April 9, 2020 | BY C. Todd Lopez , DOD News
The Defense Department is doing a lot to combat the spread
of COVID-19 across the nation, but its primary mission — the defense of the
nation and its interests — continues unabated, Deputy Defense Secretary David
L. Norquist said.
"To those who wish us harm, make no mistake: even with
the challenges that this disease has brought to our shores, the Department of
Defense stands ready to meet any threat and defend our nation," Norquist
said during a news conference today at the Pentagon. "Over the last four years,
we have rebuilt our military from the negative effects of sequestration. We
have more people, more advanced equipment, more munitions and are better
trained. If our adversaries think this is our moment of weakness, they are
dangerously wrong."
Norquist said DOD support of state and local authorities in
the fight against the coronavirus means that DOD people might end up with a
higher rate of infection from the virus than other populations. But at the same
time, he said, the youthful demographic of the U.S. military means that fewer
of those who contract the virus will suffer severe consequences.
According to Defense Department statistics, of the 1,898
current coronavirus cases among active duty service members, only 64 required
hospitalization.
Air Force Gen. John E. Hyten, the vice chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, said readiness across the department is where it needs to be.
"We watch the readiness of the force every day. And the
readiness of the force, in aggregate, has not dropped as we've gone through
this," Hyten said. "That's something that we have to watch very, very
closely."
While there are "pockets" of degraded readiness
across the force, such as the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt staying
in port in Guam longer than it normally would, the aggregate readiness is
unaffected, he said.
What may eventually affect readiness, Hyten said, is a
prolonged reduction in numbers of new recruits entering basic training for
military service.
"We've had to cut down the pipeline into basic training
in order to make sure that the folks that go into basic training, go into basic
training in a safe, secure way. Each of the services, working in a different
way, have constricted the pipeline of folks coming in," Hyten said.
"For a short period of time, that's not a big issue. If that continues
long, then all of a sudden our numbers come down. And that will eventually
impact readiness if it goes on month after month after month."
But for now, Hyten said, "our readiness is still full
up."
Hyten also said the
department has some 50,000 personnel involved in the fight against the
coronavirus — of those, he said, about 30,000 are from the National Guard and
reserves.
The general cited one team of reservists, led by Col. Hans
F. Otto at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, as being emblematic of the
dedication reservists and Guard members have had since being called up to duty
to fight the coronavirus.
"They call themselves the 'COVID Commandos,'"
Hyten said. "Just four days ago, ... their team — one doctor and six
nurses — packed their bags, said goodbye to their families, [and] deployed to
New York with 24 hours' notice. ... There's been thousands of stories like that
since the president mobilized the reserve [March 27]."
Across the department, military doctors, nurses and enlisted
medical professionals are leaving home to deploy to places across the country
to aid civilian doctors and protect the nation, the general said.
"They're moving fast to help their fellow citizens in a
time of crisis," he added. "They're helping to support the heroic
doctors and nurses already there who are tired and have been fighting that
disease for the last few weeks, and they need support. That's what they're there
for. And that's just a few examples of the sacrifice that citizen airmen and
citizen soldiers are making from all units in order to fight and improve the
lives of Americans."
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