The Pentagon Must Prep Now for the Next Pandemic
We must take stock of the myriad ways the U.S. military has helped fight COVID-19—and learn to do even better.
By Lt. Col. Adam Scher
Former Military Adviser to the US Defense Secretary's COVID Senior Adviser
August 20, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic is a national-security threat that requires both a domestic and global effort to confront: it has disrupted military operations at all levels and left more than 621,000 people dead in America alone. The U.S. military has proved invaluable in the fight, which is far from over. But it is not too early to begin thinking about how we can better prepare the military to handle a next pandemic.
This effort should start with a proper cataloguing of the unprecedented use of America’s modern military apparatus to battle an unseen enemy on American soil. Our country went on a war footing to combat a disease with the March 13, 2020, declaration of a National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Outbreak. In March and April of that first pandemic year, National Guard and Reserve personnel were mobilized to meet the COVID mission.
Almost immediately, DoD faced unanticipated second- and third-order effects. Both components are disproportionately composed of first responders and frontline healthcare workers who regularly serve local communities. In some instances, Guard and Reserve members were pulled from local communities where they were needed in their civilian capacity in order to serve as first responders elsewhere within the same state.
https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2021/08/pentagon-must-prep-now-next-pandemic/184697/
