During the Sanders-Biden debate on CNN Sunday evening, Joe Biden suggested that the National Guard would be deployed to fight the coronavirus. Bernie Sanders was willing to look at that but didn’t commit to sending the National Guard to fight the coronavirus right now.

The National Guard, if ordered to Federal or State Active Duty will do what it has always done —answer the call and report for duty. Is the Coronavirus fight a mission the National Guard can handle? Yes! As you read this column, National Guard members are fully engaged in the fight against the coronavirus.

As outstanding a resource as the members of the National Guard have been since it was known as the Militia and battling the British at Concord Bridge or fighting at Bunker Hill in the Revolutionary War, the National Guard does have its limits.

With 500,000 members, the National Guard does have a number of medical professionals serving in its ranks.  Doctors, physician assistants, nurses, paramedics, and many more medical professionals serve as members of the National Guard while others serve in State Guard units. Our state Guard units primarily respond to emergencies alongside their National Guard counterparts in domestic calls ups.

What makes the National Guard unique is that its members are simultaneously citizens and soldiers. They are your family members, friends, and neighbors, The are truly citizen soldiers. They come from every walk of life in our 50 states and four U.S. Territories. Almost every profession is represented in its ranks from astronauts to zoologists.

Something to consider is that our National Guard members in medical career fields are most likely already serving our cites, counties, and states in those chosen fields. They are doing the job they are trained for in cities and towns across America. Yet, they stand ready to answer the call here or abroad.

While Joe Biden means well and is trying to put as many boots on the ground as possible to fight this pandemic here at home, it may hurt more than it helps to pull doctors from their private practices in America’s towns and put them on federal or state active duty.

As many readers know, we have a physician shortage in this country. Those Americans living in rural America can’t afford to lose their health care providers to a recall to Active Duty of the National Guard’s doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals. At least not all at once. As it stands, today’s call ups are targeted and rural America National Guard members are on duty where Governors have deployed them to “flatten the curve.”

The National Guard is, already part of the solution in the fight to bring its resources to bare in the battle against the coronavirus. The president and the governors of the 50 states have the tools they need to press the National Guard into further service as needed. From a squad to a division, the Guard is ready to go.

Joe Biden’s late son, Beau, was a valued member of the Delaware National Guard. He served with honor in the Judge Advocate General Corp. We know the former Vice President is very proud of his late son Beau. We all are. He was part of the 1 percent of Americans who volunteered to serve his state and nation in our military.

The National Guard has lived up to its motto “Always Ready, Always There!” since before we were the United States of America and were “just” colonies. The 500,000 present members of the National Guard and the millions who served in her ranks are proud to have earned the title citizen soliders.

 

Image Sources

  • National Guard: Shutterstock