Narrative
MA USA
The effects of COVID-19 on the United States of America have been more pronounced than in any other nation. Lockdowns began in late March/early April and have only just now begun to lift. With over 2 million cases and nearly 120,000 deaths the domestic and international media spotlight has highlighted a nation divided, with these divisions recently exacerbated by the protests following George Floyd’s death at the hands of police. But what is the reality of what is happening in the United States? Is it as bad as CNN makes out?
If you were to walk the streets of most US cities today, you would encounter mask wearing citizens taking great pains to stay socially distanced where they can. In other areas you will find fringe groups wielding body armour and weapons protesting their rights for freedom against the COVID restrictions. One group obviously takes more media time than another. COVID statistics and scaremongering flood mainstream media and the overwhelming nature of the negative media turns many people to a state of accepted apathy. What can they do?
Yet the US Department of Defence (DoD) did not have this luxury. The US military has been affected by the virus on multiple levels, and has tragically lost service members. Yet its responsibilities have not ceased. Conflicts continue and Great Power Competition is now a reality. The need for readiness, continued capability development and training needed to be balanced with protecting people and the requirement to support the whole of government response to the virus.
The massive organisation that is the US Military is blessed with resources, yet its size and structure can make it cumbersome to react rapidly to needed change. COVID-19 presented a significant challenge in this respect, and the US military was not immune from mistakes. Yet they did respond and have negotiated Federal, State, County and International restrictions in an ongoing challenge to continue delivering their operational outputs domestically and around the world.
Biographies
MA USA – Lieutenant Colonel Aidan Shattock
Lieutenant Colonel Aidan Shattock is the Military Attaché and Assistance Defence Attaché to the United States.
Lieutenant Colonel Shattock joined the Army on 9 January 1997 and completed his training under the Kippenberger Scheme, graduating into the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment on 19 December 1999.
Lieutenant Colonel Shattock was then posted to 2nd/1st Battalion in Burnham where he held four appointments, including Platoon Commander and Company Second in Command from 2000 – 2003 and Battalion Adjutant and then Officer Commanding of B Company from 2007 – 2009.
Lieutenant Colonel Shattock held instructional posts at the Combat School as Executive Officer and Senior Instructor Small Arms Wing from 2005 – 2006. He was also the Chief Instructor of Non-Commissioned Officer’s School in 2011 and Second in Command of Army Command School in 2012.
Lieutenant Colonel Shattock held several staff appointments including a role in Policy and Plans Branch in 2004, Senior Communications and Media Advisor Army in 2013 and capability staff officer in Army General Staff in 2014. From Dec 2014 to Dec 2016 he was the Chief of Staff for 1st (NZ) Brigade.
Lieutenant Colonel Shattock took command of the 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment in Dec 2016, before being posted to his current role as the Military Attaché to the United States based in Washington D.C. in Dec 2018.
Lieutenant Colonel Shattock has completed operational deployments in East Timor (NZBATT5 2001/02), the Sinai (FARAD 2003), Afghanistan (TU CRIB 14 2009) and Afghanistan (ANAOA 2013/14).
Lieutenant Colonel Shattock is a graduate of Australian Command and Staff College. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in History from Massey University and a Master of Arts degree in Strategy and Policy from the University of New South Wales.
USFK – COL Clint Murray
COL Clint Murray is currently the United States Forces Korea and United Nations Command Surgeon. Colonel Murray grew up in Lubbock, TX. He received his BS degree in Biochemistry from Texas Tech University in 1991, MD degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in 1996, and Master of Strategic Study degree from the Army War College in 2015. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 1999 and a fellowship in Infectious Disease (ID) at Brooke Army Medical Center/San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium in 2002.
He is currently the United States Forces Korea and United Nations Command Surgeon. He previously served as the Commander of the 1st Area Medical Laboratory, the Army’s only operational deployable laboratory for theater level validation of Chemical, Biological, Radio-logical and Nuclear agents from 2017-2019. He served as the Deputy Corps Chief for the Medical Corps and Medical Corps Specific Branch Proponency Officer from 2015 to 2017, Chief of the ID Service at BAMC from 2011-2015, and Program Director for the combined Army and Air Force ID Fellowship in San Antonio, TX from 2005-2012. He was the ID Consultant to the U.S. Army Surgeon General from 2016-2020. He is Professor of Medicine at USUHS, Fellow of the Infectious Disease Society of America and Master of the American College of Physicians.
He deployed as the senior medical officer of a medical company, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division to Ramadi, Iraq in 2003-04 under the 82nd Airborne Division for 6 months and 1st Marine Expeditionary Force for the 2nd 6 months. He deployed in 2012 for an infection control and ID review of 20+ US, coalition and Afghan medical treatment facilities. In 2013, he worked with the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan assisting the establishment of the ID/Preventive Medicine residency program of the Afghan National Army in Kabul. He returned to Afghanistan in 2015 with the Expeditionary Surgical Assessment Team supporting the Special Operations Command’s review of the golden-hour surgical capability. In addition, he performed research and teaching across Africa, Asia, Europe, and South/Central America.
He has published over 340 peer-reviewed manuscripts, guidelines, reviews and book chapters. His research areas include global health security, leptospirosis, multidrug-resistant bacteria such as MRSA and Acinetobacter, and combat-related injury infections including burns and extremity trauma.
He military awards include the ‘A’ Proficiency Designator in ID, Order of Military Medical Merit, Combat Action Badge, Parachute Badge, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, and International Security Assistance Force Operation NATO Medal. He received over 30 research, mentoring and teaching awards.
He is the proud father of 2 daughters, Callie and Sidney, and married for over 28 years to Lee Ann, his high school sweetheart.
He is slated to command the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research the summer of 2020.
Op MOHUA – WO2 Kelly Carter
WO2 Kelly Carter is currently deployed in Iraq as the OP MOHUA Warrant Officer for the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve where she is the lead Assessments Officer for Task Force Iraq operations. During her deployment WO2 Carter has also spent time in Kuwait, her presentation discusses the impacts of COVID-19 operations as it specifically relates to forces within Kuwait and Iraq.
