Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
News from <strong>MHCE</strong><br />
JUNE <strong>2022</strong> EDITION<br />
American Airlines has<br />
Parked 100 Jets Due to<br />
Pilot Shortage<br />
See page 22<br />
Monthly <strong>Newsletter</strong><br />
WWW.<strong>MHCE</strong>.US<br />
Pfizer COVID Shot<br />
80% Effective in<br />
Young Kids, Early<br />
Data Shows<br />
Pfizer and its German partner,<br />
BioNTech, said Monday that<br />
an early analysis showed<br />
their three-dose coronavirus<br />
vaccine regimen triggered<br />
a strong immune response<br />
in young children, proving<br />
80% effective at preventing<br />
symptomatic infections in<br />
children 6 months to 4 years<br />
old.<br />
The results, along with other<br />
recent developments, signal<br />
that the long and frustrating<br />
wait for a vaccine for the<br />
youngest children, the last<br />
group to lack access, could<br />
be over within weeks.<br />
A few hours after Pfizer and<br />
BioNTech issued a news<br />
release announcing the data,<br />
which has not been peer<br />
reviewed, the Food and<br />
Drug Administration said<br />
its outside experts will meet<br />
<strong>June</strong> 14 and 15 to discuss<br />
the Moderna and Pfizer-<br />
BioNTech pediatric vaccines.<br />
Pfizer and BioNTech said<br />
they plan to finish filing data<br />
with the FDA this week <strong>—</strong><br />
and warned that the efficacy<br />
number was fluid because<br />
results are still arriving.<br />
If the FDA advisory panel<br />
looks favorably on the<br />
vaccines, the agency could<br />
authorize them as soon as<br />
<strong>June</strong> 16 or 17.<br />
Vaccine advisers to the<br />
Centers for Disease Control<br />
and Prevention then would<br />
consider who should get<br />
the vaccines, with a final<br />
recommendation coming<br />
from agency director<br />
Rochelle Walensky shortly<br />
afterward. The vaccines<br />
would probably be available<br />
immediately.<br />
"This is incredibly exciting<br />
data!" Kawsar Talaat, a<br />
pediatrician and vaccine<br />
expert at Johns Hopkins<br />
Bloomberg School of Public<br />
Health, wrote in an email. "I<br />
also think that it reinforces<br />
what we've seen in adults as<br />
well. For the Omicron variant,<br />
a third dose is necessary for<br />
optimal protection."<br />
Federal officials are already<br />
reviewing the pediatric<br />
vaccine from biotechnology<br />
company Moderna, a twoshot<br />
regimen that was 51%<br />
effective in preventing<br />
Continued on page 13
2 | <strong>MHCE</strong> - News www.mhce.us JUNE <strong>2022</strong> EDITION
WWW.<strong>MHCE</strong>.US Monthly <strong>Newsletter</strong> | 3
4 | <strong>MHCE</strong> - News www.mhce.us JUNE <strong>2022</strong> EDITION
WWW.<strong>MHCE</strong>.US Monthly <strong>Newsletter</strong> | 5<br />
Focus on Oversight a Key for Success at<br />
CoreCivic<br />
In the corrections industry, maintaining high standards of<br />
operation is imperative to meeting the needs of the individuals<br />
in our care. That's why CoreCivic adheres to a stringent set of<br />
guidelines set forth by our own standards, as well as those of our<br />
government partners and the American Correctional Association<br />
(ACA).<br />
Founded in 1870, the ACA is considered the national benchmark<br />
for the effective operation of correctional systems throughout<br />
the United States. To become accredited, a facility must achieve<br />
compliance with ACA mandatory standards and a minimum of<br />
90 percent non-mandatory standards. CoreCivic facilities adhere<br />
to ACA standards, and in 2020, CoreCivic earned an average<br />
ACA audit score of 99.6 percent across all facilities.<br />
Key ACA audit areas include facility personnel, resident reentry<br />
programs, resident safety, health care, and more.<br />
holds our facilities and staff to a high standard. To be able to<br />
represent our facility and receive reaccreditation in person is an<br />
honor."<br />
Adhering to ACA standards is only one part of CoreCivic's<br />
commitment to robust oversight. When government partners<br />
utilize CoreCivic's services, we are held not only to our own<br />
high standards and those of the ACA, but we are often held to<br />
the same or higher accountability of our public counterparts<br />
through stringent government contracts, unfettered access to<br />
our facilities for our partners, and hundreds of on-site quality<br />
assurance monitors.<br />
We provide access to our government partners, with most of<br />
our facilities having government agency employees known as<br />
contract monitors who are physically on-site to ensure we are<br />
operating in line with partner guidelines.<br />
Recently, the ACA held in Nashville, Tennessee, its 151st<br />
Congress of Corrections, an annual convention that brings<br />
together corrections professionals from across the country. In<br />
addition to various workshops and events at the convention, the<br />
ACA Commission on Accreditation also held panel hearings to<br />
award accreditation to correctional facilities that meet the ACA's<br />
rigorous requirements. Listed below are the seven CoreCivic<br />
facilities that earned reaccreditation this year, with mandatory/<br />
non-mandatory scores:<br />
• Bent County Correctional Facility - 100/99.0<br />
• Citrus County Detention Facility - 100/100<br />
• Eloy Detention Center - 100/100<br />
• Lake Erie Correctional Institution - 100/99.3<br />
• Saguaro Correctional Center - 100/99.8<br />
• Stewart Detention Center - 100/100<br />
• Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility - 100/100<br />
"The accreditation process is very important," said Warden<br />
Fred Figueroa from Eloy Detention Center, one of the seven<br />
CoreCivic facilities that was awarded reaccreditation. "ACA<br />
To maintain our own high standards, annual on-site audits covering<br />
all operational areas are administered to ensure compliance with<br />
contractual and regulatory obligations and corporate-mandated<br />
requirements. Each CoreCivic Safety facility is audited by our<br />
internal quality assurance division, which is independent from<br />
our operations division. Facilities are expected to be audit-ready<br />
year-round, maintaining continuous compliance with numerous<br />
applicable standards.<br />
CoreCivic employs 75 staff members dedicated to quality<br />
assurance, including several subject matter experts with extensive<br />
experience from all major disciplines within our institutional<br />
operations.<br />
"A lot of hard work goes into preparing for these audits,"<br />
Figueroa said. "Once they're complete, the staff can see their<br />
accomplishments and feel proud."<br />
Having multiple levels of oversight helps CoreCivic maintain<br />
a safe environment for those in our care. By holding ourselves<br />
accountable to our own high standards, along with our<br />
government partners' and ACA's standards, CoreCivic continues<br />
to be a trusted partner working to better the public good.
