JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
At the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, approximately 20 military medical personnel deployed to Tennessee to support civilian healthcare workers treating COVID-19 patients in local hospitals.
This team joins nine other teams currently working in nine hospitals – three in Louisiana, two in Mississippi, two in Alabama, one in Arkansas, and one in Idaho. U.S. Army North, under U.S Northern Command’s oversight, will provide operational command of the active-duty military COVID-19 response in support of federal efforts and the states.
“Defending the nation remains my number one priority,” said Lt. Gen. John R. Evans Jr., ARNORTH commander. “This includes defeating COVID-19, which the Secretary of Defense describes as the greatest proximate challenge to our nation’s security.”
The military medical personnel include nurses, respiratory therapists and medical doctors.
The team, which is from the U.S. Army, will support The University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.
ARNORTH is the joint force land component command of USNORTHCOM.