Spencer’s article on the military’s homeland security mission got me thinking. So I did a little digging, and found this Pentagon “Strategy for Homeland Defense and Civil Support.” It reinforces the money quote from Spencer’s Katrina response story, that “the system that we have worked as it was designed. It was never designed to get masses of aid into place in 24 hours. And that’s the problem.“
Check out the teeny-tiny emphasis that the generals place on responding to a disaster that doesn’t have to do with WMD:
Key Objectives of the Strategy
Within the lead, support, and enable frame work for homeland defense and civil support, the Department is focused on the following paramount objectives, listed in order of priority:
Achieve maximum awareness of
potential threats. Together with the Intelligence Community and civil authorities, DoD works to obtain and promptly exploit all actionable information needed to protect the United States. Timely and actionable intelligence, together with early warning, is the most critical enabler to protecting the United States at a safe distance.
Deter, intercept and defeat threats at a safe distance. The Department of Defense will actively work to deter adversaries from attacking the US homeland. Through our deterrent posture and capabilities, we will convince adversaries that threats to the US homeland risk unacceptable counteraction by the United States. Should deterrence fail, we will seek to intercept and defeat threats at a safe distance from the United States. When directed by the President or the Secretary of Defense, we will also defeat direct threats within US airspace and on US territory. In all cases, the Department of Defense cooperates closely with its domestic and international partners and acts in accordance with applicable laws.
Achieve mission assurance. The Department of Defense performs assigned duties even under attack or after disruption. We achieve mission assurance through force protection, ensuring the security of defense critical infrastructure, and executing defense crisis management and continuity of operations (COOP).
Support civil authorities in minimizing the damage and recovering from domestic chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or high-yield explosive (CBRNE) mass casualty attacks. The Department of Defense will be prepared to provide forces and capabilities in support of domestic CBRNE consequence management, with an emphasis on preparing for multiple, simultaneous mass casualty incidents. DoDs responses will be planned, practiced, and carefully integrated into the national response. With the exception of a dedicated command and control element (currently the Joint Task Force Civil Support) and the Army National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Civil Support Teams, DoD will rely on dual capable forces for the domestic consequence management mission. These dual capable forces must be trained, equipped, and ready to provide timely assistance to civil authorities in times of domestic CBRNE catastrophes, programming for this capability when directed.
Improve national and international capabilities for homeland defense and homeland security. The Department of Defense is learning from the experiences of domestic and international partners and sharing expertise with Federal, state, local, and tribal authorities, the private sector, and US allies and friends abroad. By sharing expertise, we improve the ability of the Department of Defense to carry out an active, layered defense. (emphasis mine)
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
It appears as though this particular strategy focuses on homeland defense and civil support from threats that are perpetrated by humans.
Inherent in this strategy is an applied view that in a federalist, democratic government, the role of the military is not to protect citizens from natural disasters or other events that don’t constitute acts of war. That seems right to me.
Sir,
I am retired military and a civil servant and did some work on a couple of issues that are being researched. The Gray Water cleanup and recycle capability and NBC cleanup. Global Environmental Technologies, Allentown, PA, produced these systems based on projects that I seen as needed. I firmly believe you should discuss with Mr. Primo Acernese (610-821-8060)and possibly test these capabilities.
V/r
Richard E. Long
910-583-0488
Good Morning,
I’ve been following Katrina now since before it happened and have heard blame layed every where but, perhaps the most logical place.
What you have see with Katrina is what you get with a smaller cheaper Government. When you privateize services to save a few bucks and keep taxes low don’t be surprised that you Communication Systems go out, there is no fuel for you your responders and you underpaid Law Enforcement Officers throw off their uniforms and make the best of what they can.
Everyone lamented that the Military didn’t respond sooner, well folks they are in Iraq, not at Ft. Hood along with their equipment. A question that some one might ask, jush how many people are really in the active Military?
Are we seeing Hot Racking with Army and Marine Divisions?
When you state Government doesn’t have the money to equip and man an emergency commouncations and command center because they subsidise an NFL Teams, ($87 Million in ’04) who by the way was the first with it’s hand out for “Post Katrina” money.
The State of Louisana like most of the reast of the South Eastern United States has prided itself for low taxes for years, now the bill has come due and they can’t pay.
It was President Clinton who proclaimed the end of the era of “Big Government”, will President Bush tomorrow night say that “Big Government” is back and call for a “Red Neck New Deal” for the Gulf States?
