Stop movement orders for PCS and leave this summer were not updated Wednesday as of press time.
Speaking Tuesday during his weekly town hall address, Lt. Gen. Randy George said Forces Command had not given a final greenlight to release the current stop movement order despite saying last week he thought that guidance would have been available by June 12. Soldiers are currently restricted to 250 miles from base, and airmen restricted to the state, unless given an exception to policy.
George said he hopes to hear soon on release time frames. The DoD announced last week that Washington State has been given the greenlight for travel and movement, and George said Forscom considers JBLM in green status, too, but he has indicated that that is not firmed up for a formal announcement.
George said he would ask for guidance again on Wednesday, however by early afternoon, there was no firmed up announcement.
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George also said there has been a slight uptick in Covid cases at JBLM this past week.
"So I am going to pump the brakes," he said. Some indoor facilities expected to open this week like inside the Warrior Zone will not open until further notice. Currently the Warrior Zone's outdoor patio is open.
There will be additional openings, however they are mostly for outdoor facilities. Opening this Saturday will be the splash pads and outdoor pool, as well as cabins on North Fort. Boat rentals will resume at Russell Landing beginning June 22. Rainbows and Raindrops, and the Eascape Zone will also open next week with 50 percent occupancy.
With some facilities not opening as announced, the best place to check the status of all buildings and programs is at army.mil/lewis-mcchord and follow the Covid-19 links.
Child care on base is coming back slowly.
Currently, JBLM is welcoming back One Charlie families who were in care previous to April. Child care is roughly at 50 percent capacity, roughly 800 of the 1600 families who used childcare facilities on base prior to the virus outbreak have returned.
We still have a few more slots,” Skye Duncan, garrison commander said as those who were mission essential and in care for the first time have been returning to other options off the base. Duncan said calls are going out to fill those limited slots over the next few weeks.
Those newly arriving, Duncan said, could have to wait for care until late Summer or early Fall.
In other news Tuesday, released on JBLM's Facebook page:
Starting June 22, the following will be open:
• Outdoor religious services limited to 100 people. https://home.army.mil/…/my-Joint-Bas…/all-services/chaplains
• The Middle School Teen Program at Hillside Youth Center. Hours of operation will be from 1 to 6 p.m. weekdays. Capacity will be limited to 40 people on a first-come, first-served basis. Youth are required to be registered. Registration is available at Hillside Youth Center, Parent Central, or the JBLM MWR website under CYS. https://jblm.armymwr.com/categories/cys and https://jblm.armymwr.com/programs/mst
• The McChord Auto Skills Center is now open to anyone with access to JBLM. https://jblm.armymwr.com/programs/mcchord-auto-center
• Texas Roadhouse: Construction is expected to be completed Aug. 28 and will follow with its grand opening 30 days later.
• Keeler Pool is open for mission training only at this time. We are awaiting further guidance to determine recreation swimming opportunities there. Kimbro pool inside McVeigh Gym is still undergoing repairs. https://jblm.armymwr.com/programs/aquatics
• Cascade Brewhouse (formerly Sam Adams Brewhouse) will not reopen at this time as MWR is seeking a vendor/contractor to take over.