6 | <strong>MHCE</strong> - News www.mhce.us JUNE <strong>2022</strong> EDITION
WWW.<strong>MHCE</strong>.US Monthly <strong>Newsletter</strong> | 7
8 | <strong>MHCE</strong> - News www.mhce.us JUNE <strong>2022</strong> EDITION<br />
Infectious Disease Expert Takes Charge as<br />
Army’s Top Health Officer in Europe<br />
LANDSTUHL, Germany <strong>—</strong> U.S. troops are unlikely to<br />
have to endure a repeat of the heavy COVID-19 restrictions<br />
they faced during the early days of the pandemic, the Army’s<br />
new top health officer in Europe said Wednesday.<br />
“The extreme lockdown that we experienced, I don’t think<br />
we’ll see that again,” Brig. Gen. Clinton Murray told Stars<br />
and Stripes after taking command of Regional Health<br />
Command-Europe.<br />
The regional command provides medical and dental services<br />
to personnel in about 40 countries, including support for<br />
troops in U.S. central and Africa commands.<br />
Murray took charge of the unit from Brig. Gen. Mark<br />
Thompson in a ceremony at Landstuhl Regional Medical<br />
Center. Soldiers stood in close formation before dozens of<br />
attendees, all without masks.<br />
It contrasted starkly with the welcome Thompson received<br />
when he arrived in the spring of 2020, in the early stages of<br />
an outbreak that countries the world over struggled for two<br />
years to control.<br />
In his speech Wednesday, Thompson recalled the challenges<br />
of assuming command as the COVID-19 pandemic began<br />
raging.
WWW.<strong>MHCE</strong>.US Monthly <strong>Newsletter</strong> | 9<br />
He thanked the medical staff, who he said had administered<br />
some 210,000 vaccine doses and 360,000 coronavirus tests.<br />
“You collectively did the impossible over the last two<br />
years,” Thompson said.<br />
The regional command provides medical and dental services<br />
to personnel in about 40 countries, including support for<br />
troops in U.S. central and Africa commands.<br />
Murray took charge of the unit from Brig. Gen. Mark<br />
Thompson in a ceremony at Landstuhl Regional Medical<br />
Center. Soldiers stood in close formation before dozens of<br />
attendees, all without masks.<br />
It contrasted starkly with the welcome Thompson received<br />
when he arrived in the spring of 2020, in the early stages of<br />
an outbreak that countries the world over struggled for two<br />
years to control.<br />
In his speech Wednesday, Thompson recalled the challenges<br />
of assuming command as the COVID-19 pandemic began<br />
raging.<br />
He thanked the medical staff, who he said had administered<br />
some 210,000 vaccine doses and 360,000 coronavirus tests.<br />
Join Our Team!<br />
Embark on a new career<br />
with Central New York<br />
Psychiatric Center!<br />
Our Team Promotes<br />
Hope, Resilience and Recovery!<br />
Central New York Psychiatric Center is seeking<br />
candidates to fill the following positions;<br />
Psychiatrists, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners,<br />
Psychologists, and Registered Nurses.<br />
These positions are available at our Inpatient<br />
Forensic Hospital in Marcy, New York, as<br />
well as our Corrections Based Satellite Units<br />
across the State.<br />
Benefits Include:<br />
• NYS Pension<br />
• Competitive Salaries<br />
• Comprehensive Health Insurance<br />
• Flexible Spending Accounts for<br />
Healthcare & Dependent Care<br />
• Generous Paid Time Off<br />
Contact Us:<br />
315-765-3375 or by e-mail<br />
CNpersonnel@omh.ny.gov<br />
TO ADVERTISE<br />
contact nathan.stiles@mhce.us
10 | <strong>MHCE</strong> - News www.mhce.us JUNE <strong>2022</strong> EDITION
WWW.<strong>MHCE</strong>.US Monthly <strong>Newsletter</strong> | 11<br />
Thompson also noted efforts by the command<br />
to care for Afghan evacuees who passed<br />
through U.S. bases in Germany on their way<br />
to the United States after the fall of their<br />
country to the Taliban.<br />
Medical staff at Landstuhl treated 391 Afghan<br />
patients and delivered 26 babies, he said.<br />
Thompson will head to U.S. Army Medical<br />
Command headquarters at Fort Sam Houston<br />
in San Antonio, Texas, said Gino Mattorano,<br />
a spokesman for Regional Health Command-<br />
Europe.<br />
He will trade cities with Murray, who<br />
previously helmed Brooke Army Medical<br />
Center in San Antonio.<br />
The harsh restrictions at the beginning of<br />
the pandemic were due to concerns about a<br />
lack of hospital beds as well as the absence<br />
of vaccines and testing tools, which are now<br />
available, Murray told Stars and Stripes.<br />
Health officials will have to see whether the<br />
virus continues to mutate into new variants.<br />
But should that happen, they’re more<br />
prepared than they were at the beginning of<br />
the pandemic, he added.<br />
“We may move back and forth on wearing<br />
masks and having events, changing a little bit<br />
of what we do, but I don’t think we’ll ever go<br />
back to when we truly shut down,” Murray<br />
said.<br />
Murray specialized in infectious diseases at<br />
multiple points during his career, according<br />
to a biography provided by Regional Health<br />
Command-Europe.<br />
He completed a fellowship in infectious<br />
diseases in 2002 and reviewed infection<br />
control procedures during a deployment to<br />
Afghanistan in 2012. He is a member of the<br />
Infectious Diseases Society of America, a<br />
medical association based in Arlington, Va.
