A “severe pandemic” would be comparable to a “global war,” according to a declassified DOD report entitled “Response to Pandemic Influenza.” The report estimates that a modern pandemic could lead to the deaths of 200,000 to 2 million Americans. The report specifically cites Avian flue, but not Swine Flue or SARs.
If a pandemic broke out, this plan dictates that NORCOM will be the military branch responsible for “defending” the American population. The plan states that NORCOM will continue to follow the orders of the President and Secretary of State, and that it will not supersede the the mechanisms of the 50 US states unless it is granted the legal authority to do so by the president.
NORCOM predicts s a six-step pandemic outbreak:
- Suspected outbreak overseas
- Confirmed outbreak overseas
- Spread in multiple regions
- First case(s) in North America
- Spread in United States
- Recovery
The most interesting part of the document, however, is the other contingencies that the military plans for in the event of a pandemic. These include: securing American nukes, responding to a WMD attack, maintaining classified communications systems, and enacting the Continuity of Operations Plan– the plan to make sure that a substantial number of US political and military leaders would survive a nuclear attack.
The document also has an interesting seven-page checklist (pgs. 113-120) to help critical infrastructure personnel keep functioning during a pandemic…Which might be a good idea to print out for your home or business. i.e. “Require everyone entering the facility to wash their hands with soap and water.”
Overall, the DOD seems to have planned for a pandemic fairly well (even if the manual reminds me of its Garden Plot plan). Still, if you’re like me and seen/read The Stand, 12 Monkeys, 28 Days Later, Resident Evil, I am Legend, etc. ect, it doesn’t inspire much faith.
UNREDACTED: The National Security Archive Blog 
2 responses to “Document Friday: The DOD’s “Response to Pandemic Influenza””
Not to mention Soylent Green.
The total death toll from the Spanish Flu in 1918-1919 was on the order of 50 to 100 million; deaths were not counted in South America, Africa, or Asia; only Europe and America, and then only haphazardly; people were too busy being sick, dying or burying the dead. The death toll from a similar flu with the many more billions now on the planet would be exponentially worse.
The military seems to think with enough ‘planning’ they can control everything, including nature. The truth of the matter is, any flu like the previous ones will result in thousands of people dying without respirators and modern level, intense medical care. There are only a few respirators in any big city. Who decides who gets one? Who decides who gets tossed out of one prematurely, so that a rich guy/politician/military professional’s family member can get one? The hospitals have protocol in place to replace ‘critical’ personnel with anyone else in the hospital hierarchy; thus, today you might be a lowly clerk in a back office; if the flu decimates the emergency room personnel, the hospital expects you to come to work (right….) and perform whatever duties are required of you. (I work in a hospital, it’s in the manual…)
Back in 1918, there was no air travel and the spread of the flu was still astonishing. Today, with people getting on and off intercontinental flights by the thousands every day, it will take but 24 hours to spread to every corner of the planet. The only way to avoid it will be to live in a completely walled off small town or village with guards at every entrance to the town, and ‘shoot to kill’ orders for people trying to get in. One town in, I believe, Kansas, did just that and had no deaths from the flu then.
The important thing to remember is that when the government says, ‘don’t panic’, that is your clue to start panicking.