The civilian and military cooperation in managing the covid-19 pandemic as a part of military operation other than war: the achievement towards a resilient whole of society approach in Malaysia

The COVID-19 Pandemic, as a deadly new group of viruses, emerged as a global health security issue that rapidly could be transmitted among humans. The outbreak of the virus around the globe has affected social stability. The development of an effective strategy in preventing the pandemic from spreading within society became the countries’ main priority in managing the pandemic crisis. The failure of countries in dealing with the pandemic effectively, will pose a higher cost to the country’s stability. Malaysia had established the National Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) and engaged the government agencies and society in breaking the chain of virus infections in the community. The deployment of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) in managing this crisis together with the other government agencies as well as the wider community collaborated as a holistic effort under the Whole of Society Approach. As one of the MAF roles and tasks under Military Operation Other Than War (MOOTW), the MAF had utilised the Civilian and Military Cooperation (CIMIC) platform in organising the collaborative effort together with the related government agencies and the society. The objective of this study is to determine the CIMIC concept in managing the national pandemic crisis towards the achievement of Malaysia’s resilient Whole of Society Approach. The Quantitative Research employed in this study was underpinned by data derived from online questionnaires from the 12th Malaysian Infantry Brigade’s troops, related government agencies as well as non-government organisations, and communities involved with the Malaysian Army’s OP PENAWAR in Kuala Lumpur and surrounding areas. In analysing the findings, the relevant literature and theories had been supported by empirical data attained through descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, regression analysis and mediating analysis had been conducted by using Statistical Package Social Science (SPSS) Version 25.0 Software. The study found that all the study’s Independent Variables, CIMIC Roles, National Security Policy, Crisis Response Protocols and People Behaviour had shown a high level of relationship with the Dependent Variable, Whole of Society Approach. The study also found that the CIMIC Roles are the most significant factors that contributed to the Whole of Society Approach. The Political Will as the Mediating Variable of the study had been analysed that had the mediator factor with Crisis Response Protocols and People Behaviour on the Whole of Society Approach. The attribution factors in improving the CIMIC roles and tasks towards a Resilient Whole of Society Approach in managing the pandemic also were identified in the study. These findings had been articulated to provide a significant contribution theoretically through a proposed model for the study and practice for CIMIC’s military doctrine improvement in dealing with the similar Non-Traditional Threats in the future.