EDITORIAL
Protecting
our health
THE Armed Forces continue intensifying their efforts to protect the health of
the Spanish people with their new operation entitled Mission Baluarte. They
are providing support to the Regional Governments in tracing the contacts
of people who are infected with COVID-19 and in monitoring situations of
self-isolation and quarantine. Furthermore, when their help is required, they contribute
with other actions, in particular providing logistic and medical support and in
disinfecting infrastructures.
The primary objective of this mission is to try to stop the spread of the virus and
help save lives. This is what the fight against the coronavirus demands, a disease
that in this second wave continues to cause, in Spain and around the world, a severe
health, social and economic crisis.
In the course of their work, the nearly 3,000 military contact tracers already
working in different parts of Spain, set a daily example of commitment, willingness to
serve and, above all, humanity towards the people they phone, many of whom are
worried about having tested positive for COVID-19 or having been in contact with
someone who has the disease.
Mission Baluarte is demonstrating the high technical skills of the members of the
Army, Air Force, Navy and the Military Emergencies Unit, as well as their immediate
deployment capability throughout the national territory and their extensive expertise
in emergencies. The Armed Forces are held in high esteem by the society they serve
and this, together with their experience in dealing with the civilian authorities, is also a
guarantee of success in coronavirus contact tracing.
Also worth highlighting is the quality of the training received by military trackers
before joining the operation, as well as the work carried out by members of the Military
Emergencies Unit to prepare the civilian contact tracers requested by Regional
Governments.
Looking ahead, the establishment of a European military medical corps, endorsed
by the French and Spanish defence ministers, Florence Parly and Margarita Robles, at
their meeting in Madrid on 24 September, can improve the Armed Forces support to
countries suffering from a pandemic or any other kind of public health crisis. Security
is comprehensive and global, and requires solidarity and close cooperation within the
EU, in order to provide more effective assistance to European citizens.
RED
December 2020 Revista Española de Defensa 3