As of Thursday, 2,050 members of the National Guard have been activated in 23 states to provide personnel, facilities, or other support to civilian forces fighting coronavirus. That number could double by this weekend according to the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, Gen. Joseph L. Lengyel.
"When there's a hurricane you can see it on a map. You have a sense of how hard the storm will hit and how long the storm will last," Lengyel said at a Pentagon press briefing on Thursday. "COVID-19 is like we have 54 separate hurricanes in every state and territory and the District of Columbia. Some are Category 5's, some are Category 3's, some are Category 1's."
Meaning Lengyel does not yet know in what capacity and what numbers members of the National Guard will be needed — but he anticipates tens of thousands will be activated to respond to the situation which the country has seen "quickly blossom."
Currently activated members of the National Guard are supporting the fight against coronavirus in a number of ways. In New York, Guardsmen are distributing food. The Tennessee Air National Guard flew half a million test swabs from Italy to Nashville in a C-17 on Wednesday. In South Florida, 500 soldiers are assisting sample collection.
"Going forward we expect the role of the National Guard will continue to grow and evolve to meet the country's needs during this historic pandemic," Lengyel said. "We remain flexible and committed to whatever mission we are called to do."
The 450,000 total members of the National Guard are stationed in almost every zip code, according to Lengyel. And in those zip codes is where they should stay. To federalize the Guard in response to this pandemic, Lengyel said, would be a mistake.
"That would make no sense in this situation," Lengyel said of floated recommendations that the president take control of the Guard's resources. "The best use of the National Guard is to use the National Guard for the unique authorities that it has — and that is to remain under the command control of the networks in the states."
"When disaster strikes we don't have to mobilize from some base, we pack a lunch, we go to work because we are already there in these communities," Lengyel added.
At this time, no formal request to federalize the National Guard has been made.
As is, almost every member of the National Guard being activated to combat COVID-19 in a medical capacity is one being removed from the ongoing efforts in the civilian health system.
"If you were to activate the reserve force's medical component and bring them on duty in the military, you're taking them out of the civilian system. There's a zero-sum game here."
Lengyel's comments mirror those made throughout the week by Pentagon officials cautioning against relying too heavily on the military's medical capacities.
Not including the hospital ships, the Department of Defense has approximately 1,000 hospital beds ready to augment those available in the United States health system according to Brig. Gen. Paul Friedrichs, joint staff surgeon, Joint Chiefs of Staff.
That being said, Pentagon officials have cautioned throughout the week regarding the limitations of the military's medical capabilities.
"What we're trying to be very careful of is not overpromising...Our fixed facilities are designed to the force that we have," Friedrichs said at a press briefing Tuesday.
As of March 19, the Department of Defense reported 81 confirmed COVID-19 cases including 51 active-duty cases.
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