SAN ANTONIO, Texas –
At the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Army North, U.S. Northern Command's Joint Force Land Component Command, made final adjustments to its COVID-19 vaccine response operation today when military medical personnel from the U.S. Air Force departed the New Jersey Institute of Technology Naimoli Family Recreational Facility in Newark, New Jersey.
“We end our COVID-19 support mission, where it began, in the Northeast,” said Lt. Gen. Laura J. Richardson, U.S. Army North (Fifth Army) and JFLCC commander. “As demand for federal military support for pandemic response declines, so too can our presence as we reset for potential, future allhazards response and homeland defense missions directed by the Department of Defense.”
On Feb. 4, the Secretary of Defense first announced Active Duty military support to federal vaccination efforts. Since then, ARNORTH has overseen approximately 5,150 military medical and support personnel from the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force, who worked in 25 states and one territory as part of the whole-of-government response to the pandemic, administering approximately 5 million vaccines.
“I am incredibly proud of all the active duty service members deployed under United States Northern Command who have contributed so much in the fight against COVID-19,” said Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and USNORTHCOM. “From repatriation efforts at the outset of the COVID-19 outbreak, to embedding medical teams in hospitals across America, to administering vaccines at Community Vaccination Centers, over 10,000 active duty military under our charge have responded time and again to support our nation in its time of need.
Through every challenge faced during this pandemic, we have worked alongside and supported the civil authorities and amazing medical professionals across our country who have been on the frontlines of this effort.”
Through its Defense Coordinating Officers and Defense Coordinating Elements, ARNORTH is in constant coordination with FEMA, and state and local officials, to meet the National Preparedness Goal, which defines what it means for the whole community to be prepared for all types of disasters and emergencies.
“These last 18 months have been an unprecedented challenge not only here, but around the world. By answering the call and contributing to our whole-of-nation efforts, we have shown our resilience and strength to meet whatever challenges the future holds,” said VanHerck.
For additional information, contact the ARNORTH public affairs office at 210-428-9835 or usarmy.jbsa.arnorth.mbx.pao@mail.mil; for photos and/or videos, visit: https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/FedVaxResp.