MICC-Fort Bliss team assists quarantine area setup

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas (April 6, 2020) – Contracting professionals from the Mission and Installation Contracting Command-Fort Bliss contracting office and 919th Contracting Battalion in Texas are serving a vital role in the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

Several members of MICC-Fort Bliss contracting office and 919th CBN conducted a site visit March 22 at Forward Operating Base Westbrook to view the quarantine site and conduct an initial meeting with Logistics Civil Augmentation Program contractors who constructed the site. FOB Westbrook is one of two quarantine sites built on the Army installation. MICC-Fort Bliss is conducting local contract administration services in support of the LOGCAP Contract.

“Providing immediate support to a national crisis is our top priority,” said Mike Medrano, the MICC-Fort Bliss contracting office deputy director. “The Army and its partners have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and have put in place the ability for Soldiers and civilians to be monitored after arriving from COVID-19 high-risk areas.”

LOGCAP was initiated March 17 to support two quarantine sites at Fort Bliss. The purpose of the sites is to minimize the spread of COVID-19 by placing individuals who are at high risk of being exposed to the virus in quarantine and isolating confirmed carriers of the virus at Fort Bliss.

MICC and contractor representatives met to establish a working relationship, provide informal feedback regarding FOB Westbrook operations and identify dependencies on other contract work.

As the largest mobilization platform in the Department of Defense, many service members, civilians, and contractors rotate through Fort Bliss, increasing the risk of the spread of COVID-19.

“The work we are doing with LOGCAP is critical because it minimizes the potential spread of the disease in the local Fort Bliss and El Paso community as well as when visitors depart Fort Bliss to various locations around the world,” Maj. Reginald Gholston, the 919th CBN rear detachment commander.

MICC’s Fort Bliss contracting office and 919th CBN personnel are also playing a critical role in administering contracts for additional mission requirements to include contract support to 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss as well as during deployments, full food services for all tenants to include military and civilian personnel at Fort Bliss, intelligence support services for the Joint Modernization Command, and other services and supplies that support readiness and Soldiers and their families at the installation.

About the MICC:

Headquartered at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, the Mission and Installation Contracting Command consists of about 1,500 military and civilian members who are responsible for contracting goods and services in support of Soldiers as well as readying trained contracting units for the operating force and contingency environment when called upon. MICC contracts are vital in feeding more than 200,000 Soldiers every day, providing many daily base operations support services at installations, facilitate training in the preparation of more than 100,000 conventional force members annually, training more than 500,000 students each year, and maintaining more than 14.4 million acres of land and 170,000 structures.

Related: MICC contracts support Seattle’s CenturyLink medical transformation

https://www.army.mil/article/234242/

Centers for Disease Control COVID-19 response

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html

Army COVID-19 guidance

https://www.army.mil/coronavirus/

Mission and Installation Contracting Command

www.army.mil/micc/

Video: MICC mission

https://youtu.be/uhuNwQyZPRQ?list=PL172IrLlxO_V8dnaKMnhRX5m217z5g9qh

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