Brig Narender Kumar, SM, VSM (Retd) Writes: There is an edginess in some quarters in military to jump into the war against the Coronavirus. Politico-military leadership should control temptation to employ assets of the armed forces prematurely in dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic, since armed forces is the last resort with the government. Moreover, premature employment of the armed forces will cause friction in its limited assets that they may not be able to withdraw if situation so demand in near future. In India the fight against the coronavirus has just begun, civil health resources at the disposal of the government are yet not tested to its full capacity. Therefore, the assets of the armed forces should be preserved for bigger challenges in near future. Military leadership should control their appetite to jump into the just begun war against Covid-19. The biggest disadvantage of deployment of the armed forces assets prematurely is that this is the only asset federal government has that can be mobilised to any part of the nation where a crisis like situation arise or escalate beyond the control of the state governments. The armed forces can mobilise, rapidly and create temporary hospitals out of their own assets and once they set it up and make it functional even the civil governments can also bolster the resources to increase capacity. But if these assets are deployed prematurely it is very difficult to disengage military health services (men and resources).
The focus of the armed forces at this stage should be to carryout extensive preparation, training, building capabilities and capacities, should armed forces be deployed. Once armed forces are deployed, it should mobilise to fight against Covid-19 as well as to maintain public order. Armed forces should workout the future estimates of likely trend of spread of Covid-19 with the help of Medical Branch, College of Defence Management and Perspective Planning Directorate (Operational Research) to determine various scenarios and tentative timelines. The CDS/ Secretary Department of Military Affairs (DMA) should share it with the government. Some people may ask why should armed forces do this task of estimation and scenario building? The armed forces have the expertise to war game scenarios and has been regularly updating the attrition rates since they have the wherewithal and domain knowledge of estimation of casualties in war and even in nuclear, biological and chemical attack scenarios. By now this report ideally should have been with the government so that it acts as a basic parameter for deployment of armed forces.
Training of men and procurement of equipment should be a top priority so that once deployed they don’t look back for basic medical equipment, personal protection kits and essential medicines. There may also be a requirement of legal cover to deal with anti-social elements and those who do not follow basic rules and guidelines. Thus provision of attachment of magistrate and representative of health services is also essential so that there is a link with the civil/ local government. The CDS should have insisted to have Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS) as the member of empowered committee dealing with policy related issues in fight against Coronavirus. That would have benefitted the government since Armed Forces Medical Branch has expertise to fight nuclear, chemical and biological warfare casualties.
An advice to the military leadership, join the war when it is essential and nation has no alternative, but once you join the war, execute it with military precision and finesse. Make plans and strategy so that you can fight it in a better way. Examine best practices across the globe and make contingency plans that has no room for failure. Military should not commit itself for visibility but for impact operations. Premature application of reserves is a bad idea to pursue in military parlance. Wait and prepare for your turn, let the other organs of the state do their bit, because stakes on military are very high, if you fail nation will fail.
Deployment of Armed Forces in Anti COVID 19 Operations