JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. –
To All Members and Families of Team JBLE,
As many of you are aware the United States is now leading the world in the number of confirmed Corona cases. The safety of our service members, families, and retirees is paramount while maintaining mission readiness and combat capability. In keeping with every possible effort to minimize community transmission across JBLE, I’ve determined that we need to further restrict access to the installation.
As the commander, I have declared a public health emergency for all of Joint Base Langley-Eustis as of March 27th. This declaration allows greater access to health care resources, and broader authority to limit access onto the installation, and restrict the movement of residents. In the coming days we will further limit access to mission essential personnel only. Additional details on these restrictions will follow early next week. This declaration provides JBLE additional avenues to fight COVID-19, and achieve the greatest public health benefit while maintaining operational effectiveness.
The emergency order will remain in place for 30 days, with the option to terminate or extend based on emerging requirements. For more information about the public health emergency and restrictions please read the attached memos.
This decision will be met with some criticism and frustration, but I know the majority of the base population and surrounding community will understand and will continue to encourage those around them to take every step to help prevent the spread of the virus.
Leaders have a responsibility to protect all members of their team. This situation is serious and rapidly changing, so these measures, while inconvenient, are being implemented to prevent unnecessary risk. It is my job to protect the welfare of our warfighters, employees, retirees and families while ensuring mission readiness.
Thanks again for you continued support and understanding that this is a unified effort that requires everyone’s cooperation both inside and outside the gates of JBLE.
Stay safe, stay healthy.