Pentagon looks to train, deploy combat units with 'social distancing protocols in place'

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/05/14/coronavirus-military-restart-training-deploying-combat-units/ [login to see] /
The Pentagon could soon begin emerging from its COVID-19 lockdown as senior officials explore how to train and deploy units for combat while the virus continues to infect and kill.

The risk of returning to normal operations, underscored by the coronavirus' rampage through the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, is being balanced against losing the skills troops need to operate lethal weaponry safely and to win in combat.

"We were in tremendous posture right as COVID hit with our readiness – over half our brigade combat teams in the highest level of readiness," Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told USA TODAY.

"If we don't turn it back on by this summer, we're going to start to see atrophy with our readiness posture. So we think we've got the right capacity to test. We think we have the social distancing protocols in place where we can do this."