Here's a look at how the Defense Department is being impacted by and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Senior Department of the Air Force leaders have repeatedly tested negative for the coronavirus within the past several days, as news emerged early Oct. 2 that President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump contracted COVID-19. Top military officials, including Secretary of the Air ...
The U.S. Air Force Weapons School kicked off its latest course on July 7 by testing its newest cohort of students—Class 20B—for COVID-19 antibodies, its commandant, Col. Jack Arthaud, told Air Force Magazine in a July 10 interview. “We're testing for antibodies across the entire ...
The District of Columbia Air National Guard’s support of the law-enforcement response to civil unrest in the nation’s capital following the May 25 death of George Floyd in police custody concluded at midnight on June 22, DC National Guard spokesperson Senior Master Sgt. Craig Clapper ...
The Regional Dental Laboratory at Kadena Air Base, Japan, usually uses its 3D printer to make dental prostheses. But when the new coronavirus pandemic caused Defense Department medical facilities to stop non-emergency procedures, the Airmen of the 18th Dental Squadron decided to start printing nasopharyngeal ...
Military commanders may begin lowering health protection conditions and returning to more regular operations if their location meets certain criteria, like a two-week downturn in the number of coronavirus cases, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in May 20 guidance to the armed forces. Most U.S. ...
Concerns about COVID-19 infection have reached the highest levels of the military, with one member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff going into self-quarantine and another testing positive on May 9 and then testing negative twice. Gen. Joseph Lengyel, chief of the National Guard Bureau, ...
Current predictions show a COVID-19 vaccine is still 18 months away, so the Air Force must find ways to survive and operate in a world where the virus keeps coming back, Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein wrote in an April 28 letter to commanders. ...
The military has finished testing its top-tier forces and is planning to test a selection of asymptomatic personnel across the force to understand how the virus has spread through the ranks. The Pentagon announced a four-tier testing plan, starting with key strategic and homeland defense ...
The Pentagon is adjusting its COVID-19 testing policy, with a new emphasis on screening service members in its highest priority missions in addition to diagnosing troops who are already sick. As the new coronavirus outbreak spread, the Defense Department used its limited testing resources to ...
The Air Force on April 17 signed a $13 million research and development blanket purchase agreement with healthcare startup Curative Inc., to employ and scale a Food and Drug Administration-authorized, saliva-based COVID-19 test that can yield results in about one day, USAF announced April 20. ...
The Guard has begun to see COVID-19 cases among civilians, contractors, and dependents, National Guard Bureau Chief Air Force Gen. Joseph Lengyel confirmed on April 8. In addition to 349 cases recorded among Guard personnel as of the afternoon briefing, Lengyel said at least four ...