US military ‘posturing itself’ to respond to flu outbreak

US Air Force
4/27/2009

Defense Department officials are monitoring the swine flu situation closely, with their primary focus on protecting the military population, a senior Pentagon official said April 27.

As officials with the Department of Health and Human Services lead the U.S. effort, the military is posturing itself to respond if required, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

“We certainly have a number of contingency plans for dealing with health incidences like this, because our primary goal is preservation of the fighting force,” he said. “So we obviously have plans and take measures to ensure that we can preserve the fighting strength of the military in the event that there should be a greater crisis with respect to a health situation like this.”

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