COVID-19 Impact on Schooling & SOI/MOS Graduations

Please be aware, the Marine Corps doesn't have a road-map for the COVID-19 pandemic either, but they have to keep our troops safe. When the USMC provides answers and additional information, we will publish it on these pages of our website. Our take on this will be that the military will exercise more caution and keep civilians off the bases longer than what other populations and communities do in our country.

COVID-19 Impact on Schooling & SOI/MOS Graduations

COVID-19 Impact on USMC, Marines, and Family Members
INFORMATION IS UPDATED DAILY. BE SURE TO CHECK EACH DAY FOR NEW UPDATES.

Additional information in the red bar below is based on which stage of the Corps your recruit or Marine is currently.
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Travel Restrictions

The purpose of the DOD imposed travel restrictions is to protect our fighting forces from contracting the Coronavirus during these uncertain times. Travel restrictions from the DOD are changing continually during the pandemic. These travel restrictions have been extended through June 30. Please see the red bar above with a PDF file for travel FAQ from the DOD.

Additionally, see this page for press releases from the DOD on travel. We are updating this as often as the DOD sends out press releases.

Currently, there are some military bases that are closed to visitors. If you need to get on a military base, we recommend calling the visitor's office first to gain more clarity.

Marines in SOI/MCT or MOS Schooling

For Marines currently in schools such as SOI or MOS, plans are being formulated by the USMC now and decisions by the Marine Corps will be made in accordance with the current restricted travel regulations. Marines can likely expect some holding periods and wait times upon completion of SOI and MOS while the travel restrictions are in place.

ALL Graduations

Effective March 13, 2020, the Secretary of Defense has provided direction that public attendance at graduation ceremonies and related activities is prohibited, with no exceptions. This is across the board, and includes all graduations: Recruit Training (boot camp), SOI, MCT, WAB, and OCS.

Graduations Videos on Facebook

Graduation videos are being made available on Facebook and the marines.mil website shortly after the ceremony has ended. We will also add the graduation videos to our website, here. The links for Parris Island and San Diego are the following:

Pentagon Orders Bases to Not Release Specific Covid-19 Numbers

Due to OPSEC concerns, the Pentagon has ordered military bases to stop releasing specific Covid-19 numbers.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said last week, "What we want to do is give you aggregated numbers. But we're not going to disaggregate numbers because it could reveal information about where we may be affected at a higher rate than maybe some other places." As of Monday March 30, 569 active-duty service members, 220 civilian personnel, 190 family members, and 64 contractors have tested positive for Covid-19. For more information on the order from the Pentagon, click here.

From US Marine Corps

From Defense.gov Website

DOD Press Releases COVID-19

Publications

USO Airport Operations

Per the Department of Defense: Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, all USO Airport locations in the United States will temporarily suspend operations until further notice in order to maintain safe environments and avoid unnecessary risks of exposure.

Financial Assistance

Service members may be financially impacted by the travel restrictions and closures due to coronavirus. Any service members affected should check with their service relief organization to see if emergency help is available to them. These relief organizations are:

OPSEC AND COVID-19:
Reporting COVID-19 Testing and Results Among Military

As part of our POSTING RULE 2: OPSEC and PERSEC, discussion or speculation on the numbers of troops or location of troops being tested or having tested for COVID-19 will not be permitted. Posting COVID-19 testing results of military members will not be permitted. There are no exceptions to this rule.

For obvious reasons, specific information about the health of our military forces is a direct violation of OPSEC.

Stating information about any Marine or recruit, your own or otherwise, testing for COVID-19 as it relates to their job duties as a military member (whether the results are positive or negative) is a violation of PERSEC and will not be permitted. Discussions of COVID-19 within your family are permitted as long as you do not identify the individual and do not state military affiliation.

FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Monday, March 30, 2020: Pentagon spokeswoman Alyssa Farah said in a statement on Monday "As we continue to grapple with the novel nature of COVID19, we are constantly assessing and adapting not only how we respond to combatting the virus, but also how we share critical public health information with our communities." Farah also said "We will not report the aggregate number of individual service member cases at individual unit, base or Combatant Commands. We will continue to do our best to balance transparency in this crisis with operational security."

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