LEADING BY EXAMPLE: Members of the U.S. military and their families, like the rest of America, are struggling to deal with the tight restrictions on their movements and interactions with other people and are wondering if some of the rules in place to protect them have gone too far.
But while civilians debate whether masks and social distancing are necessary, the Pentagon’s quick imposition of strict protocols has produced a remarkable result. As the nation reached what President Trump called “a very sad milestone,” marking 100,000 deaths, the U.S. military recorded only one death among its force of active duty troops.
That’s a fatality rate of one for every 1.2 million among the active duty military, compared to one of every 3,280 for the U.S. population at large. Even if you count all 36 deaths from COVID-19 among reservists, civilians, contractors, and dependents in the total 2 million-plus Defense Department workforce, the rate of death is just one in 55,000, lower than the national rate by a factor of 16.
“Look at our death rates and look at our infection rates in the military relative to society as a whole — although they’re still severe and they’re still terrible for those that have passed away, they’re relatively low,” said Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley at a Pentagon town hall yesterday. “So we need to continue our appropriate precautionary measures in terms of distance, hygiene, travel restrictions, and other things.”
YOUNGER, HEALTHIER POPULATION: While early on, the Pentagon moved to mandate face coverings and social distancing and instituted testing, contact tracing, and prophylactic quarantining, it also benefits from the overall demographics of the military.
“One of the things we’ve learned over the past few months is that we have generally a younger, healthier population that is able to withstand the coronavirus,” said Defense Secretary Mark Esper at the town hall event. “We’ve only lost one service member, active duty service member, out of a million-plus because of the demographics of our population.”
UNDERSTANDABLE FRUSTRATION: As Esper and Milley took questions submitted from military members and their families, they heard from a lot of frustrated people who can’t move on with their lives, can’t travel, sell their homes, get their cars, or be reunited with their families because of the stop-movement order that is only now being lifted.
“We all want to get back to normal or a new normal as soon as possible. We’ve all been cooped up at home, and we’ve placed restrictions on our own movement. We practice day in, day out social distancing, and so our families are feeling the same thing,” said Esper. “I have a college-age daughter who’s been stuck at home away from school and cooped up with her parents for a few months. So we all face these unique situations, and we’re all anxious to get on with things as best we can as well.”
NOT GOING BACK: But Esper said the lessons in the first months of the pandemic will dictate a new way of doing things for months to come. “We’re not going to get back to a normal the way it was; it will be a new normal, if you will,” he said. “Lessons learned that we adopt from this will create a new normal in many ways.”
Esper cited his experience watching Marine Corps basic training at Parris Island earlier this week. “I noticed they were going through the training, they were appropriately socially distanced when it made sense,” he said. “And at all times, they wore face coverings.”
“By putting these practices in place for arriving and existing recruits to prevent coronavirus spread, they’ve also found that they prevent the spread of other respiratory tract infections,” Esper added. “So, they’ve seen sick calls go down remarkably across the board, and they’ve seen a higher number of recruits available for training day in and day out.”
“So, there is good coming out of this, lessons learned, I think that will make us even more effective and better well into the future,” he said.
Good Friday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by David Sivak and Tyler Van Dyke. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @dailyondefense.
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SOLVED BY A TWEET: The controversy over whether National Guard troops on the front lines in the battle against the coronavirus were being shortchanged by having their deployment ended one day short of qualification for federal benefits has apparently been resolved by a single presidential tweet.
“The men and women of the National Guard have been doing a great job fighting the CoronaVirus,” Trump tweeted yesterday. “This week, I will extend their Title 32 orders through mid-August, so they can continue to help States succeed in their response and recovery efforts.”
The tweet came the same day the governors of 42 states wrote the president requesting the extension.
“As states and territories move toward recovery and reopening, our National Guard will be critical in supporting operations such as testing, distribution of personal protective equipment, supply and food chain support, augmenting staff at nursing homes, and supporting warehouse operations,” the governors said. “With natural disaster season on the horizon, we believe the consistency of Title 32 specifically for COVID-19 related missions will help to provide states and territories with flexibility for easier transitions to supporting local disaster-related crises.”
HOMEGROWN 5G: The Pentagon is building a prototype fifth-generation cellular network at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, as part of the department’s development of 5G for both defense and civilian uses.
“The Defense Department recognizes 5G technology is vital to maintaining America’s military and economic advantages,” said Joseph Evans, the Pentagon’s technical director for 5G, in a statement. “We expect to start construction on the network at Nellis in July and have it fully operational in January of next year.”
“Only users taking part in the testing will have access to the private network. The network will feature relocatable cell towers that can be set up and taken down in less than an hour. Testing will involve mobile operations centers where team members will use the network while on the move,” the Pentagon said.
HYPERSONICS EXPLAINED: Confused about the difference between hypersonic cruise missiles, guided warheads, and glide vehicles? Check out this short video explainer produced by the folks at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: Trump ends controversy by extending National Guard federal deployments
Washington Examiner: Pentagon considers lowering virus quarantine to 10 days as service members express frustration
Washington Examiner: How China is positioning to neuter America’s military status as top dog
Washington Examiner: US: Chinese military’s job is going to get ‘a lot harder’
Washington Examiner: DOJ accuses North Korean and Chinese nationals of laundering $2.5B for nuclear program
Washington Examiner: US gets aggressive toward China over Uighur persecution
CNN: U.S. Warship Again Challenges China’s South China Sea Claims
New York Times: Many Chinese Graduate Students And Researchers To Lose U.S. Visas
Washington Examiner: National Guard brings critical geriatric care to Pennsylvania nursing homes
Defense News: The Pentagon Has Spent 23% Of Its COVID-19 Response Funds. Congress Is Asking Why Not More.
Washington Post: VA says it has ‘ratcheted down’ use of hydroxychloroquine to treat veterans
AP: Taliban In Kabul To Discuss Prisoner Releases Under U.S. Peace Deal
Bloomberg: F-35 Costs Drop for Building Jets But Rise for Operating Them
Bloomberg: Iran Warns U.S. On Naval Activity In Persian Gulf
Breaking Defense: FCC: DoD Did NOT Offer Classified Info On Ligado’s GPS Harm
CNN: Trump Administration Requests US Military Support For Fourth Of July Celebrations
Air Force Magazine: What’s a Space Weapon? The Answer Can Be Complicated.
Stars and Stripes: Marine Infantry Recruit Drops 186 Pounds To Make It To Boot Camp
USNI News: Navy Concludes Experienced Pilot’s ‘Brief Lapse of Judgement’ Root Cause of ‘Star Wars’ Canyon Crash
Calendar
FRIDAY | MAY 29
9:30 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies webcast: “Artificial Intelligence (AI), Defense, and Intelligence,” with Air Force Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, director of the Defense Department’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center. https://www.csis.org/events/online-event
TUESDAY | JUNE 2
12 p.m. — Hudson Institute Video event: “Emerging 5G Technology is Disrupting Huawei’s Hopes for Sector Dominance,” with Doug Brake, director, broadband and spectrum policy, ITIF; Tom Duesterberg, senior fellow, Hudson Institute; Bob Everson, senior director, 5G architecture, Cisco Systems; Stein Lundby, head of corporate technology strategy, Qualcomm. https://www.hudson.org/events
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“So, there is good coming out of this, lessons learned, I think that will make us even more effective and better well into the future.”
Defense Secretary Mark Esper, on how the coronavirus pandemic has changed some training protocols for the better.
