CH APTER
Military Support
of Civilian Authorities
8
James W. Terbush
Claude Long
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has a long
history of military support to civilian operations, and
through the years has assisted in numerous events
across a broad range of categories, including terrorist attacks, natural disasters, national special security
events (NSSEs), and disaster exercises. DoD has responded to and provided support in some of the most
tragic and catastrophic events in the nation’s history
(see Figure 8.1). For example, DoD supported over
230 “nonmilitary missions” in fiscal years 2001 and
2002 alone.1 In addition to domestic support, the military conducts many foreign disaster and humanitarian
relief operations every year. DoD has developed and
maintains a cooperative and collaborative relationship with other agencies within the U.S. government
in order to achieve unity of effort in pursuit of overall
national level objectives.2 This level of effort by all
government agencies is essential to overcome organizational and cultural differences or barriers.
Since the events of September 11, 2001, there
have been major changes in how the federal government prepares for, responds to, and recovers from disasters. DoD has also made significant changes in organizational structure and operational strategy and has
significantly increased efforts in civil support. Several
key directives followed 9/11 to include the issuance
of multiple homeland security presidential directives
(HSPDs), legislative changes, governmental restructuring, and changes to DoD’s operating structure and
roles in homeland defense and homeland security.
The U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) was
specifically established for this purpose. Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita were also key events that had a pro-
found effect on how federal, state, and local governments plan for, prepare for, and manage disasters.
HOMELAND DEFENSE,
HOMELAND SECURITY,
AND CIVIL SUPPORT
The United States faces myriad known and unknown
hazards. Given the full spectrum of threats that confront the nation, there are levels of responsibility for
preparation and response within all levels of government. President Bush has called on government and
individual citizens to create a “national culture of preparedness.”3 There is, however, a distinction between
defending the homeland from external threats (“homeland defense”) and activities associated with securing
the homeland (“homeland security”). The latter is predominantly, although not exclusively, governed by law
enforcement authorities.4 Figure 8.2 illustrates an example of this relationship and the overlap in missions
for DoD. We have identified here three roles—lead,
support, and enable—for DoD to accomplish the goal
of securing the United States from attack. Specific objectives are aligned with each of those missions. The
following discussion pertains specifically to DoD’s
role within each of these mission sets.
Homeland Defense: Lead
DoD has a broad range of responsibilities, but the primary mission is defense of the homeland. The U.S.
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Events Supported by USNORTHCOM JRMPs
1992
1994
1995
1995
1995
1997
1998
1998
1999
2000
2000
2001
2001
2001
Hurricane Andrew
Northridge Earthquake
Oklahoma City Bombing
Georgia Floods
Hurricane Marilynn
North Dakota Floods
Hurricane Georges
Hurricane Mitch
Y2K Preparations
GOP & DEM Conventions
TS Allison-Houston Floods
Presidential Inauguration
West Virginia Floods
“Attack on America”
2002
2002
2003
2003
2004
Winter Olympics
Guam Typhoon
State of the Union
Hurricane Isabel
NSSE’s: State of the Union; WWII
Memorial, Reagan Funeral, G-8 Summit,
Democratic / Republican National
Conventions
2004 Hurricanes (Charlie, Frances, Ivan..)
2005/2006 Inauguration, State of the Union
2005 Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, & Wilma
2006 Ford Funeral
2007 Hurricane Dean
2007 California Wildfires/Midwest Ice Storms
2007 Hurricane Dolly
2008 Hurricane Gustav/Hurricane Ike
FIGURE 8.1. Events Supported by USNORTHCOM Joint Regional Medical Planners.
homeland is described as the physical region that encompasses the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. territories and possessions, and surrounding
territorial waters and airspace.5 Homeland defense is
defined as the protection of U.S. sovereignty, territories,
domestic populations, and critical defense infrastructure
against external threats and other threats as directed by
the president within our borders and territories.5
The Constitution provides the basis for homeland
defense activities through the guarantee of domestic
tranquility and the provision for the common defense
of the nation. Homeland defense operations are conducted globally using a strategy of active, layered defense in depth.5 This type of defense integrates the
capabilities of the U.S. armed forces throughout the
world, the approaches to the United States and its
territories, and within the U.S. homeland. Homeland
defense operations are conducted using the full re-
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sources of U.S. military capabilities to include land,
air, maritime, and space domains in addition to the
information environment.
Unlike homeland security and civil support, which
is the focus of this chapter, DoD has primary responsibility for the homeland defense mission and therefore
leads the response, with other agencies and departments
of government providing support to the DoD effort.
Homeland Security: Support
Homeland security is defined in the National Strategy
for Homeland Security (NSHS) as follows:
a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks
in the United States, reduce America’s vulnerability
to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover
from attacks that do occur.
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Homeland Security
A concerted national effort to prevent
terrorist attacks within the US, reduce
America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and
minimize the damage and recover from
attacks that do occur.
Homeland Defense*
The protection of US sovereignty,
territory, domestic population, and
critical defense infrastructure against
external threats and aggression.
Homeland
Security
Emergency
Preparedness
Homeland Defense
Civil Support*
DOD support to US civil authorities for
domestic emergencies and for
designated law enforcement and other
activities. Civil support missions are
undertaken by DOD when its involvement
is appropriate and when a clear end
state for the DOD role is defined.
Civil Support
Emergency Preparedness*
Those planning activities undertaken to
ensure DOD processes, procedures, and
resources are in place to support the
President and the Secretary of Defense in
a designated National Security Emergency
DOD Role
OVERLAPPING MISSION SETS
*As defined by DPG 04
FIGURE 8.2. Department of Defense Overlapping Mission Sets. Source: Joint Doctrine Branch, U.S. Department of
Defense. Used with permission.
The secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for coordinating federal operations within the United States to prepare
for, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks,
major disasters, and other emergencies. The secretary of DHS is designated by Homeland Security
Presidential Directive 5 (HSPD-5) as the “principal
federal official” for domestic incident management.
This role makes the secretary of Homeland Security responsible for coordinating federal resources
that may be needed and used during response and
recovery operations. This authority is applicable
when one of the following four conditions applies:
(1) a federal department or agency acting under its
own authority has requested DHS assistance, (2)
the resources of state and local authorities are overwhelmed and federal assistance has been requested,
(3) more than one federal department or agency has
become substantially involved in responding to the
incident, or (4) the secretary has been directed to
assume incident management responsibilities by the
president.6,7
Civil Support: Enable
DoD contributes to homeland security with two interrelated missions: homeland defense and civil support.
DoD supports homeland security through civil support
operations within the United States, and in a broader
sense, the NSHS. Civil support is defined as DoD support to civil authorities for domestic emergencies, and
for designated law enforcement missions. It is important to note here that DoD civil support capabilities
are derived from existing war-fighting capabilities that
may already be committed or designated for use in a
foreign mission. Another major aspect of DoD’s contribution to homeland security and homeland defense
activities is through domestic emergency preparedness
activities. This is accomplished by providing support
to law enforcement and other agencies, in advance of
an emergency to reduce loss of life and property, and
to protect critical infrastructure.
Civil-military operations (also referred to as CMO)
are activities undertaken by military commanders in
countries or regions prior to, during, or subsequent to
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other military actions including combatant operations.
The doctrinal definition of CMO follows:
The activities of a commander that establish, maintain, influence, or exploit relations between military
forces, governmental and nongovernmental civilian
organizations and authorities, and the civilian populace in a friendly, neutral, or hostile operational area
in order to facilitate military operations, to consolidate and achieve operational U.S. objectives.
