http://www.hstoday.us/blogs/guest-commentaries/blog/exclusive-dual-status-single-purpose-a-unified-military-response-to-hurricane-sandy/805345bdee0530ceef07d9e5b4c31002.html
March 11, 2013
By: Gen. Charles H. Jacoby, Jr., and Gen. Frank J. Grass
On the evening
of October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy roared ashore and wreaked devastation upon
the people and infrastructure of New York and New Jersey. It was the worst
natural disaster to strike our shores since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf
Coast. And while destructive, Sandy’s effects could have been much worse if not
for the cooperative efforts of local leaders and first responders, the National
Guard, the Department of Defense (DoD), the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) and other state and federal agencies.
Even as long-term recovery efforts continue in the hardest hit
communities of the Northeast, it is worth pausing to reflect on how our military
forces performed in the response to Sandy, and in particular noting the success
of the Dual-Status Commander concept that aligns both National Guard and federal
military forces under a single leader.
To begin, Sandy reinforced a basic principle of domestic disaster response, and that is local civilian first
responders remain the fastest and most effective forces available. Local police,
firefighters, paramedics and government officials have the extraordinary
responsibility to protect life and meet the immediate needs of its citizens
while setting the stage for a long-term community recovery. Volunteers,
non-profits, corporations and faith-based organizations also fill a critical
role in helping people who have been impacted. These first responders and local
volunteers may suffice in routine emergencies. However, in complex disasters
like Hurricane Sandy, which may span multiple states and municipalities, the
demands of the crisis have the potential to exceed local capacity to meet those
needs. This is when our military must be ready to respond.
The National Guard, as the military’s first responders in most
domestic disasters, provides the next layer of response, offering the governor a
robust response force. National Guard forces enjoy tremendous acceptance and
trust within their communities and are empowered by emergency management
assistance compacts and other agreements that enable rapid sharing of
capabilities between states. Finally, upon the governor’s request and approval of the
President or Secretary of Defense, DoD forces operating under Title 10 may be
introduced as an additional layer of response capabilities -- a “strategic
reserve” to support lead federal agencies supporting state and local
authorities.
This tiered and scalable response construct, as described in
the National Response Framework, has served us well through several emergencies.
But its bottom-up process for requesting military support can be too cumbersome
and time-consuming in a large-scale, complex disaster. Which brings us to the
second lesson: we simply cannot be late to respond when our citizens are in
danger.
If we wait until we receive a request before we start
identifying and preparing our forces, they may not arrive in time to help. In a
complex catastrophe, response time equates to potential human suffering. Yet, we
also must respect the sovereignty and responsibility of state and local
authorities. A top-down analysis of potential requests must be conducted and
assets staged ahead of time so that we can respond quickly with relationships
already built; processes practiced and honed by training and exercising together
to save lives; and to help our communities get back to normal.
Even before Sandy made landfall, as states prepositioned first
responders and National Guard forces -- and FEMA readied its assets -- thousands
of active-duty and reserve DoD forces were placed on standby, positioned to
rapidly respond when called. DoD coordinating officers were deployed to FEMA’s
joint field offices to facilitate requests for federal military assistance. A
joint support element was established at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New
Jersey to serve as a forward staging point for relief supplies and personnel,
and the USS Wasp Amphibious Ready Group began steaming towards the area to
render assistance. Thanks to this forward-leaning stance, DoD forces stood ready
to quickly assist National Guard forces in helping those who lay in Sandy’s
destructive path.
The complexity of the Sandy relief efforts highlights a third
lesson: the importance of establishing a clear chain of command that ensures
operational unity of effort that achieves the balance between timeliness and
respect for civil authority. In the midst of a complex catastrophe, with Title
32 National Guard forces from multiple states working alongside Title 10 active
duty and reserve forces, there is a potential for confusion in the chain of
command, which risks undermining unity of effort -- a key principle of military
operational effectiveness. We simply cannot afford to have our military forces
working at cross-purposes without effective coordination and synergy that could
hamper time-critical search and rescue and lifesaving operations. Nor can we
impose multiple uniformed voices on stressed federal, state and local civilian
agencies.
Last year, Congress took a bold step to prevent such an
occurrence. The 2012 National Defense Authorization Act built upon earlier
legislation
to enable individual states and DoD to coordinate their efforts through a single
commander, usually a National Guard officer, who is given tactical control of
both state-controlled National Guard forces and DoD military forces. While state
and federal military forces maintain separate and distinct chains of command,
this Dual-Status Commander leads all military forces and directs their response
efforts, achieving a level of unity of effort that was unachievable or difficult
prior to implementation of this construct.
During Hurricane Sandy, this unity of effort enabled
much-needed assistance from DoD to move quickly to support states.
For example,
with the US Transportation Command we were able to move 262 power restoration
vehicles and 429 support personnel from western states to New York and New
Jersey. With the US Army Corps of Engineers we contributed 100 large pumps that
were able to remove 475 million gallons of flood water from tunnels and
basements. And with the Defense Logistics Agency, we helped distribute six
million meals and 8.1 million gallons of unleaded and diesel fuel to the people
of both states.
While the Dual-Status Commander construct was put in place for
several small-scale emergencies such as the Colorado and California wildfires,
and for key national-level events including the Republican and Democratic
National Conventions, Hurricane Sandy marked the first time that actual tactical
control of National Guard and DoD active and reserve forces was given to
Dual-Status Commanders for a major, multi-state natural disaster. While this
inaugural use of Dual-Status Commanders wasn’t flawless, in the end we can say
with conviction that the concept works. It is simply the best command and
control construct that exists for responding effectively and efficiently to
complex disasters, because it can bring the full weight of the DoD response to
the worst man-made or natural disasters while maintaining the authority of state
and local governments.
Nobody knows a state better than its governor, the individual
elected by the people and accountable to them during their time of greatest
need.
The governor, working with the National Guard adjutant general, will
continue to lead disaster response and recovery efforts within their state. A
Dual-Status Commander allows them to do it better by ensuring all types of DoD
support work together within the governor’s intent. It allows the President and
Secretary of Defense to bring the weight of unique DoD capabilities and national
capacity to bear when our citizens most need it, and when the interests of the
entire country are at stake. And, it allows US Northern Command to achieve its
vision of working with partners to outpace threats and support the American
people in their times of greatest need.
Although the Dual-Status Commander concept is relatively new,
it has already proven itself to be a powerful tool for improving responsiveness,
command and control, continuity of operations and unity of effort. Together, we
will maintain an open dialog with the Council of Governors and state adjutants
general to ensure the many lessons from Hurricane Sandy are indeed learned,
incorporated into our planning, and battle-tested during complex disaster
exercises.
When the next major disaster strikes, we will be even better
prepared to serve the American people.
Gen. Charles H. Jacoby, Jr. is the Commander of the North
American Aerospace Defense Command and US Northern Command.
Gen. Frank J. Grass is Chief of the National Guard Bureau, a
member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and former Deputy Commander of US Northern
Command.
