Now that Pennsylvania has begun a phased reopening from the COVID-19 crisis, Fort Indiantown Gap has begun gradually increasing operations.
Several facilities and recreation areas had closed, some training and events were cancelled, and some employees worked from home, but the installation still remained open.
"Although operations were reduced and some things were canceled, Fort Indiantown Gap never closed," said Army Col. Lane Marshall, the garrison commander. "The primary focus shifted from training to supporting our soldiers and airmen who were serving the citizens of the commonwealth in the fight against the spread of COVID-19."
The 17,000-plus-acre installation, which is home to the headquarters of both the Pennsylvania National Guard and the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, is one of the busiest National Guard training sites in the country, with more than 120,000 service members training there annually. The fort also hosts training for law enforcement and other state and federal agencies.
While some training was canceled, training didn't completely cease. For example, the 28th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade completed predeployment training at the fort for a previously scheduled rotation to the U.S. Central Command area of operations.
Training in weapons qualifications, grenade training and land-navigation training was done while taking measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, such as social distancing and wearing facemasks, to the extent practical.
Additionally, Pennsylvania National Guardsmen who were activated for COVID-19 support missions received various types of medical training at the installation's Medical Battalion Training Site and Medical Simulation Training Center.
Now that operations are beginning to ramp up, the training center is anticipating an influx of training requests from units attempting to salvage their training year, and the range scheduling section has already started receiving training requests.
The directorate of plans, training, mobilization and security, under the guidance of the garrison commander, has been developing courses of action aimed at maximizing use of the fort's training assets while incorporating measures to mitigate the potential spread of COVID-19 among the training population and the installation's permanent party service members and employees.
"We are doing everything we can to ensure units can train in a safe manner so they can maintain readiness and they are able to complete their missions when called upon," Marshall said.