{"id":63513,"date":"2020-04-17T20:34:57","date_gmt":"2020-04-17T20:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/04\/17\/widespread-testing-will-be-crucial-to-get-the-military-back-to-full-operations-but-its-going-to-take-a-while\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:18:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:18:02","slug":"widespread-testing-will-be-crucial-to-get-the-military-back-to-full-operations-but-its-going-to-take-a-while","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/04\/17\/widespread-testing-will-be-crucial-to-get-the-military-back-to-full-operations-but-its-going-to-take-a-while\/","title":{"rendered":"Widespread testing will be crucial to get the military back to full operations, but it\u2019s going to take a while"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Defense Department has set a goal to be analyzing 60,000 coronavirus tests <\/a>a day in June, senior leaders announced this week, in an effort to get a better grip on how many troops<\/a> have been infected and to make informed decisions about bringing back travel, training and other key operations<\/a> that have been throttled during the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After weeks of sticking to testing only symptomatic service members, DoD is working toward a more thorough, but targeted, approach, Air Force Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom a military perspective, we have to figure out how to use testing in ways to validate the readiness of our force to deploy, the readiness of a ship to go out, and so testing is going to become a critical part of that,\u201d he said, as the department reevaluates its March travel ban and considers, alongside state and local governments, rolling back any shelter-in-place policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of Friday, nearly 3,000 service members have contracted coronavirus, as well as about 2,000 more dependents, civilians and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question of widespread testing has come from multiple sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, during a virtual meeting of the House Armed Services Committee, the issue of coronavirus testing around the world came up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe question I\u2019ve been asking is, really, the prioritization of the deployment of testing as it comes online,\u201d Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Florida, a National Guard officer, told Military Times on Monday. “Are they focused on the parts of the force that are most critical? For example, our nuclear forces and our top-tier special operations task forces? Are they focused on people downrange, deployed, that may be interacting with native populaces? Or are obviously in a combat zone, and we can\u2019t have that sidelined?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the witnesses were Kenneth Rapuano, assistant defense secretary for homeland defense and global security, and Air Force Brig. Gen. Paul Friedrichs, the Joint Staff surgeon, Waltz said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey did not come to us in that hearing in response to that question and say, we have the capacity to test entire ship crews, and we have the capacity to test entire ballistic missile squadrons,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As President Trump has touted that \u201canyone that wants a test can get a test,\u201d and DoD has built up to 16 labs open for analysis with the capacity to run 9,000 samples a day, the military has limited its testing to symptomatic service members \u2015 with one notable exception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A March outbreak on the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt \u2015 the handling of which ended in the firing of its commanding officer and the resignation of the then-acting Navy secretary \u2015 has become a bellwether for the rest of the military\u2019s response to COVID-19 among its forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of the close quarters aboard a carrier, each of TR\u2019s sailors will be tested for coronavirus. As of Friday, about 4,500 of 4,800 sailors have been tested, 660 of whom came back positive \u2015 with more than half of those asymptomatic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With such a stark warning that thousands of troops could be spreading the virus but showing no symptoms, the calculus changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe recognize despite, really, our best efforts, we\u2019re going to have to learn how to learn how to operate with the virus,\u201d Rear Adm. Bruce Gillingham, the Navy\u2019s surgeon general told reporters April 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018We\u2019re not there yet\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, however, senior leadership was not ready to start ramping up testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe constraint of the current testing technology is, you may test negative, but the testing is not so accurate to say that you know that person is negative,\u201d Thomas McCaffery, assistant defense secretary for health affairs, told Military Times April 11. \u201cIn that environment we want to make sure we devote those finite resources to the highest priority,” meaning those with symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But by Tuesday, a plan had started to come together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur desire, our aspiration, is to expand testing, especially for groups that are probably going to be in tighter quarters,\u201d Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Military Times, including submariners, bomber aircrews and new recruits heading to training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the information coming out of the TR has been fluid, Hyten said Friday, as asymptomatic positive tests came back, and sailors who originally tested negative later developed symptoms and tested positive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAgain, it\u2019s only 5,000 people, but it is 5,000 people of a certain demographic, and that\u2019s a very important data point to understand, because that is our data point as a military,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nation\u2019s top infectious disease expert has also admitted the shortcomings of testing, notably this week, in response to calls from some states to lift shelter-in-place orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We have to have something in place that is efficient and that we can rely on, and we\u2019re not there yet,\u201d Dr. Anthony Fauci<\/a>, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, DoD has decided that more awareness is better than perfect awareness. Right now, Hyten said, the aircraft carrier Nimitz<\/a> and an unnamed nuclear unit are getting a batch of test kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Nimitz sailor tested positive for COVID-19 on April 8, Navy officials confirmed, as the Naval Base Kitsap, Washington-based carrier prepares to deploy, making it a high priority population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nuclear unit is also high-priority, as submarines and bombers are part of the U.S.’s most critical weapons capabilities. High-end counter-terror units in the special operations community are also on that list, Milley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then there are the services\u2019 newest troops, coming in from a civilian lifestyle and population.<\/p>\n\n\n\t