Employment of the Reserve Medical Force in Consequence Management/WMD
Abstract
Although the end of the cold war brought promises of a new world order, terrorism in the next century presents a potentially more lethal and complex threat to the continental United States. This paper addresses three areas. First, the emerging threats and motives for use of weapons of mass destruction will be examined. Second, several Presidential Decision Directives and DoD Directives and actions required by Public Laws will be reviewed. Finally, the types of medical force structure in each of the Reserve components and their capabilities to respond to weapons of mass casualties" will be examined. The Department of Defense will play a major role in the domestic response to weapons of mass casualties." The emerging threats and motives for use of weapons of mass casualties" strongly support the further use of the reserve components when the demand placed on the Healthcare System following a WMD incident is unprecedented. Although the Army National Guard and Air Guard have early deploying capabilities to respond to a WMD incident, most reserve components do not have adequate deployable medical systems at home station" nor do they possess complete support requirements to respond to a domestic WMD incident when they will be needed.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA380125
Entities
People
- James M. Baker
Organizations
- United States Army War College