DoD reports more than 250,000 COVID-19 cases
DoD COVID-19 fatality rate is 0.12%
The U.S. military’s overarching objective is clear: defeat the enemy. For the past 12 months, COVID-19 has been an enemy.
On March 12, 2020, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune recorded its first case of the virus when a dependent tested positive while three Marines were self quarantining after returning from overseas. Within a matter of days, schools on base closed and the base hospital set up two screening sites and a phone line to help curtail community spread.
One year later, the fight continues against COVID-19.
Despite the challenges of the pandemic, Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Julian D. Alford, commanding general, Marine Corps Installations East - MCB Camp Lejeune, says the base’s commitment to readiness, training, health and safety has not waivered over the past year.
Marine Corps Installations East (MCIEAST)-Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Lejeune has a new sergeant major.
U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Robert M. Tellez assumed duties as the MCIEAST-MCB Camp Lejeune sergeant major from Sgt. Maj. Charles A. Metzger during a relief and appointment ceremony on Camp Lejeune, Dec. 21. The ceremony marked Metzger’s retirement from the Marine Corps following 30 years of service and nearly three years as the command’s sergeant major.
Maj. Gen. Julian D. Alford, commanding general, MCIEAST-MCB Camp Lejeune, oversaw the ceremony and bid farewell to Metzger by awarding him the Legion of Merit.
“When you serve alongside somebody for this long, you really figure out their true character,” Alford said during the ceremony that was streamed live on Camp Lejeune’s Facebook page. “Honor, courage (and) commitment - those three words actually mean something to Sgt. Maj. Metzger down deep. He always, always has done the right thing.”
A newly certified live-fire range on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune is drawing attention to a shift in how infantry units in the Marine Corps are preparing for combat.
Range Golf-36 (G-36), Camp Lejeune’s first company-sized range, had its first exercise on Dec. 12 when Marines and Sailors in 3d Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2d Marine Division (2d MARDIV) conducted a live-fire company assault against a mobile, robotic and remote controlled opposition.
“The range was specially designed to take full advantage of Trackless Motorized Infantry Targets [or] robotic targets,” said division gunner CWO5 Joshua Smith in a 2d MARDIV press release. “These types of targets offer a more realistic enemy – one that is not tied to a single point, but can maneuver across the battlefield, which causes friction to the attacking force.”