With COVID mission over, Pentagon plans for next pandemic

By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. military medical teams deployed during the coronavirus pandemic brought back lessons as the Defense Department looks to see what worked and what didn’t. The teams were used to relieve exhausted civilian medical workers and provide care to what seemed to be an endless crush of COVID-19 patients. Overall, about 24,000 U.S. troops were deployed for the pandemic, including nearly 6,000 medical personnel to hospitals and 5,000 to help administer vaccines. That mission is over, at least for now. And military leaders are taking stock so they will be better prepared for the next crisis affecting a large population.