Regional Response Structure in Support of Catastrophic Events

Abstract

According to the 2010 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review Report, "Climate change will increase the severity and frequency of weather related hazards" in the future. Leon Panetta recently affirmed this, stating that "Rising sea levels, severe droughts, the melting of the polar caps, the more frequent and devastating natural disasters all raise demand for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief." The United States must be better prepared to respond to catastrophes of all types. The purpose of this paper is to identify shortcomings in our current preparedness, as shown in recent significant domestic disasters. In response to these shortcomings, the paper will propose the establishment of a regional organization for the military component of response to serious disasters or events of a catastrophic nature. This regional organization has the potential to provide a solution to many of the challenges that will be faced by the Department of Defense in the future. Using a historical context, the paper provides lessons learned that can serve as a basis for improving current processes. Disasters such as Hurricane Katrina have taught us that communication and response time must be improved. Analyzing current structures reveals that capabilities exist to respond, but shortcomings exist in their design and scope to support catastrophic events. The paper provides five key recommendations to improve response: improving the clarity of the National Response Framework-Catastrophic Incident Annex to respond to catastrophic events; developing an expanded mandate for the CBRNE enterprise to respond to "all-hazard" catastrophes; developing a regional Dual-Status Command structure; improving utilization of the DART; and establishing a Domestic Response Force to enhance capabilities and increase speed of response.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2013
Accession Number
ADA589188

Entities

People

  • Paul Harron

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • C4I

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Climate Change
  • Command And Control
  • Department Of Defense
  • Department Of Homeland Security
  • Disasters
  • Emergency Response
  • Homeland Security
  • Humanitarian Assistance
  • Lessons Learned
  • Management Personnel
  • Military Science
  • National Governments
  • Sea Level Rise
  • Storm Surges
  • United States Government
  • Urban Areas
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
  • Systems Analysis and Design