12 | <strong>MHCE</strong> - News www.mhce.us JUNE <strong>2022</strong> EDITION<br />
TO ADVERTISE<br />
contact kyle.stephens@mhce.us
WWW.<strong>MHCE</strong>.US Monthly <strong>Newsletter</strong> | 13<br />
illness in children between 6 months and 2 years old, and<br />
37% effective in children 2 to 5 years old.<br />
Regulators previously had set aside three dates for the FDA's<br />
outside experts to review the vaccines for young children,<br />
beginning with a session on <strong>June</strong> 8. Those meetings are now<br />
canceled.<br />
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT <strong>MHCE</strong>.US<br />
Under the revised schedule, the FDA and its outside<br />
experts will discuss the Moderna vaccine for children and<br />
adolescents from 6 to 17 years old on <strong>June</strong> 14. The following<br />
day, they will review vaccines for the youngest children,<br />
with advisers evaluating the Moderna vaccine for children<br />
6 months through 5 years old and the Pfizer-BioNTech<br />
vaccine for children ages 6 months through 4 years old.<br />
"The overall data are encouraging such that it is really hard<br />
to look at one vaccine apart from the other," according to an<br />
official familiar with the process who spoke on the condition<br />
of anonymity because that person was not authorized to<br />
speak publicly. The official suggested the two vaccines<br />
would probably be reviewed side by side.<br />
A CDC planning document notes that vaccines are expected<br />
to be shipped immediately after being authorized by the<br />
FDA. Preordering for doses could begin in late May or<br />
early <strong>June</strong>, but an exact date will be contingent on when the<br />
FDA's external advisers meet.<br />
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children younger than<br />
5 is a three-shot regimen tested in nearly 1,700 children.<br />
Each dose is one-tenth of the adult dose. The third shot<br />
was added in December after it became clear that two shots<br />
failed to muster an immune response equivalent to what<br />
was generated in young adults in early coronavirus vaccine<br />
trials. It is given two months after the second shot.<br />
Although that setback was hugely disappointing to parents,<br />
the addition of a third shot was seen by many experts as<br />
necessary because the omicron variant of the coronavirus<br />
had fundamentally changed the pandemic. The two shots<br />
that provided robust protection against infection and severe<br />
illness early on were markedly less protective against the<br />
omicron variant.<br />
"Omicron has really thrown a curveball on us <strong>—</strong> it seems<br />
that two doses are not sufficient for adequate efficacy against<br />
infection with Omicron, with any vaccine, at any age," Flor<br />
Munoz, a pediatric infectious-disease specialist at Baylor<br />
College of Medicine, said in an email before the new data<br />
was released.
14 | <strong>MHCE</strong> - News www.mhce.us JUNE <strong>2022</strong> EDITION<br />
While the adult trials recruited tens of thousands of<br />
volunteers and waited to see if vaccinated people were<br />
better protected, the children's vaccine trials were primarily<br />
designed to measure immune responses using blood tests.<br />
The criteria for success was whether a vaccine provoked<br />
a comparable immune response to what was seen among<br />
young adults in trials conducted before the widespread<br />
emergence of variants. Both the Pfizer-BioNTech and<br />
Moderna pediatric vaccines succeeded on that measure,<br />
although the significance of that benchmark has shifted<br />
with the emergence of the omicron variant.<br />
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT <strong>MHCE</strong>.US<br />
The companies also measured cases of symptomatic illness<br />
in the population, and Pfizer and BioNTech said the 80%<br />
efficacy finding was preliminary and based on 10 cases of<br />
COVID-19 in the study population as of the end of April.<br />
Once 21 cases have occurred, the companies will conduct a<br />
more formal analysis of efficacy.<br />
David Benkeser, a biostatistician at Emory University's<br />
Rollins School of Public Health, said the updated data<br />
would probably be ready before a decision would need to<br />
be made, and that he wouldn't be surprised if the efficacy<br />
number declined somewhat as more cases occur.<br />
"Even still, it appears the data are so far pointing towards<br />
a safe and effective vaccine for young children," Benkeser<br />
wrote in an email.<br />
Moderna's two-shot vaccine regimen was about 51%<br />
effective in children 6 months to 2 years old, and 37%<br />
effective in children 2 to 5 years old.<br />
If Pfizer's efficacy data holds up, it could pose a conundrum<br />
for public health officials, physicians and parents. If<br />
both vaccines are cleared by the FDA, the CDC advisory<br />
committee could weigh whether one vaccine should be<br />
recommended over the other.<br />
Moderna is studying a booster given six months after the<br />
last shot.<br />
TO ADVERTISE<br />
contact nathan.stiles@mhce.us<br />
In either case, the hope is that children will be fully<br />
vaccinated in advance of a potential surge in the fall.<br />
On Sunday, before the Pfizer announcement, White House<br />
coronavirus response coordinator Ashish Jha predicted on<br />
ABC News' "This Week" that children could have access<br />
to a shot "in the next few weeks" and that action would be<br />
taken on the Moderna vaccine as soon as regulators were<br />
finished with their review.
WWW.<strong>MHCE</strong>.US Monthly <strong>Newsletter</strong> | 15<br />
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT <strong>MHCE</strong>.US
16 | <strong>MHCE</strong> - News www.mhce.us JUNE <strong>2022</strong> EDITION<br />
Army Poll Finds Widespread Unawareness Among<br />
Gen Z About Perks of Military Career<br />
Young adult Americans think they know a lot about Army<br />
life, but a newly released cross-generational survey showing<br />
otherwise is giving the service impetus to fill in the knowledge<br />
gaps amid a recruitment crisis.<br />
“The Army has what Gen Z is looking for in an employer. They<br />
just don’t know it yet,” Maj. Gen. Alex Fink, chief of Army<br />
enterprise marketing, said in a statement issued Wednesday.<br />
The Know Your Army national consumer survey found that 73%<br />
of respondents ages 18 to 25 claimed familiarity with the Army,<br />
the highest level of any generation polled.<br />
But survey participants in that age group turned out to be largely<br />
unaware of what the Army can offer them.<br />
More than half of Generation Z respondents did not realize<br />
that soldiers can receive benefits such as tuition assistance and<br />
the possibility of earning full college tuition. Regarding early<br />
retirement benefits, only 31% were in the know.<br />
The release of the polling data comes as the service touts a new<br />
advertising campaign that talks up the wide range of benefits<br />
associated with military life.<br />
Instead of highlighting soldiers in the field, the “Know Your<br />
Army” ads call attention to things such as pension plans,<br />
mortgage loan perks and free schooling. The aim is to show how<br />
such privileges set the Army apart from civilian employers.<br />
Given the difficult recruiting environment, which military<br />
officials have blamed in part on a competitive labor market, the<br />
Army’s 2023 budget request calls for an end-strength of 473,000<br />
active-duty soldiers, even though Congress has authorized the<br />
force to grow to 500,000 by <strong>2022</strong>.<br />
Military officials have said that the cap is temporary and that the<br />
Army intends to grow once the recruiting environment improves.<br />
Another misperception about Army life for 30% of Generation<br />
Z polled is that the majority of jobs available to soldiers are<br />
combat-related, the Army said.<br />
The survey was conducted by the Army in March across a<br />
sample of 3,000 U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 76. No<br />
margin of error was listed.<br />
Top brass has previously sounded alarms over the service’s<br />
difficulty finding qualified recruits in that 18-25 age range.<br />
TO ADVERTISE<br />
contact nathan.stiles@mhce.us<br />
“We are in a war for talent,” Gen. James McConville, the Army<br />
chief of staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee in May.
