In an opinion piece published Sunday in The New York Times, the Democrat called on President Donald Trump to authorize states to expand testing capabilities, set federal standards for shutting down commerce and schools, and mobilize the military to bolster medical treatment capabilities.

“States cannot build more hospitals, acquire ventilators or modify facilities quickly enough,” Cuomo wrote, saying the expertise and equipment of the Army Corps is “our best hope.”

Cuomo said Saturday that more than 600 New Yorkers have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. Two people, ages 82 and 65, have died. Cuomo said he believes thousands of New Yorkers, possibly tens of thousands, already have the disease.

The virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms such as fever and cough for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover.

Less than a year after Rapone’s images drew a firestorm of vitriol and even death threats, the second lieutenant who became known as the “commie cadet” is officially out of the U.S. Army with an other-than-honorable discharge.

Top brass at Fort Drum accepted Rapone’s resignation Monday after an earlier reprimand for “conduct unbecoming of an officer.”

Rapone said an investigation found he went online to advocate for a socialist revolution and disparage high-ranking officers. Officially, the Army said in a statement only that it conducted a full investigation and “appropriate action was taken.”

An unrepentant Rapone summed up the fallout in yet another tweet Monday that showed him extending a middle finger at a sign at the entrance to Fort Drum, accompanied by the words, “One final salute.”

“I consider myself a revolutionary socialist,” the 26-year-old Rapone told The Associated Press. “I would encourage all soldiers who have a conscience to lay down their arms and join me and so many others who are willing to stop serving the agents of imperialism and join us in a revolutionary movement.”

Rapone said his journey to communism grew out of his experiences as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan before he was accepted into the U.S. Military Academy. And those views only hardened during his studies of history as one of the academy’s “Long Gray Line.”

He explained that he took the offending selfies at his May 2016 West Point graduation ceremony and kept them to himself until last September, when he tweeted them in solidarity with NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who was taking heat for kneeling for the national anthem to raise awareness of racism.

Many other military personnel also tweeted in favor of Kaepernick, although most were supporting free speech, not communism.

West Point released a statement after Rapone posted the photos, saying his actions “in no way reflect the values of the U.S. Military Academy or the U.S. Army.” And U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, called on the secretary of the Army to remove Rapone from the officer ranks.

“While in uniform, Spenser Rapone advocated for communism and political violence, and expressed support and sympathy for enemies of the United States,” Rubio said Monday, adding “I’m glad to see that they have given him an ‘other-than-honorable’ discharge.”

One of six children growing up in New Castle, Pennsylvania, Rapone said he applied to West Point, which is tuition-free, because he couldn’t afford college. He was nominated out of high school by then-U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire in 2010.

“He was an honors student, an athlete, a model citizen who volunteered in the community,” recalled Altmire, a Democrat. “During the interview, he expressed patriotism and looked just like a top-notch candidate. There were no red flags of any kind.”

But he wasn’t accepted to West Point, so Rapone enlisted in the Army. He was deployed to Afghanistan in 2011 and was assigned as an assistant machine gunner in Khost Province.

“We were bullies in one of the poorest countries on Earth,” Rapone said. “We have one of the most technologically advanced militaries of all time and all we were doing is brutalizing and invading and terrorizing a population that had nothing to do with what the United States claimed was a threat.”

Toward the end of his deployment, he learned West Point fulfills a certain quota of enlisted soldiers every year. Despite his growing disillusionment about the military, he applied and got in.

“I was still idealistic,” he said.” I figured maybe I could change things from inside.”

In addition to classic socialist theorists such as Karl Marx, Rapone says he found inspiration in the writings of Stan Goff, a retired Special Forces master sergeant who became a socialist anti-war activist.

Even while still a cadet, Rapone’s online postings alarmed a West Point history professor, who wrote Rapone up, saying his online postings were “red flags that cannot be ignored.” Rapone was disciplined but still allowed to graduate.

Greg Rinckey, an attorney specializing in military law, said it’s rare for an officer out of West Point to receive an other-than-honorable discharge. He added that it’s possible the military academy could seek repayment of the cost of Rapone’s education because he didn’t serve the full five-year service obligation required upon graduation.

“I knew there could be repercussions,” said Rapone, who is scheduled to speak at a socialism conference in Chicago next month. “Of course my military career is dead in the water. On the other hand, many people reached out and showed me support. There are a lot of veterans both active duty and not that feel like I do.”

After an early morning 12-mile march back to the grey stone academic complex with 1,200 new cadets she led through the rigors of basic training at “Beast Barracks,” the 20-year-old international history major from Fairfax, Virginia, assumed duties as first captain of the 4,400-member Corps of Cadets. That’s the highest position in the cadet chain of command at West Point.

“It’s humbling, but also exciting as I step into this new opportunity to lead the corps to greatness with my teammates with me,” a beaming Askew, still in camouflage fatigues from her march, told reporters.

As first captain, Askew is responsible for the overall performance of the Corps of Cadets. Her duties also include implementing a class agenda and acting as a liaison between the cadets and the administration.

“Simone truly exemplifies our values of Duty, Honor, Country,” said Brig. Gen. Steven W. Gilland, commandant of cadets.

