America treats biodefense too much like a public health backstop and not enough like military force protection. This mindset must change. As a former combat aviator, I learned that readiness is built before the threat appears. Those sent into danger need training, equipment, and intelligence before the risk is taken. Biological threats require the exact same preemptive approach.
The Speed Gap: Why biological threats outpace government bureaucracy
Warfare history teaches us that a biological event does not need to be a deliberate attack to have severe military consequences. A natural outbreak or accidental release can paralyze deployments and homeland defense. The practical gap is speed: biological threats move faster than policy, procurement, and interagency coordination.
By the time a new viral crisis is visible, the defense community is already behind. Surveillance, diagnostics, and therapeutics often lag behind the virus’s spread. This leaves commanders with far fewer options in the toolbox than they need. Therefore, broad-spectrum prophylactic antiviral countermeasures must be part of the force protection conversation from the very beginning.
Prophylaxis as a Shield: The critical need for broad-spectrum solutions
Serious evaluation of promising technology must start long before a novel virus outbreak. Developing protection against unknown future threats is nearly impossible without government partnership and access to high-containment laboratories. In an emerging outbreak, a broad-spectrum prophylactic is designed to protect troops in close quarters or medical staff before a specific vaccine is developed.
The Ebola virus provides a clear example. The lack of a licensed vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain underscores the necessity of a deployable prophylactic. Preclinical work at USAMRIID has produced compelling results involving rintatolimod, showing 100% survival in lethal models. However, without moving these findings through FDA-regulated pathways and into stockpiles, they remain mere research findings rather than operational tools.
Lessons from the USS Theodore Roosevelt: Integrating science into readiness
The COVID-19 pandemic offered a stark lesson in force readiness. The outbreak aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt infected 1,200 sailors and disrupted the operations of a vital military asset. Research on potential coronavirus treatments existed years prior, but it was not advanced into ready government-approved countermeasures before the crisis arrived.
Had these tools been fully evaluated and implemented, commanders might have had options to mitigate the impact. Biodefense is force protection. Medical countermeasures must be treated as part of defense readiness, not just public health tools. Readiness means protection before exposure and options before a mission is compromised. The next biological threat will not wait for a procurement cycle; we must prepare now so we are not found wanting tomorrow.
