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Defense Secretary Mark Esper is traveling beyond Washington for the first time in nearly two months as he looks to highlight and defend a Pentagon approach to fighting the coronavirus pandemic that some Senate Democrats have criticized as slow and disjointed. Esper was flying Thursday to the headquarters of U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to meet with Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy, who is spearheading the military’s support for civilian agencies combating the virus. It is Esper’s first trip beyond Washington since he visited Norfolk, Virginia, in late March to join President Donald Trump in sending off a Navy hospital ship. (Burns, 5/7)

The Pentagon may no longer accept new recruits who have recovered from COVID-19, according to multiple reports. A memo released by the United States Military Entrance Processing Command that is circulating on Twitter states that a history of COVID-19 confirmed by a laboratory test or clinical diagnosis is “permanently disqualifying.” A Pentagon spokeswoman confirmed to Military Times, which first reported on the new policy, that the memo is authentic. (Klar, 5/6)

In late February, Brig. Gen. Pete Fesler prepared about 130 troops under his command to mobilize for a new mission, one that would take them away from their families and involve extensive precautions to keep service members safe. Tapping his experience from deployments in Asia and the Middle East, the former fighter pilot made plans for adapting the unit’s sensitive mission to new hazards over an unknown period of time, as authorities scrambled to anticipate the moves of an unpredictable adversary. (Ryan, 5/5)