The Importance of Command Relationship in Response to Hurricane Katrina
SFC Rande J. Rodrigues
Fort Campbell NCOA
The Importance of Command Relationship in Response to Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was one of the deadliest hurricanes and the most destructive and powerful hurricane ever to hit the United States. It was not only the costliest natural disaster ever to hit the U.S. but also the most controversial and highly politicized, with federal, state and local officials blaming each other. Many residents did not heed the initial warnings to evacuate, putting a severe strain on rescue operations. Many critics blamed an aging and neglected federal levee system and a slow state and local response. Even though, fingers pointed in all directions,
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The review of literature on command relationships provides an understanding of how command relationships function in the military and the civilian organizations responsible for coordinating and executing the response activities during a disaster. Unified command, as a part of the National Incident Management System (NIMS), was successfully used after the catastrophic disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi in 2005 (William Carwile, 2005). According to FEMA, NIMS guides all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations (NGO), and the private sector to work together to protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from incidents (NIMS, Third Edition, 2017). In a Unified Command with strict command relationships is different than the unified command in the military. Unified command applies to the Incident Command System (ICS) and an incident involving multiple jurisdictions or organizations. It enables instructions and agencies with different legal, geographic, and functional responsibilities to coordinate, plan, and interact effectively. The Incident Commanders within the Unified Command make joint decisions and speak as one voice. Any differences are worked out within the Unified Command (NIMS, Third Edition, …show more content…
Unity of effort is an essential concept in emergency management to provide a rapid and coordinated response. Different types of disasters will require different levels of response, capabilities, and command relationships. Hurricane Katrina will always be remembered by history as one of the most destructive, expensive, and tragic events our country has ever encountered. But with a strong determination, unity of effort, and effective organizational change, the true legacy of Katrina can be that of a catalyst that triggered a real and lasting improvement to our national
When operating with multinational forces a command structure is established to ensure balance and creditable with all military forces involved.
The armed forces have rendered critical support to state and local (SL) government dating back to the establishment of the nation. Post-9/11, the federal government has taken measures to foster a unity of effort while also encouraging interoperability among all levels of government and the private sector. As a state resource, the Army and Air National Guard (AANG) are under the command and control (C2) of their respective Governors and Adjutant General. Since its inception, the AANGs primary function has been to provide direct, and timely support in response to natural and man-made disasters. Historically, pieces of legislation such as the Posse Comitatus Act (1878) have affected the Department of Defense (DoD) limitations and scope during
Keeping track means more than knowing where team members are. (FireRescue) Retrieved September 2016, from Firefighter Nation: http://www.firefighternation.com/article/incident-command-0/communication-personnel-accountability-ics McIntire, M., & O 'Donnell, M. (2005 , May 10). Fire Chief Challenges New York Emergency Plan. (The New York TImes)
There became an obvious need for immediate assistance from the National Guard and the Active Duty Army to stop looters, crime, and other chaos that ensued shortly after the flood. Gaining assistance from state controlled National Guard units was not overly difficult. Unfortunately, use of Federal soldiers comes with the stipulation that “the Governor of the affected state must request use of the resources of the DoD”. (Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance) The Governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco and her staff were already failing to control and lead emergency efforts.
During the planning process, using multiple U.S. forces or other national forces, Unity of Command must be established, especially at the tactical and operational levels. Operation Anaconda is a modern-day
When a disaster occurs the federal, state, and local governments contact the military for help and support due to the their advantages attached to military operations and response which could benefit in them in manpower with specific qualifications, skills and expertise, strategic and rapid mobilization, updated technology and a variety of equipment (helicopters, aircraft, earth-moving machinery, respirators, medical supplies, power and lighting equipment, under-water capability, etc.) that most emergency organizations are unable to acquire on a moment notice (Kapucu, 2011). Besides, the military’s bureaucratic structure with hierarchical rules in place are effective in command, coordination, and control of manpower, authority, and regulations, is beneficial in providing effective response actions during the time of emergency (Anderson 1970; Schrader 1993; Sylves 2008; US House of Representatives 2006) (Kapucu, 2011). This advantage cut time in half because the structure is already set up without questioning who is doing what or who is in charge. Additionally, the military supports in sheltering the homeless, the construction of temporary housing and restoration of minimal critical infrastructure (water, electric, sanitation, communication infrastructure, etc.), (Miskel 2006; Schrader 1993), (Kapucu, 2011).