WWW.<strong>MHCE</strong>.US Monthly <strong>Newsletter</strong> | 17
18 | <strong>MHCE</strong> - News www.mhce.us JUNE <strong>2022</strong> EDITION<br />
Business Is Global. Your Education Can Be, Too.<br />
Complete Business Minor in One<br />
Summer across Two Countries<br />
By taking the five courses offered in this 12-week program, you<br />
can complete a Business Minor and enjoy the unique opportunity<br />
to immerse yourself in a cultural experience. Our Complete<br />
Business Minor Abroad program will take you to the beautiful<br />
streets of Rome, Italy, and Madrid, Spain, this Summer <strong>2022</strong><br />
semesters<br />
Business Core Fast Track<br />
By taking the five courses offered in this 12-week program, you<br />
can complete a Business Minor and enjoy the unique opportunity<br />
to immerse yourself in a cultural experience. Our Complete<br />
Business Minor Abroad program will take you to the beautiful<br />
streets of Rome, Italy, and Madrid, Spain, this Summer <strong>2022</strong><br />
semesters<br />
<strong>2022</strong> Program Update<br />
In these uncertain times, the Harbert College of Business is<br />
taking extraordinary steps to ensure the health and welfare of its<br />
students. As such, only two study abroad trips will be offered for<br />
this summer.<br />
Please be on the lookout for details on offerings of a range of<br />
Study Abroad Programs in Summer 2023. We appreciate your<br />
interest and will be global again as soon as possible.<br />
Study Abroad<br />
At the Harbert College of Business, we offer the opportunity to<br />
experience different business cultures, practices and standards<br />
around the world. Round out your undergraduate experience with<br />
a study abroad trip to Italy and Spain and gain a global business<br />
perspective.<br />
Undergraduate study abroad opportunities will allow you to gain<br />
experience with a variety of contexts.<br />
Have Questions?<br />
COVID-19 has made the idea of international travel seem far<br />
away. Let us reassure you we will provide a safe study abroad<br />
experience that will give you an edge in your future career<br />
Dr. Daniel Butler<br />
Assistant Dean, Harbert Global Programs<br />
Thomas Walter Professor<br />
334-844-2464<br />
butledd@auburn.edu
WWW.<strong>MHCE</strong>.US Monthly <strong>Newsletter</strong> | 19<br />
When the practice of medicine<br />
becomes the business of medicine.<br />
You spent years studying medicine.<br />
But what about the business side of<br />
your practice?<br />
It’s easy to get started.<br />
Take the next step toward a<br />
Physicians Executive MBA<br />
and contact us:<br />
auburn-military.mba<br />
334-844-4060<br />
Auburn MBA
20 | <strong>MHCE</strong> - News www.mhce.us JUNE <strong>2022</strong> EDITION<br />
DODEA Seniors’ Last Checklist: Caps, Gowns and<br />
Diplomas<br />
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany <strong>—</strong><br />
Graduation ceremonies have begun<br />
at Defense Department schools in<br />
Europe, where more than 1,300 seniors<br />
are completing their secondary studies.<br />
The first batch of graduates in the<br />
Department of Defense Education<br />
Activity-Europe’s Class of <strong>2022</strong> walked<br />
the stage May 29, when 53 seniors<br />
received their diplomas at Bahrain<br />
Middle/High School.<br />
Most ceremonies are this week. On<br />
a stage set up inside Kaiserslautern<br />
High School’s stadium on Wednesday,<br />
Michelle Howard-Brahaney, the<br />
director of DODEA-Europe, told 165<br />
graduates to “greet the future with<br />
optimism, open minds and open hearts.”<br />
“The experiences you’ve gained<br />
through this will serve you and our<br />
country the rest of your lives,” she said.<br />
A total of 1,375 students are expected<br />
to receive their diplomas at 21 schools<br />
from the United Kingdom to the Middle<br />
East.<br />
Graduating class sizes range from<br />
seven at Ankara Elementary/High<br />
School in Turkey to 183 at Ramstein<br />
High School.<br />
The high school seniors are part of<br />
DODEA-Europe’s 75th graduating<br />
class. The milestone harkens back to<br />
post-war Germany, when five high<br />
schools opened their doors to the first<br />
children of U.S. military members<br />
serving abroad.<br />
“The world has changed dramatically in<br />
the 75 years since our mission began,”<br />
said Stephen Smith, a DODEA-Europe<br />
spokesman. “However, the spirit of our<br />
teachers and administrators is the same<br />
now as it was then, infused to the core<br />
with determination and innovation.”<br />
Most of this year’s graduation<br />
ceremonies are being held on U.S.<br />
military bases, in facilities such as<br />
stadiums and aircraft hangars or in<br />
community parks.<br />
A handful are off base. Alconbury and<br />
Lakenheath in the United Kingdom<br />
held their ceremonies this week at Ely<br />
Cathedral in Cambridgeshire, while<br />
Wiesbaden High School’s ceremony<br />
