July 13, 2009
John Lentz and Maria St.louis-Sanchez
The Gazette
Amid a growing flu outbreak at the Air Force Academy, doolies marched three miles to Jacks Valley on Monday for the most physically demanding part of basic training, leaving behind 121 classmates being kept in isolation.
Photo: Basic cadet trainees hold disposable thermometers in their mouths following their three-mile march to Jacks Valley at the United States Air Force Academy Monday, July 13, 2009. Every basic was screened at Jack's Valley. (Mark Reis, The Gazette)
Sixty-seven freshmen have tested positive for swine flu, officials said on Monday, up from 15 late last week. Nearly one in 10 of the freshman class of 1,342 are in isolation with flu-like symptoms.
It’s the largest single outbreak in Colorado, which had 146 confirmed cases of last week, according to the state Department of Public Health and Environment.
The 121 freshmen are receiving medical care at the clinic and do not have contact with classmates or most other cadets, a spokesman said. None have required hospitalization.
The freshmen healthy enough to make the hike to the camp site at Jacks Valley underwent medical screening soon after they arrived, a new precaution this year.
“We’re being extra careful,” said Dr. Timothy Kaczmar, a lieutenant colonel and medical commander at the .
Kaczmar said officials will watch for and respond to any flu outbreak at Jacks Valley, the 3,300-acre area north of the campus where the freshmen will live in tents and go through assault and obstacle courses, first aid training and weapons drills for 12 days.
The rigorous training exercises make it especially important to monitor their health, Kaczmar said.
Students who have flu-like symptoms are being isolated and monitored for seven days, said Brig. Gen. Samuel D. Cox, Commandant of Students, so the illness can run its course. Afterward, they can continue basic training if they are healthy, and they’ll be run through an accelerated schedule to keep up with the other trainees.
“Push-ups, obstacle courses and those things can wait until you are fully healthy,” said John Van Winkle, an academy spokesman. “We will adjust the physical activity levels as needed. We will still get them back into training and get everyone through the basic training.”
Basic training began on June 25 with a focus on academics. The field training, which ends July 25, will emphasize teamwork and overcoming obstacles, Cox said.
At 6:48 a.m. on Monday, the freshmen strode out in their squadrons past the Chapel to the sound of rolling drums. Wearing light blue ball caps, military fatigues and carrying fake M-16 rifles, they marched in formation, their faces impassive.
Older cadets who had been through the annual field training before said the march was only the beginning.
“You’re getting down in the dirt,” said third-year cadet Bobby Montalvo. “You’re working together as a team. You come out a little closer as a class, especially with the people in your squadron.”
As for the quarantined freshmen, Van Winkle said that the academy isn’t spending time worrying about how they were infected.
“We’re not concerned with tracking down to patient zero,” he said. “What will that help us with?”
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/cases-58410-flu-number.html