FRIDAY FOTO (April 17, 2020)

Keeping Their Distance.

(U.S. Army photo by Army Specialist Ryan Lucas)

Army paratroopers participate in physical training at Caserma Del Din, Italy on March 31, 2020. Note they’re practicing social distancing. All of the armed services are grappling with how, when and where to train a force that is supposed to be ready to protect the country any time, anywhere.

That’s been especially tricky in Italy — one of the European countries hardest-hit by the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. That outbreak has sickened 168,941 people and killed 22,172 in Italy, according to the World Health Organization.

The pandemic’s devastation — 139,515 deaths worldwide — shows that the U.S. military must prepare to operate in a new domain besides land, sea, air, space and cyber, according to the top commander of U.S. naval forces in Europe and Africa.

“That seventh domain is just simply germs. It’s the biosphere we operate in,” Admiral James Foggo III said April 15 during a webcast for Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space 2020: Virtual Edition. “And I think we’re going to have to take that into account in our preparations for deterrence and defense in the future,” said Foggo.