These activities may also include U.S. military
members providing functions that are normally the
responsibility of the local, regional, or national government of the supported country.8
Defense Support of Civil Authorities
Defense support of civil authorities (DSCA) is a term
derived from the National Response Plan (NRP) and
accepted generally as activities associated with DoD
assistance to local or state jurisdictions during disaster-related events. Under the provisions of the Stafford
Act, the federal government is responsible for providing assistance to state and local authorities in order to
save lives, alleviate suffering, and mitigate property
damage resulting from disasters or emergencies.9 According to the Stafford Act, upon declaring a major
disaster or emergency, the president may direct any
agency of the federal government to undertake missions to provide support to states and local agencies.
This support may be on a reimbursable or in some
cases a nonreimbursable basis.10
Importantly, authority over DoD forces deployed
in support of foreign and domestic operations always
remain under the authority of the secretary of defense
and the established chain of command as set forth by
law. The concepts of “command” and “unity of command” have very distinct legal and cultural meanings
for military forces and military operations. This is different from the “unified command” integral to the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the
Incident Command System (ICS). Therefore, military
forces do not operate under an incident commander
or under a unified command structure. Specific authorities that relate to the military’s authorities are
discussed later in this chapter.
In the context of DoD’s role in civil support, civil
authorities are defined as
[t]hose elected and appointed officers and employees
who constitute the government of the United States,
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the governments of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, U.S.
possessions and territories, and political subdivisions
thereof.11
In essence, these are elected officials and agencies within the state and/or local governments impacted by a disaster that is beyond the capabilities of state
and local immediate responders.
During the response to disasters, the lines of authority may become blurred. The role of DoD, given
constitutional and other legal limitations, may not
be clearly understood by the public, media organizations, state, local, and even some federal officials. There are numerous authorities governing the
employment of U.S. military forces in civil support
operations, and as such a thorough understanding is
essential for military commanders. This is necessary
to ascertain that military commanders use only those
capabilities that are authorized under the constraints
of current law. These governing authorities consist
of federal laws, executive directives, DoD plans and
policies, and DoD/military directives, instructions,
and regulations. Policies govern the use of DoD assets
and charge military commanders with ensuring that
DoD resources are used appropriately and judiciously
when conducting civil support operations. Specific
criteria for the use of DoD assets and capabilities are
included in Table 8.1.
LEGAL AUTHORITIES, POLICY
CONSIDERATIONS, AND
MILITARY DOCTRINE
Legal Authorities
Many of the relevant legal authorities and constraints
governing military engagement in civil disasters are
discussed in Chapter 7.
Title 10 U.S. Code (Armed Forces)
Title 10 to the U.S. Code (USC) provides specific
guidance on the armed forces and is divided into five
subtitles. There is one subtitle on general military law
and one each for the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and U.S.
Marine Corps, the U.S. Air Force, and the Reserve
Component (Reserves). Title 10 refers to active-duty
and reserve forces serving in the military that may be
called on to support DSCA operations.
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TABLE 8.1
DoD DSCA Policy Considerations
DoD resources are provided only when response
or recovery requirements are or will be beyond
the capabilities of local, state, and federal civil
authorities, and when they are requested by
a federal agency with lead responsibility and
approved by the secretary of defense. An exception to this is in the case of immediate response
authority (see “Operational Framework”
section). When requested by civil authorities,
regardless of type or location, local commanders can respond to save lives, prevent human
suffering, or mitigate great property damage
under imminently serious conditions.
The secretary of defense retains control of assigned Title 10 U.S. Code (USC) military forces
providing civil support.
The National Guard (NG), due to local presence,
will likely be the first military responder during
a civil emergency. The early employment of National Guard will normally be in either a state
active-duty status or Title 32 USC status; both
are under the supervision of the adjutant general and the direction of the governor. There are
many advantages associated with employment
of the NG in either state active-duty or Title 32
USC status. Most notable are the ability to assist law enforcement without Posse Comitatus
restrictions, quicker reaction times, established
community and interstate emergency management relationships, and an in-depth understanding of the operating environment. To
ensure operational continuity, most, if not all,
deployed NG forces engaged in supporting a
response will remain in state active-duty or Title
32 USC status throughout an event. Therefore,
the military response to extraordinary events
that requires DoD civil support will be a coordinated effort between the NG in state activeduty or Title 32 USC status and Titles 10 and
14 USC forces.
DoD components do not perform any function of
civil government unless authorized.
Source: Department of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff. Joint Publication 3-28, Civil Support, September 14, 2007.
governors. There are certain instances where through
very specific statutory or presidential authority, these
NG forces are allowed to perform civil support operations that are funded by the federal government, while
the NG forces remain under the control of their governor. Examples are Weapons of Mass Destruction
Civil Support Teams (WMD-CST) and 32 USC 502(f)
presidential/secretary of defense–approved operations
(e.g., the Border Security Mission in the Southwest).
National Strategy
National Security Strategy of the United States
This document (NSS) establishes very broad strategic guidance for the advancement of the U.S. interests
within the global environment and through the instruments of national power.
National Strategy for Homeland Security
This document is prepared for the president by DHS
and puts forth strategic objectives, organization, and
critical areas for homeland security. The critical areas include preventing terrorist attacks, reducing the
nation’s vulnerabilities, minimizing the damage, and
recovering from attacks that do occur.
National Military Strategy
This document (NMS) is derived from the contents
of the NSS and lays out how the armed forces of the
United States will be used to accomplish the strategic
objectives as described in the NSS. The fundamental
and overarching concept behind the NMS and NSS is
the commitment to defend the nation against any and
all adversaries.
Key Department
of Defense Guidance
Unified Command Plan
The Unified Command Plan (UCP) is a document
that provides basic guidance to the unified combatant
commanders. The UCP also establishes the mission
and responsibilities and outlines the force structure
for the combatant commands. In addition, this document delineates the geographical areas of responsibility for geographic combatant commanders.
Title 32 U.S. Code (National Guard)
Strategic Planning Guidance
Title 32 USC authorizes the use of federal funds to train
National Guard (NG) members while they remain under the command and control of their respective state
The SPG provides guidance to DoD components to
develop the defense program and the president’s budget submission for future years.
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Contingency Planning Guidance
Contingency planning guidance outlines the secretary of
defense’s policy guidance to the chairman, Joint Chiefs
of Staff (CJCS) for contingency planning. It is issued
with the president’s approval and after consultation with
the CJCS, providing focused guidance contained in the
NSS and strategic planning guidance (SPG).
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
ORGANIZATIONAL
STRUCTURE/COMMAND
RELATIONSHIPS
Figure 8.3 depicts how DoD is organized. Note that
USNORTHCOM is identified as a unified combatant
command, and the commander reports directly to the
secretary of defense.
Dedicated Defense Support of Civil
Authorities Units/Personnel
U.S. Northern Command
USNORTHCOM was established October 1, 2002,
to provide command and control of DoD homeland
defense efforts and to coordinate DSCA. USNORTHCOM’s specific mission is to anticipate and conduct
homeland defense and civil support operations within
the assigned area of responsibility to defend, protect,
and secure the United States and its interests. The
commander of USNORTHCOM is also responsible
for theater security cooperation (TSC) with Canada
and Mexico. USNORTHCOM consolidates under a
single unified command existing missions that were
previously executed by several other DoD organizations (Figure 8.4). This provides unity of command, which is critical to mission accomplishment.
