilians

COVID-19 message from Lt. Gen. Scobee

2019 Novel Coronavirus Commander’s Intent

CDC Coronavirus Information Page