Armed forces distribution of vaccine makes perfect sense

Posted January 2021

By Jackson Rodriguez

Cub Reporter

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to kill Americans and the economy, the executive branch is looking into ways to distribute the vaccine that could mean life or death to Americans and their families. President Trump announced on Dec. 17, 2020 that the Department of Defense will be tasked with tackling the logistics of vaccine distribution, working closely with the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. To many regular Americans, this can be frightening. The armed forces of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard tasked with maintaining the control of lifesaving resources? When in reality, it makes perfect sense.

The Department of Defense’s budget for the fiscal year of 2020 was $721.5 billion; that’s 3.2% of America’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), more than any other nation on Earth. That cost has been debated in Congress for decades, but what is undebatable is that America has the strongest military force the world has ever known. The eight uniformed service branches of the United States provide unmatched lethality, survivability, and capability in today's era of great power competition. Logistics have always been the backbone of our military, making it the best resource for distribution. With over 13,000 aircraft, 225,000 transport vehicles, 1,892 warships, and 485 federally owned merchant ships, American military equipment assets overpower any nation or private corporation, not to mention the 243,500 uniformed healthcare personnel working in all areas of medicine, from veterinary care, to pharmacy, and nurses.

President Trump authorized $17.8 billion for immediate use by General Gustave Perna, Chief Operating Officer of Operation Warp Speed, and Commanding General of the United States Army Materiel and Joint Munitions Command. In 2021, the United States military, and its 1.3 million men and women, stand ready to engage and destroy the invisible enemy terrorizing millions of Americans. It’s now up to President-Elect Joseph Biden and his administration to continue to move the nation further along the road to recovery—should he choose to use his predecessor's idea.