USNORTHCOM has very few permanently assigned
Department of Defense
Secretary of Defense
Deputy Secretary of Defense
Department of the Army
Secretary of the Army
Under
Secretary
and
Assistant
Secretaries
of the Army
Department of the Navy
Secretary of the Navy
Under
Secretary
and
Assistant
Secretaries
of the Navy
Chief
of
Staff
Army
Army
Major
Commands
& Agencies
Chief
of
Naval
Operations
Navy
Major
Commands
& Agencies
Commandant
of
Marine
Corps
Department of the Air Force
Secretary of the Air Force
Under
Secretary
Chief
and
of
Assistant
Staff
Secretaries
Air Force
of the
Air Force
Marine Corps
Major
Commands
& Agencies
DoD Field Activities
American Forces Information Service
Defense POW/MP Office
Defense Technical Information Center
Defense Technology Security Administration
DoD Counterintelligence Field Activity
DoD Education Activity
DoD Human Resources Activity
DoD Test Resource Management Center
Office of Economic Adjustment
TRICARE Management Activity
Washington Headquarters Services
Office of the Secretary
of Defense
Under Secretaries
Assistant Secretaries
of Defense
and Equivalents
Air Force
Major
Commands
& Agencies
Defense Agencies
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Defense Business Transformation Agency
Defense Commissary Agency
Defense Contract Audit Agency
Defense Contract Management Agency
Defense Finance and Accounting Service
Defense Information Systems Agency
Defense Intelligence Agency
Defense Legal Services Agency
Defense Logistics Agency
Defense Security Cooperation Agency
Defense Security Service
Defense Threat Reduction Agency
Missile Defense Agency
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
National Security Agency/Central Security Service
Pentagon Force Protection Agency
Inspector
General
Joint Chiefs of Staff
Chairman JCS
The Joint Staff
Vice Chairman JCS
Chief of Staff, Army
Chief of Naval Operations
Chief of Staff, Air Force
Commandant, Marine Corps
Combatant Commands
Central Command
European Command
Joint Forces Command
Northern Command
Pacific Command
Southern Command
Special Operations Command
Strategic Command
Transportation Command
Africa Command
Prepared by: Organizational &
Management Planning, ODA&M,
OSD
Date: January 2008
FIGURE 8.3. DoD Organizational Structure. Source: Department of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Joint
Publication 3-08, Vol. II, Interagency, Intergovernmental Organization, and Nongovernmental Organization during Joint Operations,
March 17, 2006. Used with permission.
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funds and resources toward ensuring that the forces
are trained and prepared to support any mission.
U.S. NORTHERN COMMAND
COMPONENT AND
SUBORDINATE COMMANDS
Headquarters Army Forces,
U.S. Northern Command
FIGURE 8.4. USNORTHCOM Area of Operations.
Source: Department of Defense, U.S. Northern Command Publication 0-1, Homeland Defense Concept of Employment.
forces. The command is normally assigned forces
whenever necessary to execute missions, as ordered
by the president and secretary of defense. Civil service employees and uniformed members representing all military branches work at USNORTHCOM’s
headquarters located at Peterson Air Force Base in
Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Service Components (Army, Navy,
Air Force, and Marine Corps)
The primary responsibilities of the services follow:
The service components or individual military departments (Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine
Corps) are responsible for recruiting, organizing,
training, and equipping forces for assignment to the
combatant commands. This ensures that each department establishes and prepares reserves in manpower,
equipment, and supplies, which includes the expansion of peacetime elements that may be needed to
meet the needs of war. The departments are also responsible for budget submissions, justifying these
requirements before Congress, and administering
the funds. The military departments have many other
responsibilities that are all necessary in order to provide adequately equipped and well-trained forces.
Each service plays an important role in DoD’s ability to execute civil support operations and dedicates
The headquarters of Army Forces, USNORTHCOM
(ARNORTH), located at Fort Sam Houston, Texas,
are the Army Service Component Command of USNORTHCOM, as well as the Joint Force Land Component Command (JFLCC North). The ARNORTH
mission is to conduct homeland defense and DSCA
operations in the USNORTHCOM area of responsibility to defeat terrorism; support local, state, regional,
and federal emergency service agencies; and protect
the American people and their way of life. The JFLCC
distinction is important during an actual contingency
deployment, when on order, ARNORTH commands
and controls land-based forces that may be deployed
in support of DSCA operations. Doctrinally, the ARNORTH commander has responsibility to organize,
plan, and direct execution of land operations based
upon the joint force commander’s (USNORTHCOM)
concept of operations and designation of command
relationships.17
U.S. Navy Fleet Forces Command
The U.S. Navy’s Fleet Forces Command (FFC) is a
supporting command to NORTHCOM and provides
maritime defense of the homeland and support to
civil authorities. FFC conducts operations as the Joint
Forces Maritime Component Commander (JFMCC
North) and provides theater security cooperation with
Canada and Mexico.18
Headquarters Marines Forces,
U.S. Northern Command
The headquarters of Marines Forces, U.S. Northern
Command (MARFORNORTH), provides annual
training programs for Marine Corps Reserve personnel and force protection responsibilities for Marine
Corps installations. In addition to other responsibili-
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ties, the command supports and coordinates civil support activities by providing advice to the NORTHCOM commander on the capabilities and employment
of Marine forces in the event they are attached to
USNORTHCOM for homeland defense/civil support
operations.5
Headquarters Air Forces,
U.S. Northern Command
Headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, near Panama City, Florida, the 1st Air Force is assigned to air
combat command. It has the responsibility of ensuring
the air sovereignty and air defense of the continental
United States. As the continental geographical component of the binational North American Aerospace
Defense Command, it provides airspace surveillance
and control and directs all air sovereignty activities
for the continental United States.
Joint Task Forces
Joint Task Force Civil Support (JTF-CS) is located at
Fort Monroe, Virginia. The mission of JTF-CS is to
plan and integrate DoD support to the primary agency for domestic chemical, biological, radiological,
nuclear, and high-yield explosives (CBRNE) events
during consequence management operations.
Joint Task Force Alaska (JTF-A) is located in
Alaska. Its primary mission is homeland defense.
They will deter, prevent, and defeat national security
threats and respond to attacks against Alaska, and
provide civil support for incident response.
Joint Task Force National Capital Region (JTFNCR) is located in Washington, D.C. They are responsible for both homeland defense and civil support and
for the conduct of response planning coordination and
maintain situational awareness for homeland defense
and civil support in the National Capital Region Joint
Operational Area (JOA).
Joint Task Force North (JTF-N) is located in Fort
Bliss, Texas. Their mission is to provide DoD counterdrug support to local, state, regional, and federal
law enforcement agencies throughout the continental
United States. They primarily conduct their operations in the pre-event stage, which encompasses deterrence and prevention.
Standing Joint Force Headquarters-North (SJFHN) is located in Colorado Springs. They maintain focus on CDRUSNORTHCOM special interest areas to
include preparation for pandemic influenza, monitor-
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ing world events, tracking evolving situations, and developing situational understanding as events unfold.
Reserve Components
and National Guard
The reserve components provide the U.S. military a
vital source of trained and competent manpower with
significant expertise in many varied disciplines. The
reserve components include the Army National Guard
of the United States, Army Reserve, Naval Reserve,
Marine Corps Reserve, Air National Guard of the
United States, Air Force Reserve, and Coast Guard
Reserve. This component of the U.S. military is heavily relied on to complete the “total force” structure
necessary to meet the DoD’s obligations at home and
abroad and, as Figure 8.5 illustrates, makes up a significant portion of the U.S. military.
