I spent 32 years working for Uncle Sugar, and 21 of it was active duty. In this situation, with what I consider a bio attack by China, the rules are different than when it was just a bunch of GI’s crossing a border. During wartime, which this has to be treated as, certain precautions are considered for the safety of those we go toward and walk away from to another group here at home.
Again, I fear that we are talking at cross-purposes / have differing agendas.
I don't doubt your personal experience with military travel. But I still (even today, with Corona) strongly doubt that friendly but foreign powers have "retired" established practices and protocols which, traditionally, allowed armed and uniformed U.S. military members to cross their borders without going through all the rigamarole (filling out customs forms, tourism questionnaires, presenting vaccine passports, etc.) that mere civilians must endure.
If you are arguing that we should be concerned and wish to protect the populaces of foreign countries, as it appears that you are suggesting - that is an entirely different question.
Regards,
“If you are arguing that we should be concerned and wish to protect the populaces of foreign countries, as it appears that you are suggesting - that is an entirely different question.”
This opens up a point you might want to consider. Other than what the media tries to tell people, we are not stationed in a vast majority of the countries we are in to attack or intimidate them. We are there for a mutual need. So as we are there for peaceful purposes with that country, we cannot be a threat to them. So the carrying of the virus into that country by our troops only increases the problems for that country. And as we are a guest in that country they have every right to be certain we will not be a medical liability. Or they can tell us to stay out if they are concerned just like Canada and other countries did.
And if the pro sports teams cannot keep tabs on their personnel for covid protocols trying to maintain the safety of others by lockdowns of a couple of hundred people away from the public when even needed, how can anyone expect Uncle Sugar to maintain the same liability for a number of thousands when contact has to be maintained?
And that is not our decision, it’s the countries we are in and our decision to attend to their wishes for their safety. Diplomacy.
The entrance of our military without their knowledge and approval is an act of war. We can’t and don’t just go where we please, there are rules we are expected to follow. They fall under the Laws Of War.
The laws of war are a component of international law that regulates the conditions for war (jus ad bellum) and the conduct of warring parties (jus in bello). Laws of war define sovereignty and nationhood, states and territories, occupation, and other critical terms of international law. These laws are what governs our entry into any country, peaceful or not. And one of our main objectives when we enter a country is the save harmless of its citizens. Allowing a 40% possibility of troops carrying the virus into an ally, is not going to win (or keep) friends. And, as per above, it is illegal.
wy69