MAY 14, 2020 1 WWW.WESTPOINT.EDU THE MAY 14, 2020 VOL. 77, NO. 18 OINTER IEW® DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY PSERVING THE U.S. MILITARY ACADEMY AND THE COMMUNITY V OF WEST POINT ® SEE INSIDE FOR MORE COVID-19 INFORMATION POINTER VIEW INSIDE & ONLINE WWW . WESTPOINT . EDU / NEWS WWW . POINTERVIEW . COM USMA PAO continues to provide comprehensive resources across the West Point community through the West Point Coronavirus FORSCOM commander webpage at www.westpoint. edu/coronavirus, and it has SEE PAGE 2 released external messages on visits West Point • • USMA social media platforms. (Above) Gen. Michael X. Garrett, commander of U.S. Army Forces Command, observes COVID-19 response training being conducted at Keller Army Community Hospital at West Point May 7. (Bottom right) Garrett toured the hospital’s For more information, contact COVID-19 ward to learn more about the preparations being made prior to the arrival of a task force from the 10th the West Point Public Affairs Mountain Division that will be conducting the U.S. Military Academy’s summer training. (Bottom left) Garrett speaks Office at paoinformation@ to Garrison West Point commander Col. Cecil Marson during his visit. Photos by Brandon O'Connor/PV and Tony Pride/PAO westpoint.edu. See page 3 for Keller Corner updates. See pages 2, 7-11 for Coronavirus-related stories, graphics, updates and activities. See pages 12-16 for Army West Point sports articles. 2 MAY 14, 2020 NEWS & FEATURES POINTER VIEW FORSCOM commander visits West Point, inspects COVID-19 preparations Story and photo by Brandon O’Connor PV Assistant Editor The U.S. Military Academy will welcome back the cadets in the Class of 2020 at the end of the month for graduation and the rest of the Corps of Cadets in late June for summer training. The Army continues to ship hundreds of Soldiers to basic training every week, and West Point is adapting its summer training cycle to the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. A critical piece to summer training is the support received from Forces Command (FORSCOM) to help train and mentor the cadets. This year, the academy will begin welcoming a task force of Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division from Fort Polk, Louisiana, in mid-June. “We are adjusting readiness activities to the COVID-19 operational environment,” said Gen. Michael X. Garrett, commander of U.S. Forces Command. “Supporting West Point summer training is just one example of how we are adapting around the Army.” The task force and the remainder of the corps will arrive staggered to enable the testing of each person for COVID-19 upon arrival. Academy and Garrison West Point leadership started developing a deliberate and detailed reception, staging, onward movement and integration (RSOI) plan in March to prepare for the return of the corps and the task force’s Gen. Michael X. Garrett, commander of U.S. Army Forces Command, receives a tour of Keller Army Community Hospital’s arrival. COVID-19 ward May 7 from Capt. Yon Jones. “The Class of 2020 will lead the corps to Basic Offi cer Leader Course and graduation The process of transforming the vacant “The tour was very important,” Col. Brett through this process as a part of their transition ceremony,” said Lt. Gen. Darryl Williams, labor and delivery ward into a COVID-19 ward Venable, KACH commander, said. “The superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy. took about three weeks, Col. Chad Haley, chief leadership of FORSCOM saw fi rst-hand that “With the help of Army leadership, West Point of the Department of Surgery at KACH, said. we have the resources to take care of their task has the capabilities to quickly test all inbound The ward had been completely stripped and force.” cadets and Soldiers using the latest testing needed to be put back together from scratch. Along with his tour of the COVID-19 ward, equipment available.” It now has two intensive care unit beds and Garrett received an overview of the West Point Keller Army Community Hospital six more intermediate care ward beds. The community response playbook for COVID-19 transformed its former labor and delivery ventilation system in the entire ward has been and measures put in place to protect the force ward into a COVID-19 ward and secured two changed over to ensure negative pressure, and community. GeneXpert testing analyzers and the necessary which keeps air in the ward from entering the He fi nished his visit with a small group of supplies to test more than 8,000 cadets and rest of the hospital. representatives from throughout the academy task force Soldiers between June and August, The ward is separated from the rest of the and garrison who provided a detailed breakdown Capt. Jeff rey Baker, the offi cer-in-charge of the hospital via