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Fort Jackson cancels graduation ceremonies

Staff Report //March 13, 2020//

Fort Jackson cancels graduation ceremonies

Staff Report //March 13, 2020//

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Fort Jackson has canceled basic combat training graduation ceremonies and family days for “the foreseeable future” in response to novel coronavirus concerns, the U.S. Army installation said Thursday.

Events for 2nd Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment will be held on March 19 and livestreamed on the fort’s Facebook page, according to a news release. Family members will not be able to attend the ceremony in person.

There are currently no confirmed coronavirus cases on Fort Jackson, the release said.

“Here at Fort Jackson we not only live in the community, we are a part of the community, so anything that is going to affect Fort Jackson is going to impact our local community,” Fort Jackson Commander Brig. Gen. Milford H. Beagle Jr. said in the release. “We keep our local community in mind when we make decisions and we thank everyone for their patience and understanding while we as a nation, an Army and a post respond to COVID-19.”

Fort Jackson made several operational changes this week. Gate guards at access points now wear gloves and do not handle identification guards. The fort has also added hand sanitization stations and is conducting more frequent cleaning.

“We doubled down on the protocols we already have in place,” Beagle said. “we’ve added screening measures and now we are minimizing the element of exposure for both our soldiers and our community through social distancing. This added change was needed based on conditions of COVID-19 both locally and across our country.” 

More information and updates from Fort Jackson are available online.

Also Thursday, Minor League Baseball announced that the start of the 2020 season will be delayed. The Columbia Fireflies, the Class A affiliate of the New York Mets, had been set to open the season on April 9. A new opening date was not announced.

“We will continue to monitor the developments and will announce additional information about the 2020 season at a later date,” said a statement from Minor League Baseball. “We will work with Major League Baseball and our community partners to resume play as soon as it is safe to do so.”

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