We're gonna continue to train within some limitations.

This is very hard.

I'm just gonna lay it out, this is hard.

Hard in that we're also gonna continue

to train our mission.

Narrator: The COVID-19 crisis has already made an impact

on training at the US Army's Maneuver Center of Excellence

inside the Fort Benning military base.

New medical screenings and protocols

are changing the way basic training is conducted.

Every year about 69,000 soldiers arrive at Fort Benning,

where future infantry and armor soldiers

go through basic combat training.

The footage of training in this video

was shot when we visited Fort Benning in February of 2020,

before training was impacted by the crisis.

As of March 28th,

six confirmed cases of COVID-19

have been connected to Fort Benning.

According to the Army,

the patients were not part of training operations.

On March 24, Fort Benning's commanding general

gave updates and answered questions

in a town hall broadcast on Facebook Live.

For the moms and dads that are out there

and all the loved ones across America,

we do not have any positive COVID-19 cases

in the training base right now.

Now I'm not gonna be naive and say that it may not happen,

but we'll continue to screen,

we'll continue to offer the best protection

and mitigation measures that we can

for all of our soldiers.

Narrator: Every week, hundreds of new recruits arrive

from all over the country

to begin their One Station Unit Training,

usually on buses like this one.

According to Major General Gary Brito,

new recruits will still be received amid the pandemic.

Brito: At this point we'll also continue

to receive future soldiers, although perhaps

in some smaller numbers over the next couple of months.

Narrator: According to Brito,

incoming recruits get their temperature taken

before they board the vehicle

that takes them to Fort Benning and they're asked questions

about where they've recently been

and if they're feeling any symptoms.

Brito: We can make the call

when a person shows up

and they may be coming from one of those states

that is heavily hit like New York State at this time

and move he or she directly to a safe quarantine location

to ensure that we minimize the risk of any COVID-19 spreads.

Narrator: As for the thousands of recruits

currently training at Fort Benning,

training will continue, albeit with some limitations.

Brito: As you well know,

we're gonna continue our training,

there's a lot of measures in place to assist us

in social distancing, managing physical distance

and the simple risks that our soldiers may be opened up to.

Narrator: As you can see

from this footage shot in February,

some of the training requires physical contact,

but because of the new health risks,

recruits are being ordered to incorporate

a so-called physical dispersion of at least 40 inches,

which is a bit more than three feet between themselves

and other recruits.

According to Fort Benning, training like you see here

known as combatives, which requires physical contact,

has been temporarily suspended.

And for training like military operations

in urban terrain, or MOUT,

instructors are ordering recruits

to incorporate social distancing as much as possible.

Brito: The commanders and command sergeant majors

are empowered to keep the soldiers physically fit,

keeping in mind, the dispersion

and the group stuff just needs to stop.

That is something that'll continue,

we'll have to continue to monitor

and stop people if they're doing the wrong thing.

Narrator: Perhaps the biggest impact

is what happens to the soldiers after they graduate.

All visitors are prohibited

from attending graduation ceremonies,

which typically happen every week and the future timelines

for graduates ready to join the Army remains unclear.

Brito: As of now

they will remain here at Fort Benning,

and we're working with the Army

through Department of Defense policies

on how and when they will be shipped to their gaining unit.

I cannot put a timeline on that now.

Narrator: According to Major General Brito,

there is no shortage of space at Fort Benning

to house the graduates who, for now, cannot leave.

Brito: And so far it's going well for us.

But I don't wanna be naive enough

to say that the threat was not gonna continue.

And we'll mitigate and treat it the best we can

and make the prudent decisions to protect our force,

family members, civilians and soldiers included

of all ranks, the best we can as well.