Title 10 defines the purpose of each reserve component as follows:
[T]o provide trained units and qualified persons
available for active duty in the armed forces, in time
of war or national emergency, and at such other times
as the national security may require, to fill the needs
of the armed forces whenever more units and persons
are needed than are in the regular components.19
The National Guard Bureau (NGB), located in
Washington, D.C., is a joint bureau comprised of
the Department of the Army and Department of the
Air Force. The NGB functions as a communications
conduit for NG issues among the 50 states, District
of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam,
and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Departments of
the Army and Air Force. The NGB does not have
operational authority over state forces; however, it
provides critical coordination and communication
links among the states, DoD, and other federal agencies. Although not inclusive, other functions of the
NGB include5 allocating unit structure and strength
authorizations; prescribing training requirements;
and assisting the states in the organization, maintenance, and operation of NG units in order to provide
well-trained and well-equipped units capable of augmenting the active forces in time of war or national
emergency.20
The Joint Directorate for Domestic Operations
(J-3) at the NGB monitors state NG operations, and
coordinates the efforts of the NG with USNORTHCOM in order to provide total situational awareness
of ongoing domestic response efforts. The NG con-
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Ready Reserve (44%)
U.S.
U.S.
Marine Corps
U.S. Navy Reserves Coast Guard
Reserves
4%
Air Force Reserves
1%
5%
Reserves
5%
Air National
Guard
4%
U.S. Army
Reserves
11%
U.S. Army
19%
U.S. Navy
14%
Army National
Guard
14%
U.S.
Coast
Guard
2%
U.S. Air Force
14%
U.S.
Marine
Corps
7%
Active Component (56%)
FIGURE 8.5. Total Force: Active, Reserve, and NG. Source: Commission on the National Guard and Reserves: Strengthening America’s Defenses in the New Security Environment, Second Report to Congress, March 1, 2007. Used with permission.
sists of organized forces that are located in almost
every population center (3,300 locations and in more
than 2,700 communities) in every state and territory,
and the District of Columbia.
The NG has substantial and unique capabilities
that are important to USNORTHCOM and serve as
a force multiplier. In most disaster or civil emergencies where local authorities have requested assistance
from the state, the NG is routinely called on to provide
immediate assistance. In cases of state-level response,
the governor of the affected state is the commanderin-chief for those state forces. It is very typical for
the NG operating under Title 32 status to be the first
military force on the scene of a disaster or domestic emergency to provide civil support. In the event
that an affected state’s NG resources are insufficient,
the governor can request assistance from neighboring
states’ NG and civilian resources through an arrangement known as the Emergency Mutual Assistance
Compact (EMAC). If advantageous to do so, the
USNORTHCOM commander can request to federalize NG forces, although this action is not typically
requested.
Defense Coordinating Officer
The defense coordinating officer (DCO) is the single
DoD point of contact for domestic emergencies at or
near the actual incident and are assigned and co-located within each of the 10 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regions (Figure 8.6). Permanently assigned to USARNORTH, these active-duty
senior officers are highly trained and possess significant command experience. During a disaster or other
civil support event, they provide an on-scene direct
link to the federal response leadership, normally at
the Joint Field Office (JFO), and receive, validate,
and forward on requests for approval (RFAs) for DoD
approval from the federal coordinating officer (FCO)
or primary federal agency. This includes validating
RFAs, recommending specific capability, and tracking the expenditures of DoD units. DCOs also provide consultative support to the FCO as requested.
The DCO, with few exceptions, exercises operational control over DoD response forces within the
disaster area and affected region and coordinates administrative and logistical support for those deployed
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FIGURE 8.6. DCO Locations in the FEMA Regions.
forces. A large part of the DCO’s mission includes
planning, coordinating, and integrating DSCA with
local, state, and federal agency efforts. The DCO
and defense coordinating element (DCE) deploy on
short notice and provide the early entry command
and control element for civil support activities. During DSCA-related operations, the DCOs conduct
consequence management operations in order to save
lives, prevent human suffering, and prevent property
damage. FEMA may request the DCO/DCE prior to a
disaster declaration if certain disaster circumstances
necessitate the requirement. The DCO may be designated as the joint force commander, which comes
with broader command and control authorities and
is associated with a larger, more complex joint force
structure and gives the DCO the authority to organize
the force in order to best accomplish the mission as
laid out in the concept of operations.22
One of the tools that the DCOs can incorporate
into civil support operations is the prescripted mission assignment (PSMA). A mission assignment is a
work order issued by FEMA to other federal agencies
directing the completion of a specific task. It cites the
authorized funding, describes managerial controls,
and provides other guidance.26 Mission assignments
begin with the state formally requesting assistance
from the federal government in the form of an action
request form (ARF). Within the ARF is a section referred to as a “statement of work” that tells the federal
government who, what, when, and where. Once accepted based on the legal parameters of the Stafford
Act and 44 CFR, FEMA issues a mission assignment.
The guidance portion of the assignment must include
a description of the support or capability that has been
authorized. This language is extremely important because it will describe what the state will actually get
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04_B_08_077-096.indd 86
SECTION B
(capability) from the supporting agency. It is important
for this language to be specific enough to identify the
task, but general enough to allow the assigned agency
flexibility to accomplish the task.27 Predrafting this
language creates consistency among federal agencies,
facilitates a rapid response, and standardizes mission
assignments. DoD is one of many other federal agencies that have taken advantage of these instruments. It
is important to note that although the PSMA provides
a template for civil support language, it is not preapproval. All mission assignments tasked to DoD must
be approved by the secretary of defense.
The predisaster role of the DCO is to liaison with
the FEMA headquarters within their assigned region.
They also must designate and train the DCE, prepare
and coordinate supporting plans for disaster operations, maintain situational awareness of developing
situations, and maintain communications with other
active-duty and reserve units, NG commanders, and
many other federal and state agencies.
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
LIAISON OFFICER PROGRAM
In the Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer
(EPLO) program, the service components appoint,
train, and assign liaison officers for civil support operations. EPLOs are senior reserve component officers.
They represent their respective services at the appropriate military headquarters, normally as part of the
DCE, and/or at the federal or state agencies that are
primarily responsible for planning, coordinating, and
executing support to civil authorities during disasters.
EPLOs are selected by their military services
based on their experience and unique expertise in
civil support operations. They are key to DoD’s success in coordinating the use of DoD resources in support of civil authorities during presidentially declared
disasters and emergencies. They provide service-specific expertise in planning, make recommendations to
federal agencies on military capabilities, and advise
federal agencies on DoD limitations, priorities, and
associated risks with support requirements.
The services also assign EPLOs to serve in teams
at each of the FEMA regions and with each state’s
NG adjutant general as a service component liaison
on matters related to civil support. These officers are
sometimes referred to as regional emergency preparedness liaison officers (REPLOs) and state emergency preparedness liaison officers (SEPLOs).
The Federal Response to Health and Medical Disasters
12/5/08 3:27:16 PM
JOINT REGIONAL MEDICAL
PLANNER
The Joint Regional Medical Plans and Operations
Program is organized under the USNORTHCOM
command surgeon. There are four branch offices
(Fort Meade, MD; Fort McPherson, GA; Fort Sam
Houston, TX; and Fort Lewis, WA) with three activeduty officers (one each from the Navy, Army, and Air
Force) assigned to each office. These officers, called
joint regional medical planners (JRMPs), have specialized training and experience in medical readiness,
contingency operations planning, homeland security/defense, and military civil support. Well versed
in DSCA, JRMPs have significant knowledge of the
military’s medical capabilities and are able to match
operational capabilities with requirements. They are
also trained in emergency preparedness concepts and
the federal, non-federal, state, and local health authority response process.
