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Defense Department's Priority Is Safety of People
by Jim Garamone, DOD News
April 6, 2020
"This is not the first challenge we have faced, and this is not
the first war that we have fought — and this is a fight," Senior
Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Ramon "CZ" Colón-López told
Pentagon reporters today. "So, we're asking our people still to
continue to take actions to protect themselves and those around them
by employing the protective measures outlined by the Centers for
Disease Control [and Prevention]."
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Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Ramon “CZ” Colón-López, left, watches as Air Force Senior Airman Nathan Davis, a 786th Civil Engineer Squadron explosive ordnance disposal team member, demonstrates bomb suit functions at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, February 20, 2020. The bomb suit features a helmet that can respond to voice-activated commands, such as turning the headlamps on and off. (U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class John R. Wright)
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But he said military life is a bit
different from life in the civilian world. The mission of the
military services is to deter enemies and, if deterrence fails, to
fight the nation's wars. This requires training to ensure readiness.
Soldiers preparing for battle may not be able to employ social
distancing. Airmen in a cockpit sit shoulder-to-shoulder. Sailors
aboard a submarine operate in a very small space.
Certain
missions must be performed, and service members will do them, the
military's top enlisted service member said, but commanders are
going to have to decide which missions are essential and which can
be put off. "That is up to the chain of command to go ahead and make
that risk assessment," he said.
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Air Force Maj. Leah Chapman mixes bleach with water to create a cleaning solution during a training session for a team to disinfect high-traffic areas at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, March 27, 2020, in an effort to keep personnel safe during the coronavirus pandemic. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Gage Daniel)
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Colón-López is in
constant contact with his service and combatant command
counterparts. He noted that the military has planned for contagious
disease infections and has carried out those plans in training
exercises in the past. "Each combatant command is providing an
assessment on where they see the force and their effectiveness," he
said.
The SEAC is also reaching out to the enlisted force to
hear their concerns. He is planning a Facebook Live event soon to
hear from them, and he will bring their concerns to Army Gen. Mark
A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "The one thing
that I can do from this position … is just to make sure that
[enlisted personnel] know they have a voice, that they have
support," he said.
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A Navy hospital corpsman asks a patient a series of questions before allowing him to enter the Naval Health Clinic at Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA, March 12, 2020, as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Kristiana Montanez)
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The role of noncommissioned officers, regardless of the
situation, is to take the pulse of service members, he said.
"They're the ones closest to the people executing the mission in the
field," Colón-López said. "They're the ones that provide the
commanders with the necessary information to make sure that those
troops are well-equipped, taken care of, and mission-ready."
In the current situation, he said, NCOs must ensure their personnel
are following the CDC guidelines and relay facts to the troops.
Colón-López said he and the service and combatant command senior
enlisted leaders start that chain, and they are being brutally
honest with troops. "We're being very transparent with them, because
we don't have any time to waste," he said, "and our well-armed and
knowledgeable NCOs will be the calm in the eye of the storm on any
formation."
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