Introduction:
Pandemics have always had some sort of negative impact on the military. More people died from influenza than conflict during World War I. Even though we aren’t at war, military operations are being negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. What are the effects pandemics have on the military and what have we learned from Influenza and Covid-19 pandemics’ effects on our military?
Influenza:
Influenza, also known as the Spanish flu, is one of the most lethal pandemics in history and was primarily responsible for so many deaths during World War I. The virus infected around 500 million people worldwide and killed an estimated 20 to 50 million victims. (History) No military was spared from influenza wrath as the virus indescribably infected everyone. It’s hard to determine if the Spanish flu was a major deciding factor in the outcome of World War I since it had weakened all combatants in the war and decreased morale on all sides.
“Allied and German field hospitals, along with their evacuation chains, were filled with the casualties of this invisible enemy.”
-Coombs
Influenza spreads through droplets when an infected person sneezes, coughs, or gets any liquids from their respiratory system on someone else. This is the same transmission method as Covid-19. However, while they are both transmitted the same way, influenza was more virulent than Covid-19. Typically, viruses are more susceptible to old and young people. However, Influenza targeted people in the prime of their life, so it was especially dangerous to soldiers. The war-related conditions soldiers faced also provided the perfect environment for the virus to spread. These conditions were overcrowding, unsatisfactory hygiene, inadequate clothing, exposure to adverse climatic conditions, and badly vented accommodations. (Coombs) The conditions exacerbated the effects of the pandemic and decreased the morale of the soldiers. These conditions are the primary reason why the virus was able to spread so fast and kill so many. The type of warfare used during World War I was trench warfare. The trenches kept soldiers safe from enemy small arms and artillery. It also provides the perfect breeding ground for disease and illness. However, trenches weren’t the only place where soldiers could get sick and die from the virus. Soldiers could get infected and killed before they even reach the battlefield on transport ships. The book “America’s Forgotten Pandemic,” by Alfred Crosby, describes what happened on the U.S.S Leviathan during one of its voyages.
The Leviathan is a transport ship that had a voyage from New Jersey to France in a little over a week during World War I. During this time, 2000 of the “crew of over 2,000 and between nine and ten thousand army personnel, including-the one bit of luck on the voyage-200 nurses” got infected and about 90 of them died. The ship had a maximum capacity of 6,800 soldiers, so it was overloaded by 50%. (Crosby) Before the boat even left the harbor people were falling ill during a march. They still got on and departed however because they had to stick to the Leviathan’s schedule. Soldiers could die from influenza at any point during the war. It didn’t matter they were traveling or fighting in the trenches.
“The shipment of troops,” the General said, “should not be stopped for any cause.” Every American soldier who dies on the way to France “has just as surely played his part as his comrade who died in France.
-General during World War 1
During the first world war, the government considered those who died from disease the same as if they were to die in combat. The military had to keep sending as many soldiers in as possible to keep up their military strength even though they knew that their soldiers were getting sick and dying from the virus. Treating the virus as a byproduct of the war enables soldiers’ death from Influenza to be justified as a death fought to protect their country.
Militaries have tried different ways to keep their forces safe from influenza and fight the enemy at the same time. For example, the French Army tried to mitigate the spread of the virus by enforcing basic hygiene measures and evacuating sick soldiers while keeping them separate from other people.
“Vaccines were also being made and tested in several miliaries including Britain, Canada, and the United States.” (Coombs)
The military tested their vaccines on their soldiers because they had an ample amount of test subjects and if the vaccine worked it would keep them safe from Influenza. However, “due to a lack of understanding of the pathology of the disease and the emerging vaccine production capabilities, no conclusive results were obtained.” (Coomb)
The Carona virus:
Based on the military’s actions during the Influenza pandemic, there are three goals the military should strive to meet during Covid-19. These goals are force protection, operational tempo, and supporting civilian authorities. Meeting these three goals will decrease the negative impact of Covid-19 on our military while also trying to maintain standard operations.
Force protection is the protection of military strength and the fighting strength of troops on the front lines. This is the most important goal because for the military to be successful, its troops to be battle-ready. Without force protection, troop morale, physical health, and mental well-being will be negatively affected. (Crosby) Medical treatment and the evacuation chain must also be prepared to handle the number of soldiers who will fall ill. During the influenza pandemic, the capacity of the medical system to treat the wounded was reduced because of how overwhelmed they were.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, militaries know the importance of force protection and are taking precautions like restricting movement and publicly reporting cases of Covid-19 to keep their military safe. During the influenza pandemic, the military had a strict schedule, and they didn’t change it much to accommodate for influenza. This caused the disease to spread faster and decrease the strength of the military. During this Covid-19 pandemic, the military’s movement is being restricted as a preventative measure against Covid-19. “The United States Military services have canceled or reduced training and exercises, minimized travel, and implemented public health guidance to protect their personnel.” (Coombs)
During the influenza pandemic, cases of epidemics weren’t being disclosed to the public. However, now during the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a plethora of communication about the struggles the military has faced from Covid-19. Social distancing and hygiene also became foremost during this pandemic.
