Military Resources in Disasters

Military Partnerships

The National Response Framework (NRF) "provides context for how the whole community works together and how response efforts relate to other parts of national preparedness" (FEMA, 2014). The NRF notes that normally, the Department of Defense has a critical role to play in national defense, and therefore its resources are only committed to disaster relief at the discretion of the President, or on approval of the Secretary of Defense.

According to the NRF, the National Guard contributes in a number of ways to disaster response: emergency medical response, communications, logistics, search & rescue, civil engineering, decontamination and response to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear attacks (FEMA, 2014). The governor has the ability to activate the National Guard as a means of supporting state activities, and the state adjutant general "may assign members of the Guard to assist with state, regional, and Federal civil support plans."

Under normal circumstances, the National Guard are under the control of the governor, but if the President calls in the National Guard under Title 10, in case of invasion by a foreign nation, then the DoD will assume full control of the National Guard (FEMA, 2014).

The National Guard is therefore called out in any number of different situations. They are not typically called out first, as there are other bodies that assist with disaster management as a primary duty. The National Guard may be called out first if there is an invasion, but simultaneous with other branches of the armed forces. The National Guard would usually only be called out if there is a serious disaster that the local authorities and charitable groups cannot handle.

For most types of disasters, the armed forces would not necessarily be called upon. The National Guard plays this role, and is one of the first bodies that will be brought into duty, usually by the governor (Gambino, 2014). The Army can be called upon for disaster relief in foreign countries, for example in Haiti following the earthquake there (Southcom, 2014). There have been similar efforts in Japan after the tsunami and the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan hit that country (Tritten, 2013).

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The research does not turn up much involvement in domestic disaster relief other than from the National Guard. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers does make contributions, especially with respect to key infrastructure projects, where it contributes repair, security and emergency infrastructure services (FEMA, 2014). But otherwise the Army is not used much for disaster relief, and this is not its primary purpose (Schrader, 1992). Resources deployed in disaster relief only to the extent that those resources are not needed in the execution of a primary defense mission (Harrison, 1992).

Harrison further outlines that DoD resources will be deployed to supplement non-DoD resources, rather than as a primary resource. The DoD resources will not be used to enforce civil law -- they cannot be a police force. Further, DoD resources will remain under military control, which is a difference from how the National Guard is deployed. However, it is FEMA that would make the original request for military assistance, unless the disaster is a foreign military invasion, wherein the President would be expected to begin the process of military deployment.

The DoD also plays a role in disaster preparation. The DoD works with FEMA on preparation for a number of different disaster scenarios. This includes defining policies, procedures and responsibilities for disaster relief activities, so that when a disaster occurs, the chains of command and communication between FEMA, the other government agencies, and the Department of Defense are already known. The Secretary of the Army is also responsible for some of the planning effort, and governing the forces in times of emergency. The Continental U.S. Armies (CONUSA) each have a geographic zone of responsibility, so each would be available for their own zone primarily (Harrison, 1992). The Army Reserve may also be activated, but only for 15 days a year at most. If the disaster is severe enough, the President may declare a National Emergency. Under this condition, the Ready Reserve (capped at 1 million) can be used to augment the active military force for up to two years.

The U.S. Army can be called upon to fill the twelve Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) which are transportation, communications, public works, firefighting, information, mass care, resource support, health & medical, urban search & rescue, hazardous materials, food, and energy (Harrison, 1992). Each of these will have a lead agency, with the military acting as support, but under its own command, and efforts coordinate by FEMA with the military commanders.