A private donation of medical-grade respiratory masks was recently made to help civilian security guards who each day manage the flow of thousands of people to and from the U.S. Naval Submarine Base in Groton, Connecticut.
But the guards never got to use the donated gear because Navy officials seized it and instead provided simple cloth masks. The stated reason for the seizure? The donated masks are being held in reserve (a/k/a/ “hoarded”) for future “emergencies.”
In response, the President of the guard’s union pointed out that the present situation is an emergency: "This is the first pandemic since 1918. The president has declared this a national emergency. (Gov. Ned) Lamont has declared this a public health emergency, I get it if it's an emergency and we don't have the equipment, but we have the equipment."
The story as reported by local press is here.
Does the Navy know something about the future course of this pandemic that we ordinary citizens haven’t been told?
If the Navy trusted the rosy statements of its Commander In Chief about the future course of this pandemic, or about the ramped-up production and distribution of protective equipment, then why would it need to seize and hoard a donation of masks made to benefit its civilian base guards?
On the other hand, maybe the Navy’s action is not such a mystery. After all, even rats supposedly possess sufficient intelligence to know when a ship is about to sink.