The Role of the National Guard in Responding to Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Attacks in the U.S.: Where Do We Stand?

Abstract

The potential for terrorists' use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) threatens Americans every day To many nations and groups, their only means to counter the United States (U.S.) is with nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons According to most experts, terrorists use of WMD is no longer a question of "if" they will be used, but "when." When domestic capabilities were found to be lacking in this regard, Congress enacted legislation, Public Law 104-201, and named the National Guard as the primary responder to domestic WMD events. It is evident gaps and shortfalls remain in the National Guard's (NG) ability to respond to domestic WMD attacks, The purpose of this paper is to examine the critical gaps and shortfalls encountered by the CSTs since their activation, This is done by investigating any available materials concerning the NG involvement in the program, identifying the critical gaps and shortfalls encountered by the CSTs, and to coming up with recommendations to correct them. This paper examines current U.S. policy and strategy to counter terrorist uses of weapons of mass destruction. The second section will examine the CSTs infrastructure, The third section identifies and discusses the predominant gaps and shortfalls encounter by the teams. The final section details current shortfalls and recommendations to improve the overall CST capability.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2001
Accession Number
ADA407098

Entities

People

  • Miguel A. Besosa

Organizations

  • Air University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Business Administration
  • Chemical Weapons
  • Civilian Personnel
  • Department Of Homeland Security
  • Emergency Response
  • Employment
  • Health Services
  • Law
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Terrorism
  • United States Government
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Readers

  • Critical Infrastructure Protection in CBRN and WMD Threats.
  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Government and Public Administration Law.