ORLANDO, Fla. — Army Lt. Col. Troy Fisher says he has spent most of his 20-year military career in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now, he finds himself leading troops at a federally supported COVID-19 vaccination site at Orlando’s Valencia College West campus.

“I have not done anything like this,” Fisher said Tuesday. “I am just as excited to do this as anything else I’ve done, because this is taking care of the U.S. population, and so we all should be proud about that.”

Fisher made his comments as about 130 members of the Army’s 101^st Airborne Division, plus state and federal workers, prepared for Wednesday, when the Valencia College West site opens vaccinations to qualified residents. No appointments are necessary, he said.

Valencia College is among four federally supported sites in Florida that aim to remain open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week.

Fisher — commander of 626th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team — said the site aims to administer 2,000 to 3,000 shots a day and that “we’re currently focusing on” the Pfizer vaccine.

If the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine “ends up coming our way,” he said, “we’ll have to do a little bit of training.”

The Valencia College site will serve as hub to two so-called federal satellite sites — at Orlando’s Engelwood Recreation Center and the St. Cloud Civic Center, both through Saturday.

The satellite sites will stay open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and each can administer up to 500 shots a day, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management. No appointments will be taken for those sites.

On March 7-10, the satellite sites will move to Kelly Park in Apopka and Highlands County Sports Complex in Sebring.

The Florida Department of Emergency Management says the federally supported sites are part of “a national effort to increase COVID-19 vaccine access to underserved populations.”

Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolon noted that he grew up in the Engelwood Park neighborhood, which holds a high Latino population, and said he saw this as an opportunity to serve an underserved community.

Fisher said the sites will administer shots to anyone Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis authorizes to receive them. DeSantis on Monday expanded Florida’s vaccination program, which had focused on front-line health care workers and residents age 65 and over, to include law enforcement officers, firefighters, and K-12 teachers age 50 and over.

Those deemed by a physician to have an "extreme vulnerability" to COVID-19 can also get vaccinated at the federal sites. The Florida Department of Health on Monday issued a special form that a patient's doctor must fill out to vouch for their condition.

Almost 100 people under Fisher’s command have been trained to administer to the vaccine, he said.

“And what you’re seeing right now is the beginning of that effort,” Fisher said.

He referred to about 500 law enforcement officers who received vaccinations at the site Tuesday.

“A select population will show us whether we’ve got the setup correctly done,” he said, “and tomorrow we’ll go into full-scale vaccinations.”

The process will work like this, Fisher said:

After arriving in the Valencia College West parking lot, vaccine recipients will enter the first of a series of tents where they’ll get their temperature taken and asked if they’ve pre-registered for a vaccination.

Then they’ll get checked for identification and vaccination qualification. 

After that, “they’ll go to the vaccination tent, where you’ll see a large number of soldiers here to deliver the vaccine,” Fisher said.

Then they’ll go into an observation tent, where they’ll wait 15 to 30 minutes to make sure they experience no severe reaction.

From first tent to last tent, the entire process could take 45 minutes, Fisher said.

Rolon was among about 140 from the Orlando Police Department to get vaccinated Tuesday.

“It was a very smooth process ... air-conditioned tents as you’re waiting to get your turn, to get registered,” he said.

Rolon noted that the U.S. in 2020 lost more cops to COVID-19 than to deaths in the line of duty.

He said more than 100 of the department’s almost 900 officers have tested positive for the virus but that none have died.

About half of his officers have expressed interest in getting the vaccine, he said.

“As we continue to see the positive things, the outcomes of those vaccinations, I think more people will be inclined to participate in the process,” Rolon said, who also received the vaccine. “I took part to show that, hey, this is something that I buy into. This is something that we all should consider. And I highly recommend it.”

As for the U.S. Army workers in Orlando, Fisher said, “one thing I wanted to share with you about my soldiers: They’re super excited to be here.”

Reporter Rebecca Turco contributed to this story.