“I can’t believe this has happened in my lifetime,” said Pat Locke, one of two African American women in the first class of women to graduate from West Point in 1980. “When I entered the Academy in 1976, the men did not want us there. Now 40 years later, everybody recognizes the talent and skills women bring to the game.”

Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, was West Point’s first African American first captain in 1979. The first female in that role, in 1989, was Col. Kristin Baker, now commander of the Joint Intelligence Operations Center Europe, Analytic Center.

Women make up about 20 percent of cadets, who are usually commissioned as second lieutenants in the Army upon graduation. The academy created a diversity office in 2014 with the goal of recruiting more women and African Americans and increasing diversity among department heads and other leaders.

Pam Askew, of Fairfax, says her daughter is a natural born leader with incredible drive.

“That leadership is something I’ve seen throughout her life — wanting to be first, wanting to be the best, wanting to win, in sports, in academics, in every aspect of her life,” Askew said. “And to serve others, as well.”

Askew’s appointment comes a year after a photo of 16 graduating black female cadets raising their fists drew criticism from online commentators who accused them of supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. Supporters said they were making a gesture of solidarity and accomplishment as graduation drew near. West Point investigated and determined they hadn’t violated any Army rules.

“What that photo said to me was how few black women are graduating,” Locke said. “We average less than 20 African American women graduating each year out of a class of 1,000. And yet, out of that 20 we got a first captain. Isn’t that amazing?”

Locke, a West Point volunteer who has been a mentor to Askew and other cadets, said she’ll hold her up as a role model for girls when she holds workshops on leadership and academics at schools in inner cities around the country.

Asked for her advice to young people aspiring to excel, Askew said: “Allow yourself to be a vessel. Throughout my cadet career I’ve just really focused on being poured into, seeking advice, seeking development, leadership mentors wherever I could. Just truly be a vessel and be poured into.”

The 60-megawatt biomass power plant is providing 100 percent of the electricity for the sprawling northern New York base starting this month. It’s the first green energy project to come online since the Pentagon’s 2012 commitment to developing 3 gigawatts of renewable energy — enough to power 750,000 homes — on Army, Navy and Air Force installations by 2025 as a way to help ensure the military’s energy security.

“It’s part of a comprehensive effort by the entire Army to improve our resiliency,” Richard Kidd, deputy assistant secretary of the Army, said last month at a ceremonial signing of the project’s 20-year, $289 million contract.

ReEnergy Holdings acquired the formerly coal-fired power plant at Fort Drum in 2011 and spent $34 million converting it to burn biomass — mostly chipped up branches, bark and other residues of timber operations in New York’s North Country.

A $12 million project is also underway to connect the plant directly to the base’s substations next summer. The Pentagon is pushing construction of independent power grids at military bases out of concern that utility companies are vulnerable to hackers, terrorists and natural disasters.

The Army has renewable energy projects at bases across the country. Three 30-megawatt photovoltaic solar arrays are under development at forts Stewart, Gordon and Benning in Georgia. Solar projects are also in the works at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, Fort Huachuca in southern Arizona, Fort Detrick in Maryland, and Fort Irwin in California. Fort Hood in Texas recently launched a solar and wind energy project.

But a biomass plant like that at Fort Drum has the distinct advantage of providing year-round, 24-hour power, said Tony Marciniak, manager of the ReEnergy plant. Fort Drum uses about 28 megawatts of power a day, so ReEnergy will be able to sell excess power it generates.

The biomass facility has created nearly 200 jobs, including 34 full-time workers at the plant and dozens more in fuel supply, including additional timber company workers and truckers. It’s a more labor-intensive business than the former coal plant, which received fuel by train and required stoking only once a day.

Anthony Marciniak, facility manager, left, and John Howe, wood procurement manager, stand in front of a truck-weighing station at the ReEnergy biomass power plant at Fort Drum, N.Y. The plant is part of a military-wide initiative to put green energy systems on installations nationwide.

Photo Credit: Mary Esch, AP

Marciniak said 80 to 100 tractor-trailers filled with wood chips arrive every weekday. The chips are kept in huge piles, where bulldozers continuously shove the fuel into a conveyor leading to the boilers inside.

“We’re pumping upwards of $18 million annually into the local economy,” Marciniak said.

Logging residue — mainly treetops and branches — makes up about 85 percent of the fuel mix at Fort Drum, said Larry Richardson, chief executive officer of Latham-based ReEnergy Holdings. Recovered wood from demolition projects makes up about 11 percent, and shredded tires make up the rest. The company is also collaborating with the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry to provide a market for shrub willow, an energy crop coming into production on about 500 acres in northern New York.

The advantages of biomass are that it’s locally grown, renewable, and costs typically one-third less than fossil fuels. ReEnergy is certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, an independent non-profit organization that verifies that the wood-chip fuel used at its nine plants in six states is procured from loggers who follow responsible land management practices.

“It was a significant investment on their part, to ensure all their harvests are done in a sustainable manner,” said Eric Carlson of the Empire State Forest Products Association.

While critics have questioned the ethics of turning forests into fuel, Carlson said analysis by the U.S. Forest Service shows that New York could double its wood harvest and still not match the forest regeneration rate.

“Before ReEnergy opened we didn’t have a market for this low-grade material,” said Pat Curran of Seaway Timber Harvesting, largest supplier. “In most cases, it was staying on the forest floor.”