Military travel will remain at a virtual standstill at least until June 30 in an effort to hold off further infection by the COVID-19 virus.
The Defense Department originally issued the “stop movement order” to run from March 12 to May 12.
Matthew Donovan, the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, said Saturday at a Pentagon press briefing that Defense Secretary Mark Esper would be extending the order.
“Continuing these travel restrictions is necessary because of the global nature of the Department of Defense enterprise," he said. "We have service members stationed in all 50 states with innumerous foreign nations across the globe. While many areas in the United States may be on a positive trajectory, some areas and many nations are not.”
The order also extended the number of leave days a service member may carry over from 60 to 120 days.
There are exemptions for travel for recruiting, basic training, advanced individual training, medical treatment and for those pending retirement and separation, and Donavan indicated that exemptions may be granted for humanitarian reasons or mission-essential travel.
He noted that the travel ban will be reviewed every two weeks and that the exemption policy will be slightly more liberal than the policy under the previous stop-movement order.
“To any adversary who may consider our robust response to COVID-19 as a moment of weakness, to send a clear message: make no mistake, the United States stands ready to meet any threat to our nation,” Donovan said.
Asked whether further extensions of a travel ban may be ordered, Donavan said, “Well, I never say never.”
Related Articles:
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.