Strategic principles and historical lessons learned: the Angels of Bataan and Corregidor case study as an example for contemporary military nurses

Abstract: Whether a large urban trauma center facing varied healthcare crises, an understaffed hospital during a pandemic, or a remote and austere setting in a combat zone during active war, the lines between United States (US) military nurses serving in civilian or military settings continue to blur. Health care systems across America face uncharted challenges, including imminent closure related to financial factors, threats of future pandemics with equal or worse devastation than COVID-19, and outbreaks of war across the globe that require the specialty skills of medical professionals working in the US. These challenges require informed and appropriate responses from the US military that address medical readiness, force sustainment, and perhaps even the use of soft power through global health diplomacy. This paper presents a concise yet thoughtful examination of strategic success and failure during pivotal moments in American history. It then applies these examples to a case study involving seventy-seven Army and Navy nurses captured and held as prisoners of war (POWs) during World War II (WWII). This examination and discussion aim to inspire new and innovative solutions for the utilization of US military nurses in a rapidly changing global geopolitical environment.