Thursday, March 19, 2020

Nat’l Guard prepares to deploy ‘tens of thousands’ of troops to states

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 12:15 PM PT — Thursday, March 19, 2020
The National Guard is mobilizing to fight the spread of COVID-19 in the United States. On Thursday, the head of the National Guard announced that “tens of thousands of troops” could be activated in various states in the coming weeks.
 Governors in 27 states have activated over 2,000 troops so far in the wake of the worsening outbreak.

General Joseph Lengyel has said this new deployment will be similar to a hurricane response, but with one key difference.
“With COVID-19, it’s like we have 54 separate hurricanes in every state, territory and the District of Columbia. Unlike a hurricane, we don’t know when this thing is going to dissipate or move out to sea. But an historic event demands an historic response, and that’s what the National Guard is prepared to do as America’s principal domestic military response force.”
– General Joseph Lengyel, Chief of the National Guard Bureau
The guard is currently providing medical testing and ground transportation to the areas most affected by the outbreak. The general also confirmed six guardsmen are being monitored after testing positive for coronavirus.
https://www.oann.com/natl-guard-prepares-to-deploy-tens-of-thousands-of-troops-to-states/