ALLONS,
Byron Skinner
“Stewart’s Platoon”
Byron, Byron, Byron …
I just can’t bring myself to lay this on the feet of small government. In fact, it seems to me that this has been one of the biggest failures of big government in modern times.
State and local governments have become more and more reliant upon the federal government to operate, that reliance is nowhere more apparent than in critical times such as Hurricane Katrina. The more and more centralized government becomes, the thicker the bureacracy grows, and the less efficient model it becomes. I would think it almost impossible that a FEMA-like organization at the national level could be created that could deliver adequate funding and adequate resources in 24 hours to an infinite number of possible disasters. However, I do think that on a local level such an organization can be created to handle the most common or possible problems in each localized region.
The truth of the matter is that money wasn’t the issue. Busses weren’t stuck in parking lots because NOLA financed an NFL team, and the 250K national guard troops still in this country weren’t held up by their breatheren in Iraq. The whole response was a failure because there was noone at the local level willing or competent enough to execute the emergency plan, even though one exists and can be found readily on the NOLA website.
It seems to me that the attitude that the federal government is the first and last resort of every problem and issue, which has permeated state and local governments as well as the general populace, is the prime enabler for the Katrina failures.
B
If you ask me, it’s not Big Government that caused the disaster in New Orleans.
It wasn’t Small Government that caused it either.
It was Crap Government that caused the Hurricane Katrina disaster. It was the fact that government at the city, state, and federal levels and in both political parties has gotten tremendously good at lining its pockets and paying back their campaign contributors and absolutely terrible at actually governing anything or anybody.
So it’s not because the government got too big or too small. It’s that it sucks across the board.
It is FEMA’s job. Job as in 5 days a week 40 hours a week to handle these kinds of things. It is what they are funded to do.
FEMA was responsible.
jtw: Are you so sure about that? I’m pretty sure FEMA was never intended to be a first responder.
Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that is intended to be a first responder. Do you think it’s possible, at the federal level, to be ready for any emergency in any city at any given time? I’m not sure that the US government, with it’s levels of bureacracy, and the amazing logistics required, would make such an goal possible.
Definition of FEMA = Agency of the US government tasked with Disaster Mitigation, Preparedness, Response & Recovery planning. http://www.fema.gov.
They had over a week to prepare for the Category 5 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico before it hit. It wasnt until a week after it actually hit did I see any form of reasonable response and recovery take place.
That is a failure in FEMA.
Fema and Red Cross showed up immediately after the Storm and the Mayor and the Governor turned them away because they were afraid more would flock to the Superdome. They also had ample time to prepare for a cat 5, especially knowing the levees were only built to take a cat 3. I totally blame the state officials of Lousiana.
As for Homeland Security, I see all this as non working , why? because the government can’t do anything without Dirty Politics. Never what is best for this country, but what politican of what state is the biggest Whinner, or has the most funds to line someone elses pocket.
Privitize where U can & governmentize others
IE food services, admin, non emerg logistics,
non emerg medical care, payroll, HR.
BUT for Defense, FEMA etc heavy Govt.
Give FEMA its own C3I trucks & copters & Medevac air units from Govt surplus souirces.
Assign Guard Units to FEMA for Emergency Aid Security Response Force.
(NO looting).
Or shall we face again maybe a dble hit:
tusunami & Mach 2 hurricane force winds, or mini asteroid hitting Earth.
Folks,
I think the neocons are doing an admirible job of “proving” to each and every one of us that big government doesn’t work( and making it so.
Keep putting the political hacks in power, and infesting the federal bureaucacy until it all breaks down. The head of FEMA had a 42(!) minute confirmation hearing, I sure he was asked no questions of importance regarding his ability to actually DO his job.
The next step after these people have dismantled the government as much as possible will be for them to say:
“Yeah, it doesn’t work very well, but if you go along with US, we’ll make it work for YOU (the individual)…” I call that an invitation to totalitarianism, because If I called it fascism everyone would say “where’s the concentration camps, and swastikas”, and ignore the fact that nazi germany was only one of many models of fascism.
I don’t know where to go for this concern and I doubt that this will be read, but I would like to start a petition to make an admendment to the Constitution that states that “The men and women in the National Guard and Reserves be deployed ONLY in the United States of America”. They’re called the National Guard for a reason. Thanks for listening.
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