Dumb Rules Be Gone
“If sickly, leave quickly.”
In Korea, the chain of command passed this mantra down when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the peninsula about a month before the United States.
There were many new policies and procedures put in place to mitigate what was then a regional epidemic. One change was for soldiers to forgo sick call and stay at home if sick. If soldiers experienced symptoms while at work, they were immediately sent home.
Once isolated from others, soldiers would call their medical provider and receive instructions to either go for an in-person visit or stay home until they felt better.
The military wasn’t the only pillar of government doing things differently. A recent Planet Money episode highlighted how local and state governments waived or changed rules in response to Covid-19.
One change was to allow restaurants to sell alcoholic beverages to-go. Another was to suspend licensing requirements for nurses who wanted to work in other states.
If these rules — and others — were so easily suspended, then why did they exist in the first place?
“Every day, rules are going out the window. And maybe some of the pre-Covid rules should stay broken,” said Sarah Gonzalez in the Planet Money episode.
Almost by accident, military leaders are discovering that some of the old rules didn’t make sense.
Commanders and senior enlisted leaders learned that instead of sending soldiers to sick call, they could trust soldiers to tell the truth about their illness — imagine that! — and seek appropriate medical care.
Non-essential meetings? Canceled.
Large PT formations? Canceled.
Junior enlisted soldiers signing out for leave in person? Canceled.
If we’re smart, we’ll take stock of things that worked better because of the Covid-19 mitigations and keep the things we like.
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The views expressed are those of Brennan Randel and do not reflect the official position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or any government agency.