The NIMS provides assistance to each state, which allows them to be prepared for any possible emergency. The five components of NIMS provided a guideline that is used throughout an emergency whether it be Federal departments, State, tribal, and local organizations. Establish a system and being able to provide possible issues that may arise and analyzed the challenges. The national integration center (NIC) ensures that the NIMS is operating at optimal level, that all training, resources, and communicating system are being meet; the NIC provides an assessment NIMS and ensures that each component is filing it responsibility. NIMS is an ideal system that was developed to respond universally to emergencies and the check and balances installed into
Part of this is because the terrorist attack was isolated, it didn’t span multiple political jurisdictions as Hurricane Katrina did. Furthermore, the terrorist attack was an immediate and tangible threat. With Hurricane Katrina maintaining situational awareness was not effective and there was no common operating picture for the local, state and federal responses. The biggest difference of course would be the physical footprint of each incident. Hurricane Katrina spanned multiple political subdivisions, impacted multiple areas having jurisdiction and made resource availability more limited than that of the San Bernadino incident.
More and more authorities continue to be taken away and have been spread across many agencies within DHS. “FEMA no longer manages a comprehensive emergency management program of mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery and the agency function that President Carter and the Governors envisioned in 1979 no longer exists” (FEMA, 2013). The sole focus has turned to terrorism disaster preparedness and FEMA has become somewhat dismantled and lost its ability to provide the command and control that it had prior to the move to DHS. This will prove to be a major flaw and will again, show the failure of FEMA in the next occurrence of natural disaster the United States faces. There are other agencies within the DHS that need to be scrutinized as
New Orleans, a flourishing city sitting on the Gulf coast. The city thrived with life. But, on the morning of August 29th,2005 everything changed. Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the gulf coast.
Following the tragic event, the Water and Sewage Board in New Orleans ordered taller levees to be constructed. Hurricane Betsy in 1965 caused leaders to redesign the levee system and the responsibility of levee construction was placed under the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Once again citizens of New Orleans started to reconstruct their city after another natural disaster. Only forty years later Hurricane Katrina, the unfortunate event that was due to the failure of levees to withhold water, left many homeless, dead and looting for survival. Not only did the levees fail the people of New Orleans, but their government also fell short of supplying the desperate citizens of the city with aid and support.
Cold, wet, deadly, windy, furious, and dangerous. Hurricane Katrina is the worse natural disaster every recorded, leaving over a thousand people dead in New Orleans, Louisiana. Hurricane Katrina landed in New Orleans, Louisiana around 6:45 am on August 23 as a Category 3, 2005 and end as a Category 5 hurricane on August 31, 2005. After this horrendous hurricane took New Orleans it made its way through Mississippi, Florida and even up into other states north of Louisiana taking 1,245 lives with it including one from Kentucky and two from Ohio, Florida, and Georgia. The effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and other states caused many people to die of starvation, hydration, and diseases, a gruesome amount of damage, and many different responses from many different people.
The Stafford Act was enacted in 1988 and determines how and when the federal government is allowed to intervene in a natural disaster. It also defines the type of assistance to be provided as well as the distribution of funds among the federal, state and local governments. FEMA is responsible for coordinating the assistance identified in the Stafford Act. However, FEMA has to answer to the Secretary of Homeland Security rather than making their own decisions. The authors describe how our current governmental system isn’t well equipped to deal with major devastation such as Hurricane Katrina.
Therefore, he could be seen as a Meta-Leader as he demonstrated taken Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) out of the stovepipe and status quo in order to bring about whole community approach. Jones (2012) pointed out how preparedness messaging used to be communicated to the public using fear tactics and how such messaging continue to fail and Fugate acknowledged that it was wrong method of communicating disaster preparedness messages and seek to find a new and better way of motivating people to prepared for disasters. Met-leadership aims at tackles difficulty of generating unity of action when several people, organizational units, and resources needed to be brought together to achieve common goal. In addition, Meta-Leader’s thinking and performance is unique with the ability to take holistic view and purposely link the efforts of the whole community to galvanize important connectivity between different entity to achieve unity of purpose and effort (Marcus, Dorn, Ashkenazi, Hernderson, & Mcnulty,
In certain instances, the military is used in providing security after a catastrophic event and it is used to enter an area of disaster devastation with the use of naval resources so that food supplies and medicines are given to those who need it (Sylves, 2009). Worthy also to note is the fact that in major disasters, the military is used as a search and rescue team (Sylves, 2009). Furthermore, it is also during this time that the military acts as the protector of people’s property and their safety. During a national emergency, the military is tasked to ensure that civil order is maintained. There are many questions with regards the role of the military during a national emergency.