The JRMPs’ mission is twofold. First, they have
a strategic or theater (preincident) mission to understand risks and vulnerabilities associated with emergency response capabilities. They accomplish this
by serving as a link or liaison between the regional
interagency (e.g., federal and state health and medical planners) and other strategic layers of DoD. They
also serve in the capacity of a “consultant,” making
themselves available for a broad range of planning, exercise, strategy development, and operational design
forums within their respective FEMA regions and the
states throughout those regions. The second aspect of
their mission is direct support in disaster or contingency situations. In most instances, JRMPs are the first
military medical responders outside of any immediate
response personnel who may respond from a military
installation within or near the incident site. The primary role of the JRMP in an actual disaster or emergency
deployment is to provide direct medical planning and
operations support to the DCO. As discussed earlier,
the DCO is the secretary of defense’s direct representative within the affected region. All medical issues
are coordinated by the JRMP, and he or she in turn recommends military medical solutions and validates all
medical RFAs. Another vital role during an incident is
serving as a liaison and consultant to the Emergency
Support Function (ESF) 8—Health and Medical Services federal and state partners to include the NG.
Preincident, during an incident, and postincident,
the JRMPs are the NORTHCOM surgeon’s “boots on
the ground,” and provide a tactical/operational link
for critical information regarding anticipated, ongoing, and potential medical operations. They maintain
direct communication links with the NORTHCOM
Surgeon’s Medical Operations Center (MOC), the
ARNORTH MOC, and the TRANSCOM Surgeon’s
Office.
DEPARTMENT OF
DEFENSE–SPECIFIC
MEDICAL CAPABILITIES
General Support
DoD’s highest priority is protecting the United States
from direct attack and is rooted in the following:
“Respect for America’s constitutional principles;
Adherence to Presidential and Secretary of Defense
guidance; Recognition of terrorist and state-based
threats to the United States; and Commitment to continue transformation of US military capabilities.”24
Through an active, layered defense, DoD maintains
a strategic offense.24 The National Defense Strategy
outlines the development and sustainment of “key
operational capabilities.” The overall themes of these
capabilities consist of intelligence, surveillance, and
reconnaissance; information sharing; joint operational capabilities for homeland defense; and interagency
and intergovernmental coordination.25
Table 8.2 provides a generic inventory of DoD capability categories. While generalized and not inclusive, the list demonstrates the range and scope of capabilities that DoD can bring to bear during military
campaigns and in support of homeland defense/civil
support operations.
Military Health Service Support
The military uses the term “health service support”
(HSS) to refer to those support functions necessary
to provide health and medical support to soldiers. The
doctrinal definition of HSS follows:
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04_B_08_077-096.indd 87
All services performed, provided, or arranged to
promote, improve, conserve, or restore the mental
or physical well-being of personnel. These services
include, but are not limited to, the management of
health services resources, such as manpower, monies, and facilities; preventive and curative health
measures; evacuation of the wounded, injured, or
sick; selection of the medically fit and disposition
Military Support of Civilian Operations
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TABLE 8.2
U.S. Military Capabilities
Information operations
Nuclear, biological, and chemical
Defense operations
Intelligence operations
Nuclear deterrence and/or warfare
Strategic attack
General air superiority
General ground superiority
General naval superiority
Airborne operations
Amphibious operations
Close air support
Interdiction
Antisubmarine warfare
Reconnaissance
Expeditionary warfare
Airlift/airdrop
Sealift
Port operations
Port security
Noncombatant evacuation operations
Civil support
Counterdrug operations
Humanitarian assistance operations
Counterintelligence operations
Force protection
Combating terrorism
Direct action
Unconventional warfare
Special reconnaissance
Foreign internal defense
Civil–military operations
Psychological operations
Personnel security
Coastal defense
Counterproliferation
Special operations
Antiterrorism and counterterrorism
Imagery
Electronic warfare
General space superiority
Logistics
Communications
Meteorology and oceanography
Peace operations
Complex contingency operations
Source: Department of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff. Joint Publication 3-08, Interagency, Intergovernmental
Organization, and Nongovernmental Coordination during Joint
Operations, Vol. II, March 17, 2006. Used with permission.
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04_B_08_077-096.indd 88
SECTION B
of the medically unfit; blood management; medical
supply, equipment, and maintenance thereof; combat
stress control; and medical, dental, veterinary, laboratory, optometric, nutrition therapy, and medical intelligence services.26
Taxonomies of Care: Capabilities
It is important to explain the military’s role in
DSCA in terms of capabilities. The U.S. military
organizes, trains, and equips the individual services
for the most part for combat operations.26 Similarly,
the capabilities that DoD contributes to civil support operations are primarily designed for combat
operations.
There are seven major categories of care that
form the military’s medical capabilities. They are
illustrated and explained in Figure 8.7. It is important for health and medical planners, coordinators,
and to some extent practitioners, to have a basic understanding of the “capabilities” concept in order to
facilitate expedient and accurate requests for DoD
medical support during a disaster or other domestic
emergency.
DoD further facilitates this understanding through
a robust and comprehensive partnering relationship
with the interagency (defined as two or more agencies
working together at the federal, state, and/or local levels). Significant effort is put forth at all levels of government (and more recently with the private-sector
medical community) to build and maintain relationships among those involved in planning, preparing,
responding, and coordinating disaster operations and
domestic emergencies.
Military Medicine
The level of training for military health professionals
is commensurate with similar providers in the private
sector. The military operates and maintains its own
professional schools (e.g., the Uniformed Services
University of the Health Sciences) that conduct research and development in the fields of expeditionary
and military medicine and public health, among others. The individual services also provide additional
professional medical education programs that offer
wide-ranging and specialized medical training. The
military has recently made significant advances in
many areas of medicine, especially in trauma care,
prosthetics, head injuries, specialized wound care,
and burn management.
The Federal Response to Health and Medical Disasters
12/5/08 3:27:18 PM
TAXONOMY CONTINUUM OF HEALTH CARE CAPABILITIES
Definitive
Capability
En Route Care
Capability
Full range of acute,
convalescent, restorative,
and rehabilitative care
Modular hospitals with surgical
capabilities required to support
the theater
Theater
Hospitalization
Capability
Forward advanced emergency
medical treatment performed
Forward Resuscitative
Capability
Medical care rendered at the
point of initial injury or illness
First Responder
Capability
Promotion and
improvement of mental
and physical well-being
Prevention and Protection
Capability
Policy and Resource Acquisition
Capability
Policy formulation,
planning,
programming,
budgeting, and
disbursing resources
FIGURE 8.7. DoD Taxonomy Continuum of Healthcare Capabilities. Source: Department of Defense, Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff. Joint Publication 4-02, Health Service Support, October 31, 2006. Used with permission.
Specialized Support
Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear,
and High-Yield Explosives Consequence
Management Response Force
The CBRNE Consequence Management Response
Force (CCMRF) is a federally controlled capability consisting of several thousand joint personnel in
force packages that are organized to perform missions across the CBRNE spectrum. CCMRF capabilities include medical, decontamination, command and
control, communications, logistics, transportation and
public affairs assets.27
extraction, personnel decontamination, emergency
medical care and stabilization, and force protection
operations in a CBRNE environment.
Air Medical Evacuation System
U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) is
DoD’s executive agent for global patient movement.