a temporary barrier, and nurses and of the plans for summer training and beyond, KACH laboratory, said. doctors working in the ward wear blue scrubs, and the adjustments made compared to previous The ward, which currently has no patients, and when they leave, change into clean green years to mitigate the risks associated with was toured by Garrett May 7, as part of his scrubs. Necessary equipment such as ventilators COVID-19. visit to West Point to learn about and inspect and a chest x-ray machine have been added in “Gen. Garrett was very pleased with the the measures being put into place before the advance to reduce the contact between the ward operation and capabilities of the COVID ward Gen. Michael X. Garrett, commander Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division and the rest of the hospital. and appreciative of the staff for their eff orts of U.S. Army Forces Command, arrive. The measures in place will enable the staff and their leadership during this COVID-19 recognizes the staff, including “The conditions are set and resources in at Keller to care for any COVID-19 patients pandemic,” Venable said. “I’m extremely proud Sgt. James Myers, at Keller Army place to protect the Soldiers and cadets and while also allowing the hospital to care for of the team at Keller for coming together during Community Hospital with coins during execute the summer training mission,” Garrett any non-coronavirus medical needs that occur this pandemic and taking care of the West Point a tour May 7. said. during training. community.” 40 Mulberry Street, Middletown, NY 10940 POINTER VIEW ® To subscribe to the Pointer View or The Army civilian enterprise newspaper, the Pointer View, is an authorized publication for members The appearance of advertising in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not if you have delivery problems, call 845-346-3213. of the Department of Defense. Contents of the Pointer View are not necessarily the offi cial views of, or constitute endorsement of the products or services advertised by the U.S. Army or the Times Herald- Lt. Gen. Darryl Williams endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of the Army or the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Record. Superintendent Brandon O’Connor The editorial content of the Pointer View is the responsibility of the U.S. Military Academy Public Everything advertised in this pub li ca tion will be made available for purchase, use or pa tron age Lt. Col. Christopher Ophardt PV Assistant Editor, 938-3079 Affairs Offi ce, Bldg. 600, West Point, New York 10996, (845) 938-2015. with out regard to race, color, re li gion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, phys i cal handi cap, Public Affairs Officer [email protected] The Pointer View is printed weekly by the Times Herald-Record, a pri vate fi rm in no way connect ed po liti cal af fi l i a tion or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user or pa tron. Eric S. Bartelt Vacant with the De partment of the Army, under ex clu sive con tract with West Point. The Times Herald-Record is If a violation or re jec tion of this equal opportunity policy by an ad ver tis er is confi rmed, the publisher PV Managing Editor, 938-2015 PV Photojournalist, 938-3684 responsible for all commercial advertising. will refuse to print ad ver tis ing from that source until the violation has been corrected. [email protected] POINT POINTER VIEW IN FOCUS: CORONAVIRUS 2019 UPDATE MAY 14, 2020 3 Keller Corner: Update on Coronavirus Keller recognizes, celebrates National Nurses Week By Robert K. Lanier of caring for our patients and each other during a role in the future of nursing by providing civilians—are the epitome of Army Nursing Public Affairs Officer, Keller Army this unprecedented national crisis,” Madore education, mentorship and professional because: Community Hospital said. “The command team is thankful for the development to local nursing students from • They are the critical link to our dedication, professionalism and compassion area colleges. beneficiaries and can directly impact their Keller Army Community Hospital displayed by the nurses every day. For holding Keller nurses maintain a high level of health by educating them regarding their recognized National Nurses Week 2020 the hands of those who need someone to be professionalism and a sustained culture of safety individual activity, nutrition and sleep habits. beginning May 6 and concluding Tuesday— there, for bearing witness when no one else can, within Army Medicine. It is a collective and • They have been providing quality care and which is the 200th birthday of Florence for simply being there for our patients tirelessly sustained commitment by Keller’s leadership, selfless service to our Soldiers, family members Nightingale.