Homeland Defense: DOD Needs to Address Gaps in Homeland Defense and Civil Support Guidance
Abstract
Why GAO Did This Study. Defending U.S. territory and citizens is the highest priority of DOD, and providing defense support of civil authorities is one of the department s primary missions. DOD is the federal agency with lead responsibility for homeland defense, whereas for civil support missions DOD provides assistance to the lead civilian federal agency, such as DHS, when requested by the agency or directed by the President for major disasters, emergencies, and special events. This report examines the extent to which DOD has issued current guidance, including doctrine, policy, and strategy, for its homeland defense and civil support missions. To do this, GAO analyzed DOD homeland defense and civil support guidance and plans and met with select DOD and National Guard officials. What GAO Recommends. This report makes several recommendations to address gaps in DOD s guidance for homeland defense and civil support, including for DOD to assess and, when needed, update its primary strategy; develop implementation guidance on the dualstatus commander construct; and align guidance on preparing for and responding to domestic cyber incidents with national-level guidance to include roles and responsibilities. In comments on the draft report, DOD concurred or partially concurred with these recommendations. DOD concurred with our strategy and dual-status commander recommendations and partially concurred with our domestic cyber recommendation. DHS concurred with our domestic cyber recommendation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA568069
Entities
People
- Amie Steele
- Brian J. Lepore
- Gina Flacco
- Jennifer Cheung
- Jennifer Neer
- Katherine Arnold
- Marc Schwartz
- Michael Silver
- Michael Willems
- Susan Ditto
- Tommy Baril
- William F. Jenkins
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office