The capabilities that reside within USTRANSCOM
are significant and unparalleled worldwide. As such,
it is logical that they would have a principal role in
catastrophic disaster planning and the execution of
mass patient movement operations.
Direct Care (In-Patient/Out-Patient)
Chemical Biological Incident Response Force
The U.S. Marine Corps’ Chemical Biological Incident
Response Force (CBIRF) is a small unit of Marine
and Navy Corpsmen that possess specialized training in chemical and biological response. CBIRF has
the ability to rapidly deploy in support of local, tribal,
state, and federal agencies and military commanders
for CBRNE consequence management. This unit is
organized according to tasks, and can provide agent
detection and identification, casualty search and
Under the theater hospitalization capability, DoD
maintains several very innovative and technologically
advanced modular systems that range from fixed to
highly mobile field hospitals, to include some seabased platforms. The systems are designed to be
deployed as modular sets or individual components
(capabilities) that can incrementally increased to add
medical services based on requirements. These capabilities cross the entire spectrum of health care to include primary inpatient and outpatient care, emergent
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89
12/5/08 3:27:18 PM
and trauma management care, general medical and
surgical care, and the range of ancillary support. This
concept of modular, incremental medical systems is
applicable and used for DSCA missions in much the
same way as it is in the combat environment. As discussed earlier, medical planners and health officials
with a fundamental understanding of capabilitiesbased sourcing will be able to ensure that the right
capability gets to the right place at the right time. This
ethos in the military operational medical community
is imperative to accomplish life saving, life sustainment, and overall health management.
Staffing Support
The total force of the U.S. military includes the active-duty, reserve, and NG uniformed components,
civilian employees, and military contractors. By leveraging this pool of personnel, DoD is capable of executing efficient and decisive operations at home and
abroad. Staff are categorized into occupational codes
that are too numerous to discuss here. However, these
specialty types can be grouped into categories such
as line, aviation, engineering, intelligence, logistics,
medical, personnel/administration, and so on.
OPERATIONAL FRAMEWORK/
RESPONSE STRUCTURE
This section describes the DoD operational configuration as it applies to DSCA. There are several means
by which the military may become involved in domestic emergencies or disasters:
• Immediate response
• NG Forces (under the control of the state
governor)
• Military installation mutual aid agreements
• Federal military support
Immediate Response Authority
In certain instances, communities may require immediate assistance from local military commanders.
In these circumstances, local commanders have been
granted the authority to provide assistance to civil officials to save lives, prevent human suffering, or mitigate great property damage.10,13 Military commanders
may provide assistance necessary in exigent emergencies to bridge the gap until a response can be brought
to bear through mutual assistance, state and federal
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04_B_08_077-096.indd 90
SECTION B
responders, as required. Some examples of immediate response authority are included in Table 8.3.
National Guard
The military response usually begins with the governor’s decision to activate and deploy his or her NG
forces under state-level authority, whether state active
duty or Title 32. This action is ordinarily taken in advance of pending events (e.g., hurricanes, NSSEs) and
soon after an unknown event. The difference between
state active duty and Title 32 status primarily involves
the funding of those forces, whereas under state active
duty, the state funds activities of those forces in accordance with state law.28 State NG forces are normally
the first military responders on the scene of a domestic
emergency and provide the governor, state emergency
management leaders, and military commanders with
important initial assessment information in addition to
providing immediate assistance to the affected population. Title 32 is an accommodating employment status
that gives military commanders optimum flexibility in
military response capability choices. Title 32 operational status is active state service that is paid for by
the federal government. The forces are under the command of the governor and the state’s adjutant general
as provisioned under 32 USC 502(f). Another advantage of Title 32 status is that it allows significant flexi-
TABLE 8.3
Examples of DoD Immediate Response Authority
Rescue
Evacuation
Emergency medical treatment of casualties/victims
Maintenance and/or restoration of emergency
medical capabilities
Safeguarding public health
Interim emergency communications
Restoration of essential public services (firefighting, water, communications, transportation,
power, and fuel)
Emergency clearance of debris and explosive ordinance disposal to permit rescue or movement
of people
Safeguarding, collecting, and distributing food
Damage assessment
Source: Department of Defense Directive 3025.1, January 15,
1993.
The Federal Response to Health and Medical Disasters
12/5/08 3:27:19 PM
bility in how NG forces can be used, especially in their
capacity to directly or indirectly enforce local, state,
tribal, and federal laws. Once Title 32 forces are operationally employed, there is a strong cooperative liaison program between the NG and USNORTHCOM.
This close relationship is even more evident with the
full time exchange of NG and USNORTHCOM liaison officers. Additionally, a NG general officer serves
on the USNORTHCOM staff as the NG Advisor to the
NORTHCOM commander.
The NG has many general and technically specialized capabilities that include unit level capabilities. Table 8.4 provides a list of some of those capabilities.
NATIONAL GUARD WEAPONS
OF MASS DESTRUCTION
CIVIL SUPPORT TEAMS
Civil support teams (CSTs) were established to provide immediate assistance to local incident commanders in determining the nature and extent of a
suspected or actual terrorist attack. Their mission is to
support local and state authorities at weapons of mass
destruction WMD/nuclear, biological, and chemical
incidents. There are currently 55 CSTs located in all
states and territories. Each team consists of 22 fulltime Army and Air NG personnel organized into six
sections: command and control, operations, reconnaissance and survey, logistics and administration,
communications, and medical.
These teams are on alert 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week, and rapidly deploy (advance team within 90
minutes)29 to conduct a site investigation in order to
determine potential effects of the attack, relay situational information to military commanders, and provide technical consultation to local authorities on
managing the effects of the attack to minimize the
impact on the civilian population and facilitate follow-on military assistance as needed.
CHEMICAL, BIOLOGICAL,
RADIOLOGICAL, NUCLEAR,
AND HIGH-YIELD
EXPLOSIVE ENHANCED
RESPONSE FORCE PACKAGE
The CBRNE Enhanced Response Force Package
(CERFP) is a rapid deployable unit (within 2 to 6
hours) that provides immediate response and support
to a state governor in the event of “damaged buildings, rescuing trapped casualties, providing decontamination, and performing medical triage and initial
treatment to stabilize patients for transport to medical
facilities.”30 The teams are organized into elements
comprised of the command and control team, search
and extraction team, decontamination team, and medical team. Each team has approximately 190 personnel, and there are currently 12 validated CERFPs in
the United States (see Figure 8.8).
The CERFPs perform specialized support to civil
authorities in the areas of command and control coordination, casualty extraction, triage operations,
personnel decontamination, and emergency medical
treatment. An advance liaison team deploys, organiz-
TABLE 8.4
National Guard Specialized and General Capabilities
Technical
Linguist and transcription support
Intelligence analysis support
Operational or investigative case support
Imagery and mapping support
Communications support
Engineer support
Subsurface or diver support
General
Domestic cannabis suppression and eradication
Operations support
Transportation support
Counterdrug-related training
Program management
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12/5/08 3:27:20 PM
Significant
Incident
JFLCC
WMD Event
Agro-terrorism
Severe
Small Scale/
JTF
Special
localized
Earthquake
UM
INU
Events
(NSSE)
T
N
Incident
CO
Civil Disturbances
SE
N
Earthquakes RESPO
Wild Fires
Hurricanes
EOD Operations
DCO/DCE
Floods
FIGURE 8.8. National Guard CERFP Locations.