will be Friday in the city’s stately<br />
Kurhaus.<br />
Ankara’s seven seniors will mark<br />
the end of their high school years<br />
at a ceremony Friday in the U.S.<br />
ambassador’s residence.<br />
Ramstein cheered on its graduates<br />
Thursdayin a car parade before sending<br />
them off with their diplomas at a<br />
ceremony Friday evening in hangar<br />
No. 3.<br />
Both SHAPE and AFNORTH hold<br />
their ceremonies <strong>June</strong> 10, the last of the<br />
DODEA-Europe <strong>2022</strong> commencement<br />
events scheduled.<br />
TO ADVERTISE<br />
contact nathan.stiles@mhce.us
WWW.<strong>MHCE</strong>.US Monthly <strong>Newsletter</strong> | 21<br />
TO ADVERTISE<br />
contact kyle.stephens@mhce.us
22 | <strong>MHCE</strong> - News www.mhce.us JUNE <strong>2022</strong> EDITION<br />
American Airlines has Parked 100 Jets Due to Pilot<br />
Shortage<br />
A shortage of pilots from retirements<br />
and pandemic cutbacks has forced Fort<br />
Worth-based American Airlines to park<br />
about 100 of its smaller regional jets,<br />
even amid strong summer passenger<br />
demand.<br />
“There is a supply and demand imbalance<br />
right now and it really is within the<br />
regional carrier ranks,” American<br />
Airlines CEO Robert Isom said Friday<br />
at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions<br />
investor conference in New York. “We<br />
have probably 100 aircraft or almost 100<br />
aircraft that aren’t productive right now,<br />
that aren’t flying.”<br />
Isom’s comments come amid soaring<br />
airfare prices as travelers are eager to<br />
get out after two years of pandemic<br />
restrictions and as airlines work to get<br />
back to pre-pandemic flying levels.<br />
Nearly every airline in the industry is<br />
facing similar issues with struggles to
WWW.<strong>MHCE</strong>.US Monthly <strong>Newsletter</strong> | 23<br />
replace pilots and other key workers, even though<br />
several are forecasting record revenues.<br />
Airlines would love to take advantage of rising<br />
ticket prices from high consumer demand. Airline<br />
ticket prices for summer travel are up about 48%<br />
compared with 2019, according to travel site<br />
Hopper. That more than offsets rising fuel and labor<br />
costs. American upped its second-quarter revenue<br />
projections on Friday, now expecting to bring in<br />
sales 11 to 13% higher than during the same period<br />
in pre-pandemic 2019.<br />
The <strong>2022</strong> summer travel season has seen airlines try<br />
to balance their own ability to fly bigger schedules<br />
versus the risk of meltdowns if operations are<br />
stretched too thin. As carriers such as Delta, JetBlue<br />
and Southwest have cut flights to focus on reducing<br />
delays, American Airlines is flying a schedule that<br />
is about 20% larger than its next nearest competitor<br />
at Delta.<br />
The biggest constraint, Isom said, comes in the<br />
number of pilots American Airlines and its regional<br />
carriers are able to hire. About 1,000 of American’s<br />
15,000 pilots took early retirement packages during<br />
the COVID-19 pandemic. Paired with a large<br />
number of pilots slated to hit mandatory retirement<br />
age, it hass left carriers such as American with a<br />
deficit of key employees.<br />
American has filled that gap by hiring pilots from<br />
regional carriers, including its own at wholly-owned<br />
airlines such as Envoy and Piedmont. In turn, that<br />
leaves a shortage of pilots to fly the smaller 50 and<br />
75-passenger jets.<br />
“There are constraints out there in terms of aircraft,<br />
there are constraints around pilots from the<br />
perspective of the mainline and through training,”<br />
Isom said.<br />
American and others have increased pay for regional pilots and have<br />
added signing and retention bonuses to help students through flight<br />
school. The economic incentives of jobs that pay more than $200,000 a<br />
year should eventually attract more pilots, but it could take several years<br />
to get the number of pilots needed to properly staff airlines, Isom said.<br />
“I see demand for travel,” Isom said. “I see an industry that has been<br />
more or less constrained and now trying to say back up and is still facing<br />
those constraints.”<br />
American has been able to make up some of the<br />
cutbacks in flights by using larger regional jets and<br />
parking smaller models, Isom said.<br />
While that helps carry more passengers, using<br />
bigger planes also means fewer frequencies,<br />
especially to smaller destinations. Regional airlines<br />
fly 43% of the country’s flights. according to the<br />
Regional Airline Association, and two-thirds of<br />
the country’s airports are only served by regional<br />
carriers.<br />
VISIT OUR WEBSITE<br />
AT <strong>MHCE</strong>.US
24 | <strong>MHCE</strong> - News www.mhce.us JUNE <strong>2022</strong> EDITION<br />
For Spring<br />
Recruitment Specials<br />
contact:<br />
Kyle.Stephens@mhce.us or<br />
Advertise with us today.
