On Friday, and in response to the still-rapidly expanding virus outbreak in the United States, President Donald Trump signed an executive order granting the Pentagon authority to call up as many as 1 million reservists with medical expertise as the country and the government prepare for the onslaught of new infections.
Not only that, but the president’s order also authorized four of the branches — Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines — as well as the U.S. Coast Guard, which is part of Homeland Security, to call back to service retired personnel with valuable medical skills.
That is unprecedented in modern history and it isn’t something to be taken lightly. It’s an action you’d expect if we were preparing for a major ground war against a near-peer competitor, it’s that big of a deal.
The Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, at the direction of the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, are authorized to order to active duty not to exceed 24 consecutive months, such units, and individual members of the Ready Reserve under the jurisdiction of the Secretary concerned, not to exceed 1,000,000 members on active duty at any one time, as the Secretary of Defense and, with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, the Secretary of Homeland Security consider necessary.
Did you catch the time limit? The order extends the services’ ability to call up to 1 million personnel at any given time for the next two years. Further evidence of what a big deal this virus is turning out to be.
“This will allow us to mobilize medical disaster emergency response personnel to help wage our battle against the virus,” Trump said during a Friday evening press conference.. “We have a lot of people, retirees, great military people, they're coming back in.”
‘Decisions about which individuals may be activated are still being reviewed’
The Military Times reported that, following the issuance of the order on Friday, the Pentagon launched a review of how many National Guard and Individual Ready Reserve forces it will need to call up.
The order directs Defense Secretary Mark Esper to call these retired and reserve members back to active duty "to augment forces for the effective response to the coronavirus outbreak,” according to Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman in a statement.
“Decisions about which individuals may be activated are still being reviewed,” the statement continued.
The service branches each have ‘active’ reserve components that are required to “drill” or train once a month and two weeks each year. Some branches also have what are known as “inactive reserve” elements too; these members are not as prepared to be called up, however.
Still, the order is unique in modern times. Even during the lengthy wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush and Obama administrations never had to resort to mass call-ups of medical personnel, which should explain just how serious things have become. (Related: BEWARE: University studies claiming coronavirus deaths won’t exceed 20,000 are tied to communist Chinese propaganda efforts to worsen the spread in America.)
As for National Guard troops, their first responsibility is to their individual states, so Esper said the Defense Department and DHS will be consulting with governors to see which units can be tapped for active duty without hampering state efforts to deal with the virus. The good news here is that most states in the country’s interior have not been hit nearly as bad as coastal regions like New York, California and Washington.
Someone obviously convinced the president not to wait on this, which means the administration believes the worst has yet to come.
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