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Video by James Bowman

624th Regional Support Group August Pre-UTA message

624th Regional Support Group

Aug. 12, 2021 | 5:28

Pacific Warriors,

Welcome back to August UTA, and I hope you all had a safe and relaxing July off! As you all know, COVID-19 is now surging on both of our islands, and accordingly, we will be going back to a hybrid drill. Luckily, it is our admin fenced UTA, and there are a lot of training and administrative items we can do virtually, but we will be running full medical clinics for all units. We have made the decision to delay Fit To Fight fitness testing one more month, to ensure the safety of you and your families.

Our fight against COVID is clear...our enemy has changed with the Delta variant, but our weapons stay the same...and our #1 weapon is the vaccine. Thank you to those who have already gotten vaccinated, we're above the Air Force average at 70% fully immunized in Guam, and 74% in Hawaii. As you've all heard, the SecDef will be directing vaccines no later than mid-September, so for those of you not vaccinated, plan on receiving the first vaccine during September UTA. We will ensure you are on status for both vaccines, at least an RMP, in case of any side effects. But why wait...now is when we are all *most at risk* with the community transmission rates of Delta variant, so please consider getting your vaccine this drill weekend. Please remember that masks are now mandatory again indoors, no matter your vaccination status. Finally, if you are feeling ill at all, please stay home and contact your chain of command.

Meanwhile, we have a lot to catch up on this weekend; we have Commander's calls, DEOCs debriefs, OPSEC and other training, and most of us will have to re-initial security clearances. We also have a lot of medical appointments, so please ensure you are on time to those. I am so proud of everything we accomplished during the June UTA...you all made incredible progress in our local readiness exercises, and really impressed all of our visitors from 4th Air Force and AFRC.

A last note about funding; the command was underfunded in Annual Tour funds for the first time I've ever seen. I'm truly appreciative to everyone who chose to waive their ATs...we ensured everyone has a good year, but if you still want to serve your Annual Tour, please work closely with your chain of command, as we are committed to fund every tour we are able. We are trying to lean forward now in our planning for next fiscal year so that we can ensure the best use of your time and our dollars to get us ready for the next deployment cycle.

I am so proud of all of you...your hard work, your flexibility and resilience, and your commitment to your Reserve family continues to inspire me!

Make it Count,

Col Sia Shinas