SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. (KGUN) — Charlie Ruge laughed as he reminisced about his days in the military with fellow veterans at VFW post 9972 in Sierra Vista.
Ruge served in the Army as a master sergeant at Fort Huachuca for about 6 years and overall in the Army for 24 years.
“I joined to see the world and they provided that,” Ruge said.
He’s 71 years old and has seen times of turmoil pass by, enlisting during the Vietnam War.
While he wasn’t in the military during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said he’s had COVID.
“I’ve had the shot and the booster. It doesn’t scare me,” Ruge said.
While he experienced COVID, he said he doesn’t prefer to wear a mask and said he hasn’t worn one in about a year.
“It doesn’t bother me to wear a mask, but do I want to? No,” he said.
Fort Huachuca decided to implement a mask mandate on Wednesday for all personnel in their buildings.
They tell KGUN9 masks will not be required at a person’s workplace unless someone enters the room and they cannot social distance at least 6 feet. If they can social distance, masks are not required.
Ruge said it should be up to the military to decide whether to implement rules about wearing a mask.
“If you’re going into one of the places on post, that’s up to them,” Ruge said.
Fort Huachuca officials said people will not be required to wear a mask if they are actively exercising at the fitness center.
Staff and students attending schools at Fort Huachuca are also not required to wear masks.
The Pima County Health Department’s chief epidemiologist Mary Derby said COVID cases tend to spike during the winter because people are inside more often.
She said the omicron variants are the more popular variants going around.
Derby said while the Paxlovid pill is available to treat symptoms, people should get the bivalent booster.
“The CDC recommends that you wear a mask and wear the mask that provides you with the very best protection,” Derby said.
However, some veterans who served at Fort Huachuca like Patrick Robertson said masks should not be required at their facilities.
“It’s a virus. The only way to beat a virus is to get infected by it and build up your antibodies,” Robertson said.
However, he said if people want to wear a mask, he would fine with that.
“I still think it’s foolish, but if you want to do it, that’s fine,” Robertson said.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
