Former 1st Lt. Mark Bashaw was convicted of disobeying rules about face masks and virus testing before he was forced out of the service.
Department health officials have recorded about 67,000 new cases of COVID-19 among patients in 2024.
Individual hospitals may consider mask mandates if they see a surge in COVID-19 cases locally.
Virus infection cases within the VA health care system are up more than 200% in the last two months.
