Before the Next Hurricane Katrina: A Strategic Approach to Enhancing Military Capabilities.

摘要

In many ways the greatest threat to America s national security remains the readiness and resiliency of the homeland. Seven years after Hurricane Katrina, serious questions persist about the roles and readiness of the Department of Defense to respond to a catastrophic natural or manmade disaster. While several advances have been successfully implemented in civil support preparedness, it can be argued that the U.S. military s core doctrine, policies and posture have not significantly changed. Domestic preparedness, planning, and resourcing remain an afterthought well behind the war fight. A collaborative, strategic approach leveraging Total Force principles and experience from the war fight is needed within the Army to enhance available land force capacity. Pre-event planning, requirements identification, unit identification and training, intergovernmental relationships, response design, and component force mix and roles must all be strategically considered. As the nation enters a persistent era of significantly constrained resources, the Department of Defense, and the Army in particular, can no longer afford to rest domestic mission readiness solely on the preparations for war.