CHAIN OF COMMAND

Second-Highest Ranking Marine Officer Tests Positive for COVID-19: Report

Gen. Gary L. Thomas and others had been in quarantine since the vice commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard tested positive.

The second-highest ranking officer in the Marines has contracted the new coronavirus, Reuters reports. The Marine Corps assistant commandant, Gen. Gary L. Thomas, reportedly tested positive Wednesday. In a statement to the Military Times, a Department of Defense spokesman said, “We are aware of General Thomas’ positive test for COVID-19. At this time we have no additional senior leader positive test results to report.” Thomas and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had been in quarantine since Monday after another senior military leader tested positive. The U.S. military has struggled to curtail the spread of COVID-19 within its ranks and maintain a semblance of preparedness for the pandemic, with the scandal of Capt. Brett Crozier and the USS Theodore Roosevelt damaging the credibility of the Navy and the Pentagon in May and June.