Given the complete debacle of the current administration’s response to the coronavirus, one might hope that our military might be better capable of reacting to the crisis. So far, the US Navy, at least, has demonstrated only how ill-prepared it is in fighting the virus, for reasons that are both practical and political.

Practical Considerations
On the purely practical side, defending naval warship against attack by other ships is far easier than defining against a virus. In fact, warships are particularly vulnerable to infectious diseases. They tend to have large crews living in closely packed quarters. Unless the sick crew members can be identified and isolated quickly, contagion can spread rapidly across the ship.

In the case of the recent coronavirus outbreak on the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, the only practical answer was to go to a port and evacuate as much of the crew as possible for testing and treatment. The Roosevelt’s commander, Captain Brett E. Crozier, who was fired for voicing his concerns about his crews’ health and safety and calling for the ship’s evacuation, has tested positive for the coronavirus.

In New York City on the Hudson River is another example of the Navy’s inability to cope with infectious diseases on its ships. The 1,000-bed hospital ship, USNS Comfort, was intended to support New York City by taking non-coronavirus patients from shore-based hospitals struggling to cope with the coronavirus crisis. Why isn’t the Comfort treating coronavirus patients? It just isn’t equipped. The Comfort is a large floating combat field hospital and has almost no provisions for isolating patients with infectious diseases.

Initially, the procedures intended to make sure that the virus didn’t spread to the hospital ships were so arduous that days after the ship arrived, only 24 patients were being treated. Most of the 1,000 beds and 1,200 medical personnel were idle. “If I’m blunt about it, it’s a joke,” said Michael Dowling, the head of Northwell Health, New York’s largest hospital system, told the New York Times.

After reports of the empty beds came out, new procedures were put in place to streamline the process. Unfortunately, the New York Post reports that several patients infected with COVID-19 were mistakenly brought to the hospital ship USNS Comfort, according to a new report on Saturday. 

The blunder is why the US Navy ship — which has just 24 patients so far–  did not want to fill all 1,000 beds on board too quickly because the risk of the virus coming on board, an official told the site. 

A Politicized Navy
While the practical concerns are daunting, the political implications may be worse. When Captain Crozier spoke out in support of his crews’ safety, he was fired by the Acting SECNAV Thomas B. Modly, a political appointee who has not been confirmed by the Senate. Modly replaced the previously confirmed Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer, who was fired for not backing the president’s support of a convicted Navy war criminal.

So now we have a situation where the Navy has clearly signaled that looking out for the health and well being of your crew can get you fired, while war criminals receive praise by the current occupant of the Oval Office.

Thanks to Miroslav Antic for contributing to this post.