National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams: How Practical is Cost Saving Reduction?
Abstract
The Department of Defense created ten National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Teams in 1998 to provide rapid support to local and state emergency responders during a domestic chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear attack. Teams were assigned in ten Federal Emergency Management Agency regions to provide national coverage. Following the 11 September 2011 attacks, the program expanded to add teams in every state and territory with 57 teams currently established. Increasing threat to national security and resultant defense budget cuts demand efficient use of available government resources precipitated this research. The purpose of this study is to determine if the National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Team can be reduced to provide cost saving benefits without compromising program capability to support local and national response within current CBRNE threat environment and the mandate of applicable national level security strategies. Research evaluates the current WMD-CST program and a regional ten team configuration against national response doctrine. Model results in five criteria are compared to determine the effect on national response. This study concludes program reduction by 47 teams to a regional organization is not an acceptable risk for the current threat and does not support national response doctrine.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 14, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA589747
Entities
People
- Spencer W. Giles
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College