WWW.<strong>MHCE</strong>.US Monthly <strong>Newsletter</strong> | 25<br />
Biden Tells Navy Graduates Next Decade<br />
will be Decisive for Democracy and<br />
World Order<br />
President Joe Biden told U.S.<br />
Naval Academy graduates on<br />
Friday that the next decade<br />
will be decisive for democracy,<br />
national security and reshaping<br />
the international world order for<br />
generations.<br />
Russia’s brutal assault on<br />
Ukraine has spurred a fight that<br />
is dividing the globe in terms of<br />
geography and values, Biden<br />
said at the academy’s graduation<br />
and commissioning ceremony.<br />
applied to join the military<br />
alliance earlier this month after<br />
decades of neutrality.<br />
“[Putin] has NATO-ized all of<br />
Europe,” Biden said.<br />
Fresh off a trip to Asia, the<br />
president told graduates that<br />
they will be at the forefront<br />
of U.S. efforts to counter the<br />
rising dominance of China. The<br />
maritime theater in the Indo-<br />
Pacific <strong>—</strong> a region that will be<br />
“vital to the future of our world”<br />
<strong>—</strong> will be the “leading edge” of<br />
America’s response to natural<br />
humanitarian disasters, Biden<br />
said.<br />
“[We will show] people<br />
throughout the region the<br />
unmatched ability of the United<br />
States to be a force for good,” he<br />
said.<br />
The Navy will be tasked with<br />
strengthening connections with<br />
allies and implementing an Indo-<br />
Pacific strategy that ensures<br />
freedom of navigation of the<br />
South China Sea and keeps sea<br />
lanes open and secure, Biden<br />
said.<br />
“These long-standing basic<br />
maritime principles are the<br />
bedrock of a global economy<br />
and global stability,” he<br />
said. “Sailors and mariners,<br />
submariners and SEALs, Navy<br />
aviators and surface warfare<br />
officers, we’re going to look to<br />
you to ensure the security of the<br />
American people.”<br />
Creating a Culture<br />
“We’re living through a global<br />
struggle between autocracies<br />
and democracies,” he said.<br />
Biden accused Russian President<br />
Vladimir Putin of aiming to<br />
conquer Ukraine to wipe out the<br />
identify of its people. Attacks<br />
on schools, nurseries, hospitals,<br />
museums serve no other purpose<br />
than to eliminate the Ukrainian<br />
culture, he said.<br />
“That’s what you’re graduating<br />
into,” Biden said. “A world<br />
that more than ever requires<br />
strong principles and engaged<br />
American leadership, where<br />
America leads not only by the<br />
example of its power but the<br />
power of its example.”<br />
of Caring<br />
Offering master’s<br />
and doctoral<br />
degrees for<br />
Registered Nurses<br />
Specialties Offered:<br />
Nurse-Midwife<br />
Family Nurse Practitioner<br />
Women’s Health Care NP<br />
Psychiatric-Mental Health NP<br />
The fallout from the war in<br />
Ukraine is already changing<br />
longstanding defense postures<br />
around the world, he said.<br />
Putin’s attempt to “Finlandize”<br />
Europe into neutrality has<br />
backfired, Biden said, driving<br />
Finland and Sweden into<br />
NATO’s arms. The two nations<br />
Learn more at frontier.edu/military
26 | <strong>MHCE</strong> - News www.mhce.us JUNE <strong>2022</strong> EDITION<br />
TO ADVERTISE<br />
contact<br />
Kyle.stephens@mhce.us
WWW.<strong>MHCE</strong>.US Monthly <strong>Newsletter</strong> | 27<br />
TO ADVERTISE<br />
contact Kyle.Stephens@mhce.us
28 | <strong>MHCE</strong> - News www.mhce.us JUNE <strong>2022</strong> EDITION<br />
Special Olympics Drops<br />
Vaccine Rule After $27M<br />
Fine Threat<br />
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. <strong>—</strong> The Special Olympics<br />
has dropped a coronavirus vaccine mandate for its<br />
games in Orlando after Florida moved to fine the<br />
organization $27.5 million for violating a state law<br />
against such rules.<br />
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday announced<br />
the organization had removed the requirement for its<br />
competition in the state, which is scheduled to run<br />
<strong>June</strong> 5 to <strong>June</strong> 12.<br />
"In Florida, we want all of them to be able to compete.<br />
We do not think it's fair or just to be marginalizing<br />
some of these athletes based on a decision that has<br />
no bearing on their ability to compete with honor<br />
or integrity," DeSantis said at a news conference in<br />
Orlando.<br />
5,500 violations of state law for requiring proof of<br />
coronavirus vaccination for attendees or participants.<br />
Florida law bars businesses from requiring<br />
documentation of a COVID-19 vaccination. DeSantis<br />
has strongly opposed vaccine mandates and other<br />
virus policies endorsed by the federal government.<br />
In a statement on its website, the Special Olympics<br />
said people who were registered but unable to<br />
participate because of the mandate can now attend.<br />
TO ADVERTISE<br />
contact Kyle.Stephens@mhce.us<br />
The Florida health department notified the Special<br />
Olympics of the fine in a letter Thursday that said<br />
the organization would be fined $27.5 million for
WWW.<strong>MHCE</strong>.US Monthly <strong>Newsletter</strong> | 29<br />
Army Units in South<br />
Korea Receive Award<br />
for Initial Response to<br />
COVID-19 Pandemic<br />
CAMP HUMPHREYS,<br />
South Korea <strong>—</strong> Eighth<br />
Army received the Army<br />
Superior Unit Award for<br />
its efforts in curbing the<br />
spread of COVID-19<br />
during the onset of the<br />
pandemic in South Korea,<br />
according to a press<br />
release Thursday.<br />
“Eighth Army and cited<br />
units displayed outstanding<br />
meritorious service<br />
through their response<br />
to the global pandemic<br />
cause by COVID-19,<br />
making their #1 priority<br />
to protect the force during<br />
these extraordinary<br />
circumstances,” the<br />
award’s citation said.<br />
The citation from the<br />
Army’s Human Resources<br />
Command added that<br />
Eighth Army’s efforts<br />
“enabled the effective<br />
response to the pandemic<br />
not only on the Korean<br />
Peninsula but more<br />
importantly informed<br />
response operations<br />
worldwide.”<br />
Soldiers present for duty<br />
while being attached to<br />
Eighth Army or one of<br />
several units in South<br />
Korea between Jan. 28,<br />
2020, to April 30, 2020,<br />
are eligible to wear the<br />
superior unit award<br />
permanently. Army<br />
civilian employees who<br />
served within the same<br />
timeframe are also eligible<br />
for the award.<br />
South Korea became one<br />
of the first countries to<br />
report COVID-19 cases<br />
outside of China in January<br />
2020. In Daegu, roughly<br />
100 miles southeast of<br />
Camp Humphreys in<br />
Pyeongtaek, the U.S.<br />
military reported its firstever<br />
COVID-19 case on<br />
Feb. 20, 2020.<br />
U.S. Forces Korea, the<br />
command responsible for<br />
roughly 28,500 troops<br />
on the peninsula, and<br />
its individual garrison<br />
commanders initiated<br />
lockdowns as case<br />