Severity
Broader
Scope
Incident
Probability
Source: National Guard Bureau, Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and High-Yield Explosives (CBRNE) Enhanced
Response Force Package (CERFP) Fact Sheet, May 21, 2007.
Used with permission.
FIGURE 8.9. National Continuum of DoD
es, and directs the activities of the main CERFP. The
search and extraction team conducts casualty searchand-rescue operations to include technical extraction
and debris and heavy item (rigging) removal. The decontamination team conducts decontamination concurrent with or in augmentation support to ongoing
decontamination operations. The decontamination
team is capable of decontaminating 225 ambulatory
and 75 nonambulatory patients per hour. The medical
team has the capability of conducting medical triage
and initial treatment support to include emergency
medical treatment.
not sufficient to provide the needed support. DoD’s
support efforts and the processes involved are described more in the next section. Although a somewhat complex process overall, DoD’s mechanism for
getting the right capability to the right place, at the
right time, is straightforward and works very well.
Military Installation Mutual Aid
Military installation commanders will sometimes enter into mutual aid agreements in order to maximize
local community resources. These agreements enable
better use of resources and personnel and serve as a
response multiplier during an emergency. There are
specific authorities that authorize military commanders to enter into mutual aid agreements for fire protection. This provides a mutual and cooperative level
of support between military installation commanders
and their host communities for fire protection.31,32
Federal Military Support
This level of support results when the local and state
governments have exhausted their existing capabilities and normally when other federal resources are
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04_B_08_077-096.indd 92
SECTION B
Response.
How Defense Support of Civil
Authorities Works
DoD has a flexible and tiered civil support response
that can be scaled depending on the complexity of the
event. Depending on the requirements of the situation
and as the situation changes over time, DoD can adjust the level of response based on requirements (Figure 8.9). Initial response will, in most cases, come
from state-controlled NG forces. DoD may subsequently respond across a continuum that begins with
immediate response and continues through to a JTF.
Normally, requests for DoD assistance occur under
the provisions of the Stafford Act, but may also be
requested under non–Stafford Act conditions.
Stafford Act requests are events or incidents
where state and local authorities have declared a state
of emergency and requested federal assistance. This
type of emergency is often referred to as an incident of
national significance, and the Stafford Act establishes
programs and processes for the federal government to
provide disaster assistance to the affected states, local
governments, tribal nations, individuals, and quali-
The Federal Response to Health and Medical Disasters
12/5/08 3:27:20 PM
fied private nonprofit organizations.11 Non–Stafford
Act incidents are emergencies that occur every year
and are not of a severity or complexity that they overwhelm state and local authorities. However, federal
assistance and coordination would be beneficial to the
overall situation. In both situations, the secretary of
homeland security is overall responsible for coordination of incident management activities.
DoD becomes involved when state governors request specific DoD capabilities or when the request
cannot be accomplished by another federal agency.
This is accomplished by means of an official RFA.
There are many variables that determine how DoD
will act on the requests. These include the situation,
type of event (Stafford Act/non–Stafford Act), urgency of the request, and many others. There are numerous situational factors that impact how the RFA will
be handled. To simplify the discussion we will attempt
to stay within the parameters of a typical situational
and operational federal response environment. As the
processes have matured over the years, and moreover
since 2001, the response process is well defined and
occurs based on the NRP.
Normally, all initial RFAs will be initiated by the
primary federal agency executive secretary and be forwarded to DoD’s executive secretary for approval. For
RFAs generated from the disaster site, the requests for
assistance are received from the state by the FCO, a
FEMA presidential appointee, or a senior representative of the primary federal agency. Under the NRP, the
FCO “manages and coordinates Federal resource support activities related to Stafford Act disasters and emergencies.”7 Once a request for assistance is made to the
FCO or primary federal agency for DoD support, the
request is passed to the DCO, the secretary of defense’s
on-scene and direct representative for that particular
event. Upon receipt of the RFA, the DCO uses common
criteria to evaluate the request for supportability (Figure
8.10). These criteria are listed below.11,13
the joint director of military support (JDOMS) in
Washington, D.C., and the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and America’s security
affairs (ASD (HD&ASA)) for approval. Upon approval, DoD is committed to providing the right asset
in the right place at the right time. Once the request
or RFA has been approved, the DCO will coordinate
with the NG headquarters and, if present, the military
JTF commander (or joint forces commander) in order
to determine whether forces and/or capabilities are
already present within the area of operations that are
capable of providing the requested assistance. If not,
there are a series of events that occur within the joint
chiefs of staff that facilitate the alert, readying, and
deployment of the requested capabilities. Timeliness
of DoD support is a major factor in civil support operations, and assets may not be immediately available.
The appropriateness and identification of assets, availability of those assets, travel distance to the disaster
site, and situational parameters of the disaster area are
all determinants of getting the capabilities employed
in support of response/relief operations. The reader
should recall the discussion on PSMAs and how the
intent of this tool/process is to think through the necessary steps, actions, specific requirements, or other
enablers that are essential to execute the projected and
anticipated mission. The DoD PSMAs are in critical
response areas such as transportation to include aviation support, medical support, and medical evacuation, communications, debris removal, and several
others. Having a multidisciplinary team work through
all of these issues in the pre-disaster/event phase has
significant benefits that include the following:
• Legality (compliance with laws)
• Lethality (potential use of lethal force by or
against DoD forces)
• Risk (safety of DoD forces)
• Cost (who pays, impact on DoD budget)
• Appropriateness (whether the requested mission
is in the interest of the department to conduct)
• Readiness (impact on the DoD’s ability to perform its primary mission)
Upon completion of the validation process, the
DCO will forward the request to USNORTHCOM,
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04_B_08_077-096.indd 93
• Time—Pre-planning the components of the
response capability eliminates the requirement to
accomplish this during the response phase.
• Consistency—Many requests for assistance that
become mission assignments are of the same
type (e.g., providing generators) across many
different disasters/events, and using language
that has worked in the past will ensure future
success.
• Standardization—By creating and vetting PSMAs through all of the stakeholders, a template
for support is created and provides the user with
a consistent set of criteria.
• Learning—The PSMA development process
itself is educational, and much can be learned
about specific support requirements by drafting
PSMAs.
Military Support of Civilian Operations
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REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE PROCESS DECISION MATRIX
Support/
Report
START
START
Stafford Act Requests
(Incident Anticipated or Occurs)
Non-Stafford Act Requests
YES
Requester obtains sponsorship from the
primary agency who passes RFA through
DCO to JDOMS or DOD ExexSec under
terms of the Economy Act
Immediate
Response?
NO
YES
Support
Dept of Homeland Security
Department of Justice
Department of State
Dept of Health & Human Services
US Capitol Police
Others
USACE or
NG & EMAC
fill?
NO
Agency
or FCO the
requester?
ExecSec
NO
NO
Deny request
Return to
Agency
Combatant
Commands
Coordinate with
NGB
Review and pass to
SecDef
YES
Evaluate RFA, conduct
mission analysis.
Coordinate with
stakeholders, recommend
forces.
Forward to JDOMS.
SecDef
Approve
NO
LEGEND
Designates supporting and
supported commands and
command and control
relationships.
Tasks commands, Services,
and DOD agencies to
deploy and execute the
mission.
Support
DOD Assets
Coordinate
YES
EXECUTE ORDER
JDOMS
ASD(HD&ASA)
Proper DOD
mission?
