DoD loosens travel restrictions

The Defense Department is rescinding some of its travel restrictions on troop movements to 44 locations although several - Arizona, Tennessee, Utah, and South Carolina - appear to fall short of DoD’s requirements. The directive allows some military personnel to head to new jobs and temporary assignments as well as travel outside of work. A stop-movement order was in place from mid-March through May 26 to limit troops’ exposure to the coronavirus. On June 8, DoD named 38 states, District of Columbia, and five countries where it says conditions have improved enough to let personnel move more freely: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, D.C., Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming; plus Bahrain, Belgium, Germany, Japan, and United Kingdom. To make the list, DoD says a jurisdiction must have ended its stay-at-home order or other travel restrictions; show a downward trend of reported flu and COVID-19 symptoms over the past two weeks; and show a two-week downward trend of new COVID-19 cases or positive tests. But many of the places listed (see above) have reported an uptick in new cases or remained about the same over the past two weeks, according to New York Times data. Mil.Movement Note: Florida, California and Virginia - locations for large numbers of military personnel - are not on the list. (Source: AF Magazine 06/08/20) https://www.airforcemag.com/dod-rescinds-travel-restrictions-in-44-places-in-u-s-overseas/