{"id":25003,"date":"2020-04-15T21:08:19","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T21:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/04\/15\/soldiers-return-early-from-southeast-asian-exercises-over-covid-19-concerns-with-more-adjustments-expected\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:37:09","slug":"soldiers-return-early-from-southeast-asian-exercises-over-covid-19-concerns-with-more-adjustments-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/training-sim\/2020\/04\/15\/soldiers-return-early-from-southeast-asian-exercises-over-covid-19-concerns-with-more-adjustments-expected\/","title":{"rendered":"Soldiers return early from Southeast Asian exercises over COVID-19 concerns, with more adjustments expected"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Soldiers in Thailand as part of the Army\u2019s Pacific Pathways<\/a> program are returning home this week to get ahead of the growing coronavirus pandemic in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The roughly 1,350 soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division<\/a> were originally scheduled to return to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, in May. The next Pacific Pathways iteration planned to train in the Philippines this spring has also been delayed due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those returning this week will undergo screening prior to leaving Thailand on a series of charter flights and will be screened again when they arrive at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, but there have yet to be any positive COVID-19 cases among the soldiers, said U.S. Army Pacific spokesman Col. Derrick W. Cheng.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLeadership adjusted the timeline of the exercise based on an assessment that the unit had achieved its initial training objectives and with obvious consideration to the evolving environment that COVID-19 presented, not just for Thailand, but throughout Indo-Pacific region,” Cheng said in a statement to Army Times. “Even with the adjusted timeline, this year\u2019s Hanuman Guardian is the longest iteration of the exercise ever conducted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medical personnel are screening returning troops through social distancing, temperature checks and questionnaires, though none are exhibiting symptoms at this point. When the soldiers return, they\u2019ll still have to enter 14-day quarantines. Those will largely mirror quarantines conducted at other Army posts for soldiers returning from overseas exercises and deployments.<\/p>\n\n\n\t