NIWC Pacific Microbiologist Answers the Call for the Army’s COVID-19 Response
200728-N-N1809-002 San Antonio, Texas (July 28, 2020) Front and back views of a challenge coin awarded to Dr. Y. Meriah Arias-Thode by the Army Surgeon General, Lt. Gen. R. Scott Dingle, for her work in aiding the Army’s COVID-19 response. Arias-Thode, an environmental microbiologist at Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific, was called out of retirement to join the coronavirus testing effort at Fort Sam Houston, where she worked in a laboratory to validate various test media for four months. Contributed photo.