A senior Pentagon official recently highlighted the need for the United States to have a “departmentwide focus” on increasing biological threats after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Deborah G. Rosenblum, assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical, and biological defense programs, recently noted that the United States is facing a rapidly increasing number of biological threats across the globe, including those posed by “competitors, non-state actors and naturally occurring pandemics” that require an “integrated” focus by the Department of Defense.
Rosenblum suggested that an “integrated deterrence” against biological threats will require a “combat credible force” that is “capable of fighting through biothreats and being resilient” in the face of increasing dangers.
“These threats certainly impact the readiness and resilience of our military forces,” Rosenblum claimed. “Biodefense is no longer something that’s the purview of just specialized units who have traditionally been worried about these threats.”
According to the Department of Defense, the Biodefense Posture Review was ordered by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III in a 2021 memo that unveiled the department’s vision for biodefense.
The Biodefense Posture Review emphasizes the need for early warning protocols and the proper understanding of new biological threats, preparing the military to respond to biological threats, improving the Defense Department’s collaboration to strengthen America’s biodefense, and mitigating the impact of biological threats on the department’s missions.
