The operation is called "Resilience". With this new mission entrusted to the armies, announced Wednesday evening from the military hospital of Mulhouse, the head of state Emmanuel Macron wanted once again to mark the spirits in the "war" reported to the coronavirus. Anxious to give substance to his martial rhetoric, the President of the Republic promised "support to the populations" thanks to the support of the military forces. He also chose a symbolic word as if to set a goal for the nation.
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Resilience will "federate" and "coordinate" "all the actions carried out by the armies in support of the collective fight against the epidemic," explains the Ministry of the Armed Forces. "This operation will be separate from Operation Sentinel, which continues to focus on its mission to fight terrorism. It will focus on aid and support to populations as well as support to public services to deal with the Covid-19 epidemic, in mainland France and overseas, in the fields of health, logistics and protection ” , we read in the official press release following the presidential announcement. Without more precision.
An operation with still vague outlines
The contours of Resilience are blurred. "The spectrum is quite wide ... It is a question of continuing to do what we are doing," one explains within the Armed Forces. "But now things will be more centralized and better organized," we add. Resilience puts a name on the existing. This "new" operation actually corresponds to putting it in working order.
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Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, the armies have been mobilized several times. Five army training hospitals receive patients with Covid-19. A military hospital has been set up in Mulhouse. Three medical evacuations have already taken place by air from Grand Est and one by sea, thanks to the amphibious helicopter carrier Tonnerre from Corsica. These types of actions will continue, the ministry is told. Others could be added to it, such as disinfection operations, the organization of logistic convoys (to transport masks for example), the protection of sanitary equipment, the provision of military buildings for fortnights ...
Resilience is available to the government, local authorities or prefects to meet the needs identified locally. There is still no question of resorting to armies to enforce containment.
The President of the Republic also announced the mobilization of the amphibious helicopter carriers Mistral and Diksmuide. The three PHA of the French Navy will therefore be used against the epidemic. The Mistral and the Diksmuide, which were on a mission in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, will be diverted from their objectives. They will be able to go to the overseas territories: immediately in the Indian Ocean for the Mistral and "from the beginning of April" for Diksmuide in the Antilles Guyana area.
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The symbol wants to be strong while distant territories can be fragile. But at the Ministry of the Armed Forces, Wednesday evening, we remained vague on the concrete missions that these two buildings could fulfill. The PHAs each have a real on-board hospital. But these are not configured a priori to accommodate patients requiring resuscitation care, patients very different from war wounded.
