Coronavirus takes on the US military

MY story not used n The Times today: The US defence secretary has issued an unprecedented “stop movement order”, cancelling planned deployments overseas and home-returns for American troops completing their tour s of duty to avoid further spreading of coronavirus. The total workforce of three million uniformed and civilian Pentagon employees are already governed by social distancing restrictions where possible, with mobility and training limits within the US. However, following the announcement by Mark Esper, travel plans for about 90,000 American troops have been put on hold for 30 days. America’s military history is a reminder of the risks posed by large troop deployments in potentially dangerous health conditions. In the autumn of 1918 at the end of the First World War an influenza pandemic claimed thousands of American lives as the virus spread from camp to camp in the US and across the Atlantic. The most notable exception to Mr Esper’s order were the 4,400 troops in Afghanistan earmarked to withdraw as part of the US-Taliban peace deal signed on February 29. The US troop strength in Afghanistan has to be cut from 13,000 to 8,600 within a timescale of 135 days. Mr Esper said the pull-out which has already begun would continue as agreed. About 600 active personnel as well as civilians, dependents and contractors have been tested positive so far. However, the challenge faced by the US navy which currently has 100 warships and other vessels at sea has been underlined by the evacuation of eight sailors from the carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Pacific. They tested positive, forcing the navy to trace all other members of the crew who had been in contact with them. The carrier is now in port in Guam while all 5,000 on board are tested. There are reports of another dozen or so with the virus. Admiral Michael Gilday, chief of naval operations, said every effort was being made to “isolate and contain” the spread of the virus on the carrier which had been on a port visit about 16 days ago. On the challenge of enforcing social distancing for his three million employees, many of whom had no option but to work closely together, Mr Esper said: “I can’t put out a blanket policy that I would apply to everybody because every situation is different.” “Tell me how to do 6ft distancing in an attack submarine [with a crew of 135]? And how to do it in a bomber with two pilots sitting side by side?” he said. The US Army’s largest exercise in Europe for 25 years, intended to involve 17,000 troops flying in from America, has already been drastically curtailed. The planned joint US exercise with South Korea was also cancelled in February.