The Impact of COVID-19 on the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force: A Command Perspective

Abstract

In Trinidad and Tobago, military commanders were forced to deploy personnel on the frontlines alongside police officers during the COVID-19 pandemic in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus. The armed forces were used to provide drivers to transport returning residents to quarantine facilities and nurses and paramedics to assist with the critically ill at the field hospitals. The military was also utilized to enforce lockdown regulations. The use of the military in these ways exposed personnel to the added risk of contracting the virus, all the while increasing the burdens of their service demands. While there is available scholarship on this phenomenon in Western countries, there is a dearth of similar research in the Caribbean. In light of this gap, a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was conducted with key military personnel of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 virus on the operations of the organization. This essay provides first-hand accounts of the military of Trinidad and Tobago during the pandemic.