numbers increased in the<br />
military community.<br />
The Army’s response<br />
in South Korea, which<br />
included the construction<br />
of several quarantine<br />
facilities and the<br />
reassignment of thousands<br />
of service members,<br />
became the testing<br />
ground for the military’s<br />
worldwide pandemic<br />
response.<br />
Col. Michael Tremblay,<br />
the former garrison<br />
commander at Camp<br />
Humphreys, did not<br />
leave the base for 102<br />
consecutive days.<br />
“Everybody’s singular<br />
focus from then on was,<br />
‘How do we get this from<br />
getting inside,’” he said in<br />
<strong>June</strong> 2021. “We quickly<br />
ramped up the things<br />
that we were doing. For<br />
those three months, we<br />
did nothing but 24-hour<br />
operations, continuously<br />
coming up with new<br />
processes.”<br />
An Eighth Army<br />
spokesman said the<br />
command was “extremely<br />
proud of our soldiers, both<br />
past and present.”<br />
“Their professionalism<br />
allowed us to continue<br />
our mission of supporting<br />
our regional allies and<br />
deterring potential<br />
adversaries while<br />
simultaneously managing<br />
the effects of the global<br />
pandemic,” Lt. Col. Neil<br />
Penttila said in an email<br />
to Stars and Stripes on<br />
Friday.<br />
USFK counted 104 new<br />
infections in the week<br />
ending Monday, down<br />
from the 141 cases<br />
reported between May 10-<br />
16, according to a USFK<br />
update on Tuesday.<br />
The command reported 98<br />
infections May 3-9, down<br />
from the weekly record of<br />
1,599 cases Jan. 4-10.<br />
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT<br />
<strong>MHCE</strong>.US
30 | <strong>MHCE</strong> - News www.mhce.us JUNE <strong>2022</strong> EDITION<br />
VA Secretary Sets Goals to House More Veterans in<br />
LA, Prevent Homelessness<br />
WASHINGTON– Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary<br />
Denis McDonough said Friday that the agency will get<br />
more veterans into homes this year in Los Angeles and help<br />
prevent homelessness.<br />
The agency will get 1,500 additional veterans into homes,<br />
and 180 housing units will be added to the campus of the West<br />
Los Angeles VA Medical Center, along with 535 individual<br />
veteran housing units through project-based vouchers,<br />
McDonough told attendees at the National Coalition for<br />
Homeless Veterans Conference, a three-day event that<br />
gathers community-based service providers working with<br />
veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness.<br />
The coalition held the conference for the first time in two<br />
years. The theme for this year’s conference was “Coming<br />
Together: Facing the Future,” and consisted of more than<br />
600 service providers and partners who sought resources and<br />
technical assistance for homeless veterans in other areas.<br />
McDonough said the VA would use 75% of its U.S. Department<br />
of Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive<br />
Housing vouchers. According to the VA Homeless Programs<br />
website, the program pairs HUD's Housing Choice Voucher<br />
rental assistance with VA case management and supportive<br />
services for homeless veterans.<br />
McDonough said 60% to 63% of the vouchers are used<br />
yearly.<br />
"We're going make sure that 50% of veterans who receive<br />
HUD-VASH vouchers find permanent housing within 90<br />
days,” he said. "So we're not only going to use the vouchers<br />
more aggressively, we're going to use them in a more timely<br />
manner."<br />
McDonough also said the agency will get 38,000 veterans<br />
into permanent housing and is "driving hard" to prevent<br />
veterans from becoming homeless.<br />
"It means making existing housing more affordable through<br />
HUD-VASH and through supportive services for veteran<br />
families," he said. "It means helping unsheltered vets get<br />
off the street through the grant [and] per diem program, and<br />
it means learning every veteran's unique story and getting<br />
them the wraparound service they need."<br />
McDonough said those services include food, health care,<br />
mental health care, and child care.
WWW.<strong>MHCE</strong>.US Monthly <strong>Newsletter</strong> | 31<br />
"Whether a veteran needs assistance addressing physical or<br />
mental health, a substance use disorder, justice involvement,<br />
or anything else… we're going to be there to help," he said.<br />
The VA campus in West Los Angeles is 388 acres. The<br />
land was donated to the government in 1888 by a wealthy<br />
California landowner who wanted the area to be used to<br />
provide health care and homes for disabled veterans. There<br />
are several historic structures on the campus, and most of the<br />
buildings were built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style,<br />
with their characteristic red-tile roofs and stucco walls.<br />
The campus contains a nine-hole golf course, a Japanese<br />
garden and plenty of open space. Many of the buildings<br />
now sit vacant, some because of their states of disrepair.<br />
Others are vacant due to the coronavirus pandemic pushing<br />
employees out of their offices.<br />
In one part of the campus, construction workers are restoring<br />
two large buildings into permanent housing units. The VA<br />
expects to have 186 apartments ready for use by the end of<br />
the year.<br />
The Department of Housing and Urban Development<br />
estimated in January 2020 that 37,252 veterans experienced<br />
homelessness in a single night. An estimated 10% of those<br />
veterans lived in Los Angeles.<br />
McDonough also spoke about two successes from last year.<br />
In October, McDonough vowed to get all homeless veterans<br />
living in the area known as "veterans row" in Los Angeles<br />
into housing by Nov. 1. At the time, about 40 people lived<br />
along veterans row, a homeless encampment just outside the<br />
West Los Angeles VA Medical Center.<br />
McDonough said the agency succeeded in placing Los<br />
Angeles homeless veterans into housing by the deadline.<br />
In November, the secretary promised the VA would house<br />
an additional 500 homeless veterans in Los Angeles in time<br />
for the holidays. In December, VA Deputy Secretary Donald<br />
Remy said the VA had surpassed that goal and found housing<br />
for 537 veterans.<br />
Of those veterans, 46% have found permanent housing using<br />
government vouchers, and the rest have been accepted into<br />
temporary housing, Remy said.<br />
In April, McDonough signed an updated plan for a longdelayed<br />
housing development intended to help solve the<br />
veteran homelessness crisis in Los Angeles.<br />
The 656-page plan, called Master Plan <strong>2022</strong>, contains details<br />
for a major construction project on the VA campus in West<br />
Los Angeles. The updated plan calls for more than 1,000<br />
housing units for homeless veterans to be under construction<br />
within one to five years. The plan states 220 additional units<br />
will be built within six to 10 years, and the VA will add 350<br />
more units sometime after that.
