Military monitors swine flu with focus on protecting force

The Defense Department is monitoring the swine flu situation closely, with its primary focus on protecting the military population, a senior Pentagon official said today.

As the Department of Health and Human Services leads the U.S. effort, the military is posturing itself to respond if required, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters today.

"We certainly have a number of contingency plans for dealing with health incidences like this, because our primary goal is preservation of the fighting force," he said. "So we obviously have plans and take measures to ensure that we can preserve the fighting strength of the military in the event that there should be a greater crisis with respect to a health situation like this."