On July 23, Col. Jennifer Reeves, 341st Missile Wing commander, signed an order prohibiting military members from entering bars, nightclubs, casinos, restaurants, and other places where food and drinks are consumed.

Reeves said that they may enter briefly to pick up food or may choose delivery.

Military and civilians must limit on and off installation activities to mission essential and essential services only, Reeves said.
Cascade County now has 81 total cases; Malmstrom returns to HPCON Charlie

“No more stops just for convenience,” Reeves said.

She said officials took that action since that’s where the people related to base who are testing positive are getting it from.

“This is one of our sources, we need to tighten it up,” Reeves said.

At Grizzly Bend on base still has coffee and outdoor seating available. They are looking at takeout options, Reeves said, and if distancing can’t be maintained, she’ll shut it down.

The base pool is closed for the season.

Last week, The Electric asked about the number of positive cases on base, which are reported to Cascade County City-County Health Department, and a base spokeswoman said they can’t confirm the number of positives on base.

“In order to protect operational security as we preserve the nation’s combat readiness, the Air Force and the other military services will only provide total numbers of members with COVID-19 at the service level,” 2nd Lt. Denise Guiao-Corpuz told The Electric. ”

Malmstrom AFB has extensively planned and implemented measures to ensure that our force and individual units remain ready to carry out their respective missions. Those measures include isolating critical personnel, dividing units into separate cohorts, and aggressively following CDC recommendations. We have a comparatively young and fit force and have complete confidence in our ability to carry out all of our key national responsibilities.”

Malmstrom officials said during a July 23 townhall that the health risk level on base is currently higher than Cascade County.