Take As Directed

In Episode 120, the first episode of our Department of Defense mini-series, Joint Staff Surgeon Major General Paul Friedrichs, discusses how the Department of Defense has overcome challenges from the pandemic, incorporating lessons applicable to any large organization struggling to function in today’s environment. Early in the disease the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt was sidelined, recruit training and military exercises were interrupted as they searched for answers on how to safely operate. Currently, vaccination rates among active-duty military members are among the highest in the nation and operations continue relatively unimpeded. Domestically, tens of thousands of National Guard and active-duty troops have responded wherever needed to support communities throughout the United States in roles from intensive care delivery to administrative support. Worldwide DoD biosurveillance and research programs designed to protect U.S. forces against disease while deployed overseas play a major role in viru