While these measures are good, many of the steps the military is taking to avoid Covid-19 cases aren’t plausible to implement during a war. The reason for this is that the military needs to maintain its operational tempo, the second goal. Pandemics slow down military operations and their efficiency. To keep military strength from wavering, the military will have to step up the speed and intensity of their actions. This will keep their operations going at the same tempo. For example, during the influenza pandemic, troops had to be sent to the front line on the Leviathan. The government did this even though they knew that some of the soldiers on the boat might be sick and the boat was over capacity because they had to keep up their operational tempo.
In the interest of morale, the government preferred to describe the changes as “intensive loading,” instead of the sinister “fifty percent overload.”
-Alfred Crosby
To keep up our operational tempo, troops need to be sent over to fight at full speed. This causes restrictions that would help prevent the spread of the virus to not be implemented. It’s because of this that instances like what happened on the Leviatan could happen again if we were participating in a war during Covid-19. Unlike during the influenza pandemic, the operational tempo that we need in the Covid-19 pandemic is to slow down. This slow operational tempo allows the military to place restrictions. These restrictions kept our military safer than it was during the influenza pandemic. If we were in a war, there would be a larger emphasis on moving our troops and our military would suffer from it. Without a war, the military can be more laid back and focus its attention on Covid-19.
Even though the military has to accomplish the goal of force protection and operation tempo, it still has to assist civilian authorities as much as possible. Pandemics affect both civilians and the military and part of the military’s responsibility is to aid civilians whenever they can. In the influenza pandemic, the military supported civilians through the use of medical research, testing vaccines, and providing medical services. (Coombs) During the Covid-19 pandemic, the department of defense supported civilian medical establishments. The military helped develop vaccines, deployed medical personnel, mobilized the national guard, and provided rapid contracting capabilities to tap into the civilian economy. (CSIS) Helping support civilians bolsters military support from the nation and hastens the end of the pandemic.
Conclusion:
Pandemics will always have an impact on the military, so government should always be prepared. We have learned from the challenges of the past health crises and applied them to the Covid-19 pandemic. Now we must take what we have learned from both Covid and Influenza and apply it to future global health emergencies. By utilizing our past to make a better future, we can decrease the effect pandemics will have on the military and save lives by implementing the three goals, force protection, operational tempo, and supporting civilians. They will minimize the hardships faced by the pandemic.
Work Cited
Coombs, Howard G. “The Influenza Pandemic of 1918: Military Observations for Today.” Covid-19: NATO in the Age of Pandemics, edited by Thierry Tardy, NATO Defense College, 2020, pp. 61–70, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep25148.13. Accessed 26 Apr. 2022.
History.com Editors, History. “Spanish Flu.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 12 Oct. 2010, https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/1918-flu-pandemic?msclkid=09498eaec69e11ecbbc18018542932b5.
Crosby, Alfred W. America’s Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918. Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Brookes, Peter. “The Effect of Coronavirus on the U.S. Military.” The Heritage Foundation, https://www.heritage.org/defense/commentary/the-effect-coronavirus-the-us-military?msclkid=71f43dcac19511ec85df1540f4e401e0.
“Diseases in World War I.” Diseases in World War I – World War I Centennial, https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/diseases-in-world-war-i.html?msclkid=dc562deac00111ecb54d8a650dfb0d13.
CSIS, Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Covid-19 and the Military: Maintaining Operations While Supporting Civil Society.” Covid-19 and the Military: Maintaining Operations While Supporting Civil Society | Center for Strategic and International Studies, 26 Apr. 2022, https://www.csis.org/analysis/covid-19-and-military-maintaining-operations-while-supporting-civil-society
Pennington, Hugh. “Global Development Strategy for Companion Diagnostics … – Future Medicine.” The Impact of Infectious Disease in War Time: a Look Back at WW1, 10 Jan. 2019, https://www.futuremedicine.com/mobile/doi/full/10.2217/pme.13.100.
Brookes, Peter. “The Effect of Coronavirus on the U.S. Military.” The Heritage Foundation, 23 July 2020, https://www.heritage.org/defense/commentary/the-effect-coronavirus-the-us-military?msclkid=71f43dcac19511ec85df1540f4e401e0.
NWCG, National Wildfire Coordinating Group. “Operational Tempo.” NWCG, June 2021, https://www.nwcg.gov/committee/6mfs/operational-tempo?msclkid=89df00aec7f511ecbed241987a941b16.
