David Levinsky and Alex N. Gecan

Burlington County Times and Asbury Park Press

America is under attack by an invisible enemy. And not even New Jersey’s secure military bases are immune.

But unlike the rest of New Jersey, the extent of the coronavirus spread through the military installations is under wraps, even from state and county health officials leading the mitigation efforts.

Like the rest of the world, the global coronavirus pandemic has forced changes in military operations and life. Nonessential travel outside the installations has been discouraged, and service members and civilian workers on the bases are being told to socially distance and work remotely when possible. Many installation services have been shut down and the troops are being told to remain at home when not working.

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Most military transfers, training and temporary duty, as well as some deployments, have been put on hold. And sick service members are facing strict orders to remain home and isolate.

Last month, Defense Secretary Mark Esper ordered all U.S. military installations around the world to withhold coronavirus case numbers. His order cited “operational security concerns.”

Prior to the March 30 order, many military installations were releasing the numbers of confirmed cases within their gates on their websites and social media pages.

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Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, which is New Jersey’s largest military installation with over 40,000 service members and civilian employees, reported having 18 cases on March 26. Since then base officials have confirmed the number of infections on the base have continued to rise but they declined to release a new count, citing the Defense secretary’s directive.

The secrecy extends even to state health officials, who confirmed that the state’s daily COVID-19 reports do not include cases from the state’s military installations, save for those service members or civilian employees who live off the bases in surrounding communities and were tested at an off-base testing site or health care provider.

As of Thursday, nearly 100,000 residents in the state had tested positive for the virus. More than 5,000 have died, according to the Department of Health.

While the number of infections on New Jersey's bases is not reported, some health officials say they are not completely in the dark about the virus’ spread. Burlington County health officials have said they communicate with joint base commanders almost daily about conditions on the large installation.

"I'd say the numbers have increased just as those within our surrounding areas have increased," said Angelique N. Smythe, a spokeswoman for Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, which stretches across sections of Burlington and Ocean counties. "A lot of our service members do not live on base, so the numbers are reported to the counties of the locations where these individuals reside.

Some COVID-19 patients who work at — but do not live on — the Joint Base may be counted by county agencies.

Civilians or service members who live off the base and list their home addresses within Ocean County would be included in the county's tally, according to Brian Lippai, a spokesman for the Ocean County Health Department.

It was not immediately clear if the same was true for Naval Weapons Station Earle. Health officials for Colts Neck did not immediately respond to messages requesting information. According to a county spokeswoman, Colts Neck's health department has "jurisdiction" over NWS Earle.

Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County is home to more than 6,000 combined service members and civilian employees engaged in research, development and management of advanced weapons and ammunition or in support of that work. A spokesman for the base said most of the employees are now teleworking due to the outbreak, but that essential base operations continue on the installation.

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The base confirmed there have been an undisclosed number of cases of COVID-19 among Picatinny employees. However, because most employees are civilians teleworking from homes outside the installation, they are likely included in the state and county counts since their positive results are reported to county and local health officers.

Morris County had a total of 4,680 positive cases of coronavirus infection as of Thursday.

One certainty is that while the missions performed at New Jersey military installations are continuing, the pandemic has forced changes to many operations and services, as well as access to the installations.

At the joint base, in order to try to combat the spread of the virus through the installation, the base has closed or adjusted scores of services typically offered, including its movie theater, bowling alley, golf courses, fitness centers and swimming pool.

Like most supermarkets, the base commissary is now offering online shopping and curbside pickup of groceries. The base pharmacy is also now providing curbside pickup of prescriptions.

Earlier this month, the base’s commander, Col. Bridget Gigliotti, announced tightened restricted access to the installation to just those who live and work there, plus essential contractors. Previously, the base allowed many veterans and civilians access to the installation to shop at the base commissary and exchange or to attend other functions on the base. Those restrictions were extended for another month beginning April 16, according to an announcement on the base's website.

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Retirees are now allowed on the base to pick up prescriptions during special hours on Saturdays only.

"The health and safety of our service members, civilian personnel, families, and our community is my top priority," Gigliotti said in a statement. "We cannot let our guard down in the middle of this pandemic. Physical distancing and wear of face coverings must continue in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 to our base populace and our nation at large. Our efforts are having a positive impact on limiting the spread of COVID-19, but the threat has not been eliminated.

While there are restrictions on who is allowed in, "No one is restricted from leaving the base," according to Smythe. "We do have people at Camp JBMDL, temporary lodging facilities for personnel unable to self-quarantine at their residence, single military members who would normally reside in on-base dorms with shared bathrooms, those attending pre-deployment training and others as determined by the base public health team."

Service members and civilians at Earle, which has facilities in Colts Neck and Middletown, are working remotely "wherever possible while remaining fully mission capable," according to William J. Addison, a spokesman for the station. Both service members and civilian workers "and their families continue to access their normal means of medical treatment, whether it be through our Naval Branch Health Clinic on installation, or through their civilian medical providers out in town."

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Earle has closed its south gate and suspended all recreation, as well as hunting and fishing. Its barber shop is closed, the Navy Federal Credit Union only has an ATM open and the visitor control center is closed. The Navy Exchange is open, but most other services — including child and youth services and the health clinic — have limited hours or are open by appointment only.

Not all the state’s military installations have been infiltrated by the virus. As of April 16, the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May reported it has had no positive COVID-19 tests of staff or recruits and that it had graduated three recruit companies this month and due to begin training a new company of 48 recruits this week.

The new recruit company is about half the size of the typical group of between 100 to 120 and will be placed on restricted movement for 14 days before entering the so-called “regular” boot camp training regime. The Coast Guard has also undertaken random screenings and instructed members to limit their travel outside the base. Family and guests were also prohibited from attending the recent graduation ceremonies in favor of livestreaming online, and the traditional five-day leave awarded to graduates was canceled.

In addition to on-base operations challenges, many service members and their families have been impacted by the Department of Defense’s restrictions on non-mission-related travel and on most military transfers, which have been put on hold through June.

The transfers, known as permanent change-of-station moves or temporary duty moves, are one of the bigger hardships since some military families had already arranged for housing at their new bases and are in jeopardy of paying double for housing at both locations or from losing significant funds for rental deposits.

In some cases, military spouses may have also arranged for a new job they might be able to start on time, costing a family income.

Service members impacted by the stop movement orders can apply for additional hardship pay and other assistance, officials said.

A spokesman at Picatinny Arsenal said there have been some service members impacted by the stop movement directive, but that none have reported any financial hardship.

David Levinsky: dlevinsky@thebct.com; @davidlevinsky

Alex N. Gecan: 732-547-1365; agecan@gannettnj.com; @GeeksterTweets