JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
The last of the 68 military COVID-19 medical response teams that deployed beginning August 2021, completed their mission March 29 at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The 68 teams, comprised of approximately 1,275 military personnel, supported 62 hospitals in 59 cities across 30 states and the Navajo Nation.
“Through two of our task forces – Joint Task Force Civil Support and the U.S. Army North Contingency Command Post (Task Force 51) – and our Defense Coordinating Officers and Defense Coordinating Elements, we have provided military medical support to FEMA across 30 states and the Navajo Nation since last summer,” said Lt. Gen. John R. Evans Jr., U.S. Army North commander. “While we adjust our support to the lead federal agency and the whole-of-government response to the pandemic, we remain poised to respond to this or any manmade or natural disaster as we continue to defend the homeland.”
At the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Defense through U.S. Northern Command and its Joint Force Land Component Command, U.S. Army North, deployed 68 teams from the Army, Air Force, and Navy, between August 2021 and March 2022.
Since March 2020, approximately 5,800 military medical providers from the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Navy have worked alongside civilian healthcare providers in non-DoD hospitals across the country.
Their support is in addition to the approximately 5,000 service members from the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Navy who administered vaccinations at state-run, federally supported vaccination centers in the fight against COVID-19.