WASHINGTON _ The Army will temporarily hold off on sending new recruits to basic training in order to strengthen protective measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus on those bases, the head of Army Training and Doctrine Command said Monday.
The pause will be in effect for at least two weeks and affects new recruits who would be going to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga., Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C., and Fort Sill in Lawton, Okla.
"This COVID-19 virus is a new condition in our training environment," Gen. Paul Funk III, Commanding General of Army Training and Doctrine Command, told reporters at the Pentagon. The pause will allow the Army to refine how it accepts and transports recruits during the pandemic, Funk said.