32 | <strong>MHCE</strong> - News www.mhce.us JUNE <strong>2022</strong> EDITION<br />
Spending millions to build seawalls<br />
would be cheaper than spending<br />
billions to rebuild the base after<br />
a devastating hurricane, Cheney<br />
reasons.<br />
Parris Island has so far been<br />
spared the direct hits that have<br />
caused billions in damage to other<br />
military installations, but it has<br />
been evacuated twice in the last<br />
five years for hurricanes, which hit<br />
South Carolina every eight years, on<br />
average.<br />
Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris<br />
Island Wages Battles, Not War, Against<br />
Climate Change<br />
PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. <strong>—</strong> Rising<br />
seas are encroaching on one of<br />
America's most storied military<br />
installations, where thousands of<br />
recruits are molded into Marines<br />
each year amid the salt marshes<br />
of South Carolina's Lowcountry<br />
region.<br />
Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris<br />
Island is particularly vulnerable<br />
to flooding, coastal erosion and<br />
other impacts of climate change,<br />
a Defense Department-funded<br />
"resiliency review" noted last<br />
month. Some scientists project that<br />
by 2099, three-quarters of the island<br />
could be under water during high<br />
tides each day.<br />
Military authorities say they're<br />
confident they can keep the secondoldest<br />
Marine Corps base intact, for<br />
now, through small-scale changes to<br />
existing infrastructure projects.<br />
Maj. Marc Blair, Parris Island's<br />
environmental director, describes<br />
this strategy as "the art of the small,"<br />
a phrase he attributes to the base's<br />
commanding general, Brig. Gen.<br />
Julie Nethercot. In practice, it means<br />
such things as raising a culvert<br />
that needs to be repaired anyway,<br />
limiting development in low-lying<br />
areas and adding floodproofing<br />
measures to firing range upgrades.<br />
Others advocate much larger and<br />
more expensive solutions, such<br />
as building huge seawalls around<br />
the base, or moving Marine Corps<br />
training away from the coast<br />
altogether.<br />
Parris Island has an outsized role<br />
in military lore and American pop<br />
culture as a proving ground for<br />
Marines who have served in every<br />
major conflict since World War I. It<br />
remains a crucial training ground,<br />
along with Marine Corps Recruit<br />
Depot, San Diego. But the rising sea<br />
is proving to be a formidable enemy.<br />
Salt marsh makes up more than<br />
half of the base's 8,000 acres, and<br />
the depot's highest point, by the fire<br />
station, is just 13 feet (4 meters)<br />
above sea level. It is linked to the<br />
mainland by a single road that's<br />
already susceptible to flooding.<br />
Low-lying areas on the island and<br />
the nearby Marine Corps air station<br />
already flood about ten times a<br />
year, and by 2050, "the currently<br />
flood-prone areas within both bases<br />
could experience tidal flooding<br />
more than 300 times annually and<br />
be underwater nearly 30 percent of<br />
the year given the highest scenario,"<br />
according to the Union of Concerned<br />
Scientists.<br />
Military reports have for decades<br />
acknowledged threats from climate<br />
change to national security, as<br />
wildfires, hurricanes and floods have<br />
prompted evacuations and damaged<br />
bases. A Pentagon document<br />
published last fall, after President<br />
Joe Biden ordered federal agencies<br />
to revamp their climate resilience<br />
plans, says the Department of<br />
Defense now has "a comprehensive<br />
approach to building climate-ready<br />
installations" and cites an adaptation<br />
and resilience study undertaken by<br />
Parris Island.<br />
But day-to-day disruptions are<br />
growing, from nuisance flooding<br />
on roads to rising temperatures<br />
and higher humidity that when<br />
combined, limit the human body's<br />
ability to cool down with sweat.<br />
Those wetter, hotter days could limit<br />
outdoor training. Already, more<br />
than 500 people on Parris Island<br />
suffered from heat stroke and heat<br />
exhaustion between 2016 and 2020,<br />
putting the base among the top ten<br />
U.S. military installations for heat<br />
illnesses, according to the Armed<br />
Forces Health Surveillance Branch.<br />
All the training that happens at<br />
Parris Island could be technically<br />
replicated on cooler, drier land<br />
somewhere else, said retired Brig.<br />
Gen. Stephen Cheney, who served<br />
as commanding general at the base<br />
from 1999 to 2001.<br />
But Cheney doesn't foresee any<br />
appetite in Congress for closing the<br />
base and relocating its mission to<br />
less risky ground, which means the<br />
government needs to start investing<br />
in structural solutions to protect<br />
its crucial components such as the<br />
firing ranges near the water, he said<br />
in an interview with The Associated<br />
Press.<br />
In 2018, Hurricane Florence<br />
pummeled North Carolina's Camp<br />
Lejeune, washing away the beach<br />
used by Marines for training,<br />
destroying buildings and displacing<br />
personnel. A month later, Hurricane<br />
Michael tore through Tyndall Air<br />
Force Base in Florida, devastating<br />
airplane hangars and causing $3<br />
billion in damage.<br />
Those disasters should serve as<br />
cautionary tales for Parris Island,<br />
argues Cheney. But there is no<br />
grand overhaul currently planned<br />
<strong>—</strong> no concrete bulkheads or other<br />
seawalls that could dramatically<br />
revise the post's visual character, no<br />
master plan to raise buildings all at<br />
once.<br />
Hurricane planning is focused on<br />
protecting life and preserving the<br />
equipment and buildings necessary<br />
to limit training disruptions, said<br />
Col. William Truax, the depot's<br />
director of installations and logistics.<br />
"We're not taking on any major<br />
projects because we've not<br />
experienced a major threat to what<br />
we have to do here," Truax said. "To<br />
be honest, these old brick buildings<br />
aren't going anywhere."<br />
Parris Island also depends on the<br />
resilience of communities just off<br />
the base. Stephanie Rossi, a planner<br />
with the Lowcountry Council of<br />
Governments, said the group's<br />
Defense Department-funded study<br />
of climate change impacts suggests<br />
shoring up the only road on and off<br />
the island, elevating buildings and<br />
bolstering the storm water system of<br />
an area where military families live.<br />
The base also works with<br />
environmental groups to support<br />
living shoreline projects, building<br />
up coastal oyster reefs to strengthen<br />
natural buffers to floods and<br />
hurricanes.<br />
"The waters will recede," said Blair,<br />
the environmental director. "The<br />
more resilient we make this place,<br />
the quicker we can get back to<br />
making Marines."