This week, the Chief of Defence Staff of the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom, General Sir Nick Carter stood alongside the Foreign Secretary and Chief Medical Officer for the Daily Downing Street Coronavirus Briefing.
’What do you think he is doing there?’ I was asked. It was an obvious coup for the ruling government and masterstroke of PR. By the England’s ruling party aligning themselves with all of the positive results from the military’s efforts to flatten the curve, it may seek to deflect from their own short-falls on the PPE shortages for key workers, gagging orders on under-resourced NHS staff, the missed 5 COBRA emergency meetings by the Prime Minister and defying WHO guidelines on public mask usage.
The military inspires nationalistic pride, when all else fails and social order is tearing apart at the seams as people hoard toilet paper, we can count on the cool, calm stoicism of the men and women in camouflage to help establish order.
General Sir Nick was quietly commanding and eloquent, as all good Officers trained to deliver orders should be. He was exact in his speech and confident in its delivery. For many this made a welcome change from stuttering politicians repeating hollow platitudes, the public response was overwhelmingly positive:
Covered by General Sir Nick in his Downing St Briefing, the text below, largely from BFBS, highlights some what the UK military has done to combat COVID-19.
Information largely extracted from BFBS Forces News. Footnotes omitted.
Due to website formatting, indentations on bracketed points (1) (2) (3) are not in keeping with JSP 101.
MOD COVID-19 RESPONSE
References:
A. Coronavirus Act 2020.
B. National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.
C. 2015 to 2020 government policy: Military Aid to the Civil Authorities for activities in the UK.
D. Operations in the UK: The Defence Contribution to Resilience, JDP 02.
E. Commons Briefing Paper No. 08074 Coronavirus: Deploying the armed forces in the UK.
F. BFBS Forces News https://www.forces.net/news/extra-10000-british-troops-coronavirus-standby
1. Introduction. This point brief has been produced to accurately inform readers of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) COVID-19 response, through military aid to the civil authorities (MACA) as part of the UK government response. This information is disseminated in accordance with Reference A, B, C, D, E & F.
2. Summary. The MoD has created COVID Support Force to fulfil requests for military aid to the civil authorities.
a. Military reservists with required specialist skills (such as engineering and accounting) have been mobilised to support public services as part of COVID Support Force.
b. Military planners, medics and engineers have converted conference centres into hospitals, such as the NHS Nightingale Hospital.
c. Soldiers have been drafted in, short-term, to assist in the distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to NHS hospitals across the UK.
d. Soldiers have been trained to drive oxygen tankers.
e. Forces from Joint Helicopter Command are on standby to assist civil authorities.
f. The MoD has conducted repatriation flights of British nationals.
3. Background. The response to the pandemic has drawn on MoD resources because of the need for a quick response to protect human life, property and the alleviation of distress. The COVID-19 pandemic response is coordinated by COBR/Civil Contingencies Committee (CCC). The Prime Minister or nominated Secretary of State leads in the event of a catastrophic incident requiring the involvement of Central Government to deliver an effective response, or where Emergency Powers are invoked.
a. COVID Support Force. There are 20,000 military personnel on standby as part of COVID Support Force. 2,631 personnel are currently deployed to assist with 82 open MACA requests.
(1) Temporary treatment facilities. Three convention centres, one each in London, Birmingham and Glasgow have been converted into NHS hospitals by military personnel. These hospitals are to be manned by both NHS and military medical personnel.
(2) Delivering PPE. UK military personnel have been delivering personal protective equipment (PPE) to frontline NHS staff. The PPE includes items such as masks, safety glasses, gloves, aprons and protective suits. Military personnel are stationed at seven NHS distributions centres across the country, delivering to 242 NHS locations. Last month, Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated that 7.5 million pieces of protective equipment, including face masks, had been distributed by the Army in a 24-hour period.
(3) Transport and Logistics. 150 tri-service personnel have been trained to drive oxygen tankers in support of the NHS. Others have been trained to drive ambulances when required. Joint Helicopter Command (JHC), an aircraft force comprising all three services, is on standby and will be used to reach isolated communities that may not be able to obtain urgent medical care. JHC has also been used to support air ambulance operations and to transport essential equipment for the NHS. The MoD has conducted repatriation flights, most recently bringing back British nationals who were stranded on a cruise ship in Cuba.
b. Tackling misinformation. The UK Government’s Rapid Response Unit operating from within the Cabinet Office is being supported by a team from the Ministry of Defence, including members of 77 Brigade. Together they are tackling a range of harmful narratives online - from purported ‘experts’ issuing dangerous misinformation to criminal fraudsters running phishing scams. A common claim states that MoD personnel will be deployed to patrol civilian streets, enforce the law and maintain a curfew. This claim is false. Unlike Italy, France and Spain, the UK has no gendarmery capability, a military force with police duties among the civilian population. UK service personnel are required to act within the rule of law and will normally have no special legal powers beyond those of the ordinary citizen. Any citizen, including a member of the Armed Forces, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland may arrest offenders for a breach of the peace. In agreeing to the provision of MACA support, the MoD agrees that service personnel can act under the supervision or direction of the police or other civil power to perform tasks.
S Etienne