In the background of nearly every major news event of the last year, working diligently and running complex logistical operations, have been National Guardsmen.
When the pandemic first struck, troops manned drive-through testing sites and understaffed nursing homes. During the state’s historic first vote-by-mail election, guardsmen helped count ballots. And, after the unthinkable — a breach on the U.S. Capitol — troops bused down to D.C. by the hundreds, to defend the nation’s capital from another potential attack.
New Jersey National Guard Soldiers and Airmen at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.(U.S. Air National Guard photos by Master Sgt. Matt Hecht)
Now, nearly a year after the pandemic first started, New Jersey’s National Guardsmen find themselves in the midst of another major effort, one that will hopefully usher the state back into normalcy. At all six of New Jersey’s mega-sites, 330 National Guardsmen are there, helping to get shots in arms as rapidly as possible.
“It is unusual in the military sense, but I think it’s exactly right in the National Guard sense – this is serving the community in the most pure way possible,” Bryce Hillman, 32, of Hamilton Square, told NJ Advance Media. “This, more than anything else, is what I had signed up for.”
Members of the National Guard work in the observation area of the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center Covid-19 vaccination site in Edison, New Jersey, U.S., on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. New Jersey will expand Covid-19 vaccinations to people 65 years old and over and those ages 16 to 64 who have "health challenges," Murphy said. Photographer: Mark Kauzlarich/BloombergBloomberg
Hillman, a nursing student who deferred school for a semester, volunteered for the mission back in September and now oversees a team of guardsmen at the Edison mega-site. He was deployed at the beginning of January, on orders through the end of March with the potential for an extension through June.
“Even pushing back school for a semester, getting to jump in and do something historical, it felt worthwhile and I couldn’t pass that up,” Hillman said.
The 330 troops hail from all different units of New Jersey’s National Guard, including from all five of its Army Major Commands and its two Air Wings, operating as a Joint Task Force, according to Public Affairs Officer Barbara Brown.
Members of the National Guard at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center Covid-19 vaccination site in Edison, New Jersey, U.S., on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. New Jersey will expand Covid-19 vaccinations to people 65 years old and over and those ages 16 to 64 who have "health challenges," Murphy said. Photographer: Mark Kauzlarich/BloombergBloomberg
At the sites, troops are helping direct traffic, coordinate registration, schedule patients for their second appointments and oversee all other logistics required to vaccinate hundreds of patients daily.
Officials running the sites say they couldn’t get the job done without the help of the troops.
“National Guard’s fabulous,” Bonnie Geisler, Vice President of Special Projects for RWJBarnabas Health, who is running point at the Edison mega-site, told NJ Advance Media. “They’re just absolute treasures, every one of them. You really have to know how wonderful they are. No matter what is requested of them is done well, immediately and with a smile.”
While some might find the sight of uniformed troops working alongside nurses in scrubs strange, vaccine distribution falls squarely within their mission: being at the ready “to support our communities during times of natural disasters and emergency situations,” according to Brown.
A person gets his temperature taken by a member of the National Guard before receiving a dose of a Covid-19 vaccination at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Edison, New Jersey, U.S., on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. New Jersey will expand Covid-19 vaccinations to people 65 years old and over and those ages 16 to 64 who have "health challenges," Murphy said. Photographer: Mark Kauzlarich/BloombergBloomberg
The force’s purpose is to support state and federal missions —while they’ve seen their fair share of action, deployed internationally to Afghanistan and Iraq and domestically to the U.S.-Mexico border and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina — this year’s public health and ballot-counting missions have been unconventional.
“In today’s military, our ability to serve is very agile,” Captain Jiahua Ye, 28, of Watchung, told NJ Advance Media. “We can transform ourselves into any task force required by the mission.”
Members of New Jersey National Guard help patients in the observance area. Middlesex County's COVID-19 vaccine mega-site at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Edison. Tuesday, January, 26, 2021 Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media
As officer-in-charge, Ye is stationed at the Atlantic City mega-site along with about 50 other guardsmen. Last year, Ye also lent a hand, supervising a team at a specimen collection point at Kean University.
“The reason why I put on this uniform along with my troops is being able to serve the community – our uniform says U.S. Airforce, whether it’s refueling a jet all the way downrange in the Middle East or being able to give out vaccines,” Ye said.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
Josh Axelrod may be reached at jaxelrod@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
"smooth" - Google News
February 15, 2021 at 07:03PM
https://ift.tt/2ZfCC6R
It’s smooth sailing inside N.J.’s COVID vaccine megasites. The National Guard is why. - nj.com
"smooth" - Google News
https://ift.tt/30JhCVH
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "It’s smooth sailing inside N.J.’s COVID vaccine megasites. The National Guard is why. - nj.com"
Post a Comment