US Army brings biological threats into routine combat training

A new plan calls for training to operate amid biological contamination, with readiness targeted for 2035.

Commanders, intelligence specialists and logistics units will practise maintaining combat capability and continuing operations in contaminated environments. Biological threats will be treated as potential disruptions to military missions as well as problems for medical services.

According to RIA Novosti, Alison Tamasi, an official at the Army’s Nuclear and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Agency, acknowledged that the military cannot guarantee protection for every soldier against every possible biological threat. That limitation underpins the emphasis on preparing troops to operate under such conditions.

The plan implements the updated biodefence strategy published in September. The Army’s official website describes the 2035 goal as combining institutional knowledge, early warning and protected equipment for operations in biologically contested environments. The revised approach also reflects lessons from COVID-19, which exposed limits to relying on civilian public health measures to protect military operations.