military readiness has not recovered from the impact of covid

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) imposed a tremendous burden on various global infrastructures and continues to do so at present. Its effect on the United States military has required multiple adaptations and poses a potential threat to the readiness state of the military. In reference to the National Defense Strategy’s (2022) identified five primary threats, the addition of COVID-19 as a plausible sixth threat to U.S. national security warrants attention based on the direct effect of the pandemic itself as well as the indirect effects on various infrastructures and the other primary threats. Numerous functions of military service require frequent and prolonged interpersonal contact which imparts a challenge given the high transmissibility, unknown long-term effects, and work disability imposed by COVID-19. However, the military must overcome all threats to readiness in order to remain capable of defending the Nation.

This threat to military readiness is one of great concern and unknown duration. It emerged with little actionable warning yet prodigious force. The military has not encountered a biologic threat of this magnitude since the 1918 influenza pandemic (DiEuliis, 2020). Other pandemics of lesser scale such as the H1N1 influenza pandemic of 2009 or earlier avian flu pandemics did not have the global impact of COVID-19 (World Health Organization, 2017). Response to the present COVID-19 pandemic must assert control and continuity of military operations in order to maintain a defensive posture for the United States. This study aims to assess the readiness state of the United States military within an extended COVID-19 pandemic.