DoD ‘Taking all Necessary Precautions’ Against COVID-19

In late February, a soldier stationed at Camp Carroll near Daegu, South Korea, was the first military member to test positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19). Before being diagnosed, he visited other areas, including Camp Walker in Daegu, according to a statement released by US Forces Korea. More than 75,000 troops are stationed in countries with virus outbreaks, including Japan, Italy, and Bahrain.

Military research laboratories are working “feverishly around the horn” to come up with a vaccine, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark A. Milley said in a March 2, 2020, news conference. At the same conference, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, MD, said US Department of Defense (DoD) civilian and military leadership are working together to prepare for short-and long-term scenarios.

The US Northern Command is the “global integrator,” Esper said, with the DoD communicating regularly with operational commanders to assess how the virus might impact exercises and ongoing operations around the world. For example, a command post exercise in South Korea has been postponed; Exercise Cobra Gold in Thailand is continuing.

Commanders are taking all necessary precautions because the virus is unique to every situation and every location, Esper said: “We’re relying on them to make good judgments.”

He emphasized that commanders at all levels have the authority and guidance they need to operate. In a late February video teleconference, Esper had told commanders deployed overseas that he wanted them to give him a heads-up before making decisions related to protecting their troops, according to The New York Times.

The New York Times article cited an exchange in which Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of American forces in South Korea, where > 4,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed, discussed his options to protect American military personnel against the virus. Esper said he wanted advance notice, according to an official briefed on the call and quoted in the Times article. Gen. Abrams said although he would try to give Sec. Esper advance warning, he might have to make urgent health decisions before receiving final approval from Washington.

In a statement responding to the Times article, Jonathan Hoffman, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, said the Secretary of Defense has given the Global Combatant Commanders the “clear and unequivocal authority” to take any and all actions necessary to ensure the health and safety of US service members, civilian DoD personnel, families, and dependents.

In the video teleconference, Hoffman said, Secretary Espers “directed commanders to take all force health protection measures, and to notify their chain of command when actions are taken so that DoD leadership can inform the interagency—including US Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, and the White House—and the American people.” Esper “explicitly did not direct them to ‘clear’ their force health decisions in advance,” Hoffman said. “[T]hat is a dangerous and inaccurate mischaracterization.” 

In January, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense released a memorandum on force health protection guidance for the coronavirus outbreak. The DoD, it says, will follow the CDC guidance and will “closely coordinate with interagency partners to ensure accurate and timely information is available.”

“An informed, common-sense approach minimizes the chances of getting sick,” military health officials say. But, “due to the dynamic nature of this outbreak,” people should frequently check the CDC website for additional updates. Related Military Health System information and links to the CDC are available at https://www.health.mil/News/In-the-Spotlight/Coronavirus.

The CDC provides a summary of its latest recommendations and DoD health care providers can access COVID-19–specific guidance, including information on evaluating “persons under investigation,” at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/clinical-criteria.html.

Sec. Esper, in the Monday news conference, said, “My number-one priority remains to protect our forces and their families; second is to safeguard our mission capabilities and third [is] to support the interagency whole-of-government’s approach. We will continue to take all necessary precautions to ensure that our people are safe and able to continue their very important mission.”

In late February, a soldier stationed at Camp Carroll near Daegu, South Korea, was the first military member to test positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19). Before being diagnosed, he visited other areas, including Camp Walker in Daegu, according to a statement released by US Forces Korea. More than 75,000 troops are stationed in countries with virus outbreaks, including Japan, Italy, and Bahrain.

Military research laboratories are working “feverishly around the horn” to come up with a vaccine, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark A. Milley said in a March 2, 2020, news conference. At the same conference, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, MD, said US Department of Defense (DoD) civilian and military leadership are working together to prepare for short-and long-term scenarios.

The US Northern Command is the “global integrator,” Esper said, with the DoD communicating regularly with operational commanders to assess how the virus might impact exercises and ongoing operations around the world. For example, a command post exercise in South Korea has been postponed; Exercise Cobra Gold in Thailand is continuing.

Commanders are taking all necessary precautions because the virus is unique to every situation and every location, Esper said: “We’re relying on them to make good judgments.”

He emphasized that commanders at all levels have the authority and guidance they need to operate. In a late February video teleconference, Esper had told commanders deployed overseas that he wanted them to give him a heads-up before making decisions related to protecting their troops, according to The New York Times.

The New York Times article cited an exchange in which Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of American forces in South Korea, where > 4,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed, discussed his options to protect American military personnel against the virus. Esper said he wanted advance notice, according to an official briefed on the call and quoted in the Times article. Gen. Abrams said although he would try to give Sec. Esper advance warning, he might have to make urgent health decisions before receiving final approval from Washington.

