As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the nation, many hospitals were concerned about expanding their capacity by adding additional beds to accommodate different categories of COVID-19 patients. As a result, many troops including myself were called to conduct assessments and develop statements of work to rapidly convert various structures into Alternate Care Facilities (ACFs). It has been a great honor to be part of the Ohio National Guard response to the pandemic and the situation has required quite a bit of critical thinking and flexibility to be able to respond to the rapidly developing situation. For example, shortly after expanding hospital capacity by developing ACFs, it was quickly realized that there was also quite a bit of risk to the inmate population around the state. A rapid increase in positive COVID-19 cases among inmates created a demand for corrections institutions to increase social distancing and the Ohio National Guard (ONG) to provide additional structures within the institution’s secure perimeters. The response was incredible, within three days of notification, the ONG developed plans, deployed, and built structures to provide corrections institutions with 384 additional beds, showers, and latrines to mitigate the outbreak at two different facilities. Over the course of ONG response efforts, the individual troop readiness and equipment readiness has been outstanding and has helped provide needed flexibility to overcome the uncertainties and chance related to the outbreak and inherent in military operations.
LTC Grady M. Marcum
Distance Class of 2020
Ohio National Guard
