# The U.S. military's possible role in responding to the pandemic

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-u-s-militarys-possible-role-in-responding-to-the-pandemic/849697>\
**Category:** The Quarantine Zone\
**Tags:** covid-quarantine\
**Created:** [March 18, 2020, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-u-s-militarys-possible-role-in-responding-to-the-pandemic/849697 "2020-03-18T01:39:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-u-s-militarys-possible-role-in-responding-to-the-pandemic/849697/1 "2020-03-18T01:39:14Z")

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An interesting CNN opinion piece from a retired Army general: [Retired general: What is reasonable to expect from US military in a pandemic (opinion) | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/17/opinions/what-the-military-can-and-cant-do-in-pandemic-hertling/index.html)

TLDR: Don’t expect too much, and bringing in the military will mean other needs will have to go unmet.

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**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-u-s-militarys-possible-role-in-responding-to-the-pandemic/849697/2 "2020-03-18T01:50:59Z")

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I see no reasonable justification to have the US Armed Forces getting involved with this other than how they already are. The civilian authorities are the ones to respond to this crisis and the military really won’t be bringing anything new/improved to the table.