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In a series of austere, tightly controlled lab rooms in a military building here, doctors are dissecting strains of the novel coronavirus and are readying to conduct detailed and complex animal testing on potential vaccines. This is the U.S. Army’s front line in what President Trump has declared a “medical war” to stop the spread of the virus and prevent new cycles of outbreak. Here, soldiers wear full-body white suits that cover their camouflage uniforms and combat boots to protect them from the coronavirus strains that they are purposely interacting with. (Youssef, 3/22)

Some of the U.S. Army's top scientists are on the front lines in the battle against the novel coronavirus pandemic. While the rest of the world is following health official guidelines and practicing social distancing to prevent them from catching the virus, research scientists at the U.S. Army Medical Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Fort Detrick, Maryland, are literally hands-on with coronavirus -- on a daily basis. (Martinez and Scott, 3/20)

A Defense Department contractor has died after contracting coronavirus, marking the first military-related death from the illness. The Arlington, Va.-based contractor, who worked at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), died on Saturday, the Pentagon said in a statement on Sunday. The individual had tested positive for COVID-19 and had been under medical treatment at a local hospital. (Mitchell, 3/22)