For Official Use Only – Not for Public Release
Dear Fellow Officers,
First and foremost, I want to thank everyone for your work supporting the ongoing COVID-19 response. Every one of you has been essential for ensuring public health and safety during this pandemic. Many of you have deployed multiple times, while others have remained at your agencies providing critical expertise and care to your service populations. I commend you and thank you and your families for your service.
To date, we have deployed over 4,300 officers across the globe in response to the global pandemic; and the fight against COVID-19 is not yet over. I do believe we are “at the end of the beginning,” but there is an incredible amount of work and sacrifice that remain to be done.
While many of you remain deployed or working on COVID-related activities at your respective agencies, states are slowly beginning to reopen and relax restrictions. In addition, we anticipate that the central organization for the response will soon transition from FEMA back to HHS. For these reasons, we are relaxing the mandatory daily wear of the Operational Dress Uniform (ODU) effective Monday 15 JUN 2020. Cloth facemasks are still required to be worn while in uniform in public settings. This includes any situation outside officers’ own residences, where there is a risk of being unable to maintain six feet of social distance from other people.
As of Monday, 15 JUN 2020, prescribed spring and summer uniform of the day is authorized for wear. For those officers detailed to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), please follow the USCG uniform guidance.
For more information on uniform policy and the uniform of the day, reference the Personnel Operations Memorandum (POM) 17-002 “Uniform of the Day” and Commissioned Corps Instruction (CCI) 411.01 “Required Wear of the Uniform.”
If you have questions about uniform wear, please contact your Commissioned Corps Agency Liaison or the Commissioned Corps Headquarters Uniform Coordinator at PHSCCUniform@hhs.gov.
Sincerely,
Brett P. Giroir, M.D.
ADM, U.S. Public Health Service
Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH) (HHS)
U.S. Representative, Executive Board, WHO (DOS)
For Official Use Only – Not for Public Release