ASD(HD&ASA) - Assistant Secretary of Defense for
Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs
DCO - Defense Coordinating Officer
DOD - Department of Defense
EMAC - Emergency Management Assistance Compact
ExexSec - Executive Secretary
FCO - Federal Coordinating Officer
JDOMS - Joint Director of Military Support
NG - National Guard
NGB - National Guard Bureau
NIFC - National Interagency Fire Center
NTSB - National Transportation Safety Board
RFA - Request for Assistance
SecDef - Secretary of Defense
USACE - US Army Corps of Engineers
USJFCOM - US Joint Forces Command
USNORTHCOM - US Northern Command
Lead
Agency
Coordinate with Services,
USJFCOM, DOD, agencies,
and combatant commands
Pass to ASD(HD&ASA)
Evaluate and
forward to JDOMS
and ASD(HD&ASA)
YES
NTSB
NIFC
USDA
Service Chief Commands
USNORTHCOM Components
US Joint Forces Command
Common to all RFA
Non-Stafford Path
Stafford Act RFA
Cancel
FIGURE 8.10. RFA Decision Matrix. Source: Department of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Joint Publication
3-28—Civil Support, September 14, 2007. Used with permission.
• Experience—Like with other aspects of disaster preparedness and emergency response, the
more experience the better. As planners work
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with mission assignments more, they develop a
higher level of understanding and awareness that
translates to competence.
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TRAINING
Interagency Training
DoD planners take advantage of abundant training opportunities within the civil sector, including federal,
state, agency-specific, and industry-specific training.
Through this broad and encompassing outreach, DoD
develops and maintains a substantial cadre of personnel trained in civil support operations.
Through participation in extensive and comprehensive exercise programs at all levels of government, DoD
also provides practical experience for its planners. The
level of participation within the interagency for exercises and drills appreciably adds to the overall continuity
of cooperative effort in a real-world event. The oftenquoted DoD mantra, “Train like you fight,” applies to
civil support training with the federal interagency and
other partners just as it does with combat operations.
Military-Specific Training
The military has enhanced training for its members who
may be called on to support civil support operations. Although there are numerous civilian programs that offer
instruction in homeland security, disaster preparedness,
and related disciplines, most of these programs do not
have significant offerings related to DoD’s very unique
and specific role in support of civil authorities. DSCA
may be thought of by nonmilitary responders as an operational subset within DoD. See Table 8.5 for a sample
of military-specific courses related to civil support. Additionally, many military schools and training courses
provide instruction that, although not primarily focused
or directed toward civil support, provide instruction on
a multitude of civil support and DSCA-related topics.
The Defense Support of Civil Authorities Course,
provided by the U.S. Army North under the authority
of USNORTHCOM, is the principal training course for
military members. This 5-day course, which includes
interactive lectures and discussions in all facets of civil
support and an in-class table-top exercise, focuses primarily on intergovernmental and interagency response.
SUMMARY
A secure homeland is the top priority, and therefore is
a cornerstone of the national military strategy. Securing the United States from direct attack by dissuading, deterring, and defeating those with intent to do
harm to the United States is a key strategic objective
within this strategy. The overlapping and interrelated missions for DoD are homeland defense (lead),
homeland security (support), and civil support (enable). DoD’s specific and often unique capabilities are
derived from existing war-fighting capabilities, and
when employed provide significant resources to local,
state, and other federal agencies when their resources
are otherwise engaged or exhausted. DoD will continue to play a vital role in homeland defense, providing
civil support to civil authorities when directed by the
president and the secretary of defense.
DISCLAIMER
The opinions or assertions in this chapter are solely
the authors’ and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Department of Defense.
TABLE 8.5
Examples of DoD Civil Support/Defense of Civil Authorities Training
Course/Training
Defense Support of Civil Authorities Course
Homeland Security Planners Course
Joint, Interagency, and Multinational Planners Course
Homeland Security Medical Executives Course
Military Medical Humanitarian Assistance Course
Exercises (national, regional, state and installation
level)
Sponsor
U.S. Northern Command/U.S. Army North
Joint Forces Staff College—National Defense University
Joint Forces Staff College—National Defense University
Defense Medical Readiness and Training Institute
Defense Medical Readiness and Training Institute &
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Various
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REFERENCES
18. Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, U.S. Fleet Forces
Command 2007 Annual Plan, 2007.
1. Government Accountability Office. Homeland Defense:
DoD Needs to Assess the Structure of U.S. Forces for Domestic Military Missions. GAO-03-670. Washington, DC:
GAO, July 2003.
2. Department of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff. Joint Publication—1, Doctrine for the Armed Forces
of the United States; Washington, DC: 14 May 2007.
3. President George W. Bush. National Strategy for Homeland
Security, Promulgating Letter, October 5, 2007.
4. Interview with Assistant Secretary for Defense for Homeland Defense Paul McHale, Joint Forces Quarterly, October
6, 2005.
5. Department of Defense, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Joint Publication 3-27—Homeland Defense, July 12, 2007.
6. President George W. Bush. Homeland Security Presidential
Directive—HSPD-5, February 28, 2003.
7. U.S. Department of Homeland Security. National Response
Plan. Washington, DC: November 2004.
8. Department of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff. Joint Publication 3-57—Joint Doctrine for Civil-Military Operations, February 8, 2001.
9. Public Law 93-288, as amended, 42 USC512 et seq., and
Related Authorities, Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief
and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended, and Related
Authorities, October 13, 2006, Sec. 101 (b).
10. Department of Defense Directive 3025.1, Military Support
to Civil Authorities (MSCA), January 15, 1993.
11. Department of Defense, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Joint Publication 3-28—Civil Support, September 14, 2007.
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15, 2001, 8–29.
13. Department of Defense Directive 3025.15, Military Assistance to Civil Authorities (MACA), February 18, 1997.
14. John Warner National Defense Act for Fiscal Year 2007,
Public Law 109-364, § 1076, October 17, 2006.
15. Enforcement of the Laws to Restore Public Order Act (the
Restoration Act) (formerly the Insurrection Act), 10 USC
§§ 331-334.
16. President George W. Bush. Homeland Security Presidential
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19. Armed Forces: Purpose of the Reserve Components, 10
USC § 10102, January 2, 2006.
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3, 2005.
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22. Emergency Management and Assistance: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security
(Federal Disaster Assistance for Disasters Declared On or
After November 23, 1988), Title 44 CFR § 206.2, October
1, 2003.
23. Federal Emergency Management Agency. Mission Assignment (MA) for Managers Student Manual (L346), May
2006.
24. Department of Defense. Strategy for Homeland Defense
and Civil Support, June 2005.
25. Department of Defense. The National Defense Strategy of
the United States of America, March 2005.
26. Department of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, Joint Publication 4-02—Health Service Support,
October 31, 2006.
27. General Victor E. Renuart, USAF, Commander, USNORTHCOM. Statement before the Senate Committee
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, July 19,
2007.
28. Commission on the National Guard and Reserves. Strengthening America’s Defenses in the New Security Environment: Second Report to Congress, March 1, 2007.
29. National Guard Bureau. Civil Support Team Fact Sheet,
May 21, 2007.
30. National Guard Bureau. Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and High-Yield Explosives (CBRNE) Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP) Fact Sheet, May
21, 2007.
31. Reciprocal Fire Protection Agreements, 42 USC Chapter
15A, § 1856a, January 15, 2005.
32. Department of Defense. Department of Defense Instruction 6055.06, DoD Fire and Emergency Service (F&ES)
Program, December 21, 2006.
17. U.S. Army Field Manual 3-31/U.S. Marine Corps Warfare
Publication 3-40.07, Joint Force Land Component Commander Handbook, December 2001.
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