In a statement responding to the Times article, Jonathan Hoffman, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, said the Secretary of Defense has given the Global Combatant Commanders the “clear and unequivocal authority” to take any and all actions necessary to ensure the health and safety of US service members, civilian DoD personnel, families, and dependents.

In the video teleconference, Hoffman said, Secretary Espers “directed commanders to take all force health protection measures, and to notify their chain of command when actions are taken so that DoD leadership can inform the interagency—including US Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, and the White House—and the American people.” Esper “explicitly did not direct them to ‘clear’ their force health decisions in advance,” Hoffman said. “[T]hat is a dangerous and inaccurate mischaracterization.” 

In January, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense released a memorandum on force health protection guidance for the coronavirus outbreak. The DoD, it says, will follow the CDC guidance and will “closely coordinate with interagency partners to ensure accurate and timely information is available.”

“An informed, common-sense approach minimizes the chances of getting sick,” military health officials say. But, “due to the dynamic nature of this outbreak,” people should frequently check the CDC website for additional updates. Related Military Health System information and links to the CDC are available at https://www.health.mil/News/In-the-Spotlight/Coronavirus.

The CDC provides a summary of its latest recommendations and DoD health care providers can access COVID-19–specific guidance, including information on evaluating “persons under investigation,” at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/clinical-criteria.html.

Sec. Esper, in the Monday news conference, said, “My number-one priority remains to protect our forces and their families; second is to safeguard our mission capabilities and third [is] to support the interagency whole-of-government’s approach. We will continue to take all necessary precautions to ensure that our people are safe and able to continue their very important mission.”

In late February, a soldier stationed at Camp Carroll near Daegu, South Korea, was the first military member to test positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19). Before being diagnosed, he visited other areas, including Camp Walker in Daegu, according to a statement released by US Forces Korea. More than 75,000 troops are stationed in countries with virus outbreaks, including Japan, Italy, and Bahrain.

Military research laboratories are working “feverishly around the horn” to come up with a vaccine, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark A. Milley said in a March 2, 2020, news conference. At the same conference, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, MD, said US Department of Defense (DoD) civilian and military leadership are working together to prepare for short-and long-term scenarios.

The US Northern Command is the “global integrator,” Esper said, with the DoD communicating regularly with operational commanders to assess how the virus might impact exercises and ongoing operations around the world. For example, a command post exercise in South Korea has been postponed; Exercise Cobra Gold in Thailand is continuing.

Commanders are taking all necessary precautions because the virus is unique to every situation and every location, Esper said: “We’re relying on them to make good judgments.”

He emphasized that commanders at all levels have the authority and guidance they need to operate. In a late February video teleconference, Esper had told commanders deployed overseas that he wanted them to give him a heads-up before making decisions related to protecting their troops, according to The New York Times.

The New York Times article cited an exchange in which Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of American forces in South Korea, where > 4,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed, discussed his options to protect American military personnel against the virus. Esper said he wanted advance notice, according to an official briefed on the call and quoted in the Times article. Gen. Abrams said although he would try to give Sec. Esper advance warning, he might have to make urgent health decisions before receiving final approval from Washington.

In a statement responding to the Times article, Jonathan Hoffman, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, said the Secretary of Defense has given the Global Combatant Commanders the “clear and unequivocal authority” to take any and all actions necessary to ensure the health and safety of US service members, civilian DoD personnel, families, and dependents.

In the video teleconference, Hoffman said, Secretary Espers “directed commanders to take all force health protection measures, and to notify their chain of command when actions are taken so that DoD leadership can inform the interagency—including US Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, and the White House—and the American people.” Esper “explicitly did not direct them to ‘clear’ their force health decisions in advance,” Hoffman said. “[T]hat is a dangerous and inaccurate mischaracterization.” 

In January, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense released a memorandum on force health protection guidance for the coronavirus outbreak. The DoD, it says, will follow the CDC guidance and will “closely coordinate with interagency partners to ensure accurate and timely information is available.”

“An informed, common-sense approach minimizes the chances of getting sick,” military health officials say. But, “due to the dynamic nature of this outbreak,” people should frequently check the CDC website for additional updates. Related Military Health System information and links to the CDC are available at https://www.health.mil/News/In-the-Spotlight/Coronavirus.

The CDC provides a summary of its latest recommendations and DoD health care providers can access COVID-19–specific guidance, including information on evaluating “persons under investigation,” at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/clinical-criteria.html.

Sec. Esper, in the Monday news conference, said, “My number-one priority remains to protect our forces and their families; second is to safeguard our mission capabilities and third [is] to support the interagency whole-of-government’s approach. We will continue to take all necessary precautions to ensure that our people are safe and able to continue their very important mission.”