Director Paulison Speaks at NATO on the Importance of Civil-Military Cooperation
"One of the key lessons from Katrina was that lack of early civil-military coordination impeded the response effort. There were many reasons for the delay, but ultimately, it came down to insufficient planning between FEMA and the U.S. Department of Defense. For example, military commanders typically operate under rules of engagement doctrine. In contrast, civil law enforcement agencies operate under use of force doctrine. To bridge this gap, proper planning is critical. The military has assets, capabilities and doctrine that the civilian agencies simply cannot match. And those assets, capabilities and doctrines must be brought to bear as quickly as possible following a disaster. The days and hours that can be saved by proper planning may mean the difference between life and death for disaster victims.
"FEMA and DoD have taken this lesson to heart, and have dramatically improved our planning and coordination in support of domestic disaster response. One of our most important planning tools has been pre-scripted mission assignments. We've identified the most likely tasks the military would be asked to fulfill, and drafted generic mission assignments for those tasks. These mission assignments leverage the military's areas of expertise and capabilities where civil agencies typically fall short. To date, we have approved 16 pre-scripted mission assignments with DoD in support of the Nation's response to disasters. Additionally, we have another 24 mission assignments in place with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers." (Read More)
Last Modified: Friday, 29-Dec-2006 11:30:10 EST