Spencer's article on the military's homeland security mission got me thinking. So I did a little digging, and found this Pentagon "Strategy for Homeland Defense and Civil Support." It reinforces the money quote from Spencer's Katrina response story, that "the system that we have worked as it was designed. It was never designed to get masses of aid into place in 24 hours. And that's the problem."
Check out the teeny-tiny emphasis that the generals place on responding to a disaster that doesn't have to do with WMD:
Key Objectives of the Strategy
Within the lead, support, and enable frame work for homeland defense and civil support, the Department is focused on the following paramount objectives, listed in order of priority:
Achieve maximum awareness of
potential threats. Together with the Intelligence Community and civil authorities, DoD works to obtain and promptly exploit all actionable information needed to protect the United States. Timely and actionable intelligence, together with early warning, is the most critical enabler to protecting the United States at a safe distance.
Deter, intercept and defeat threats at a safe distance. The Department of Defense will actively work to deter adversaries from attacking the US homeland. Through our deterrent posture and capabilities, we will convince adversaries that threats to the US homeland risk unacceptable counteraction by the United States. Should deterrence fail, we will seek to intercept and defeat threats at a safe distance from the United States. When directed by the President or the Secretary of Defense, we will also defeat direct threats within US airspace and on US territory. In all cases, the Department of Defense cooperates closely with its domestic and international partners and acts in accordance with applicable laws.
Achieve mission assurance. The Department of Defense performs assigned duties even under attack or after disruption. We achieve mission assurance through force protection, ensuring the security of defense critical infrastructure, and executing defense crisis management and continuity of operations (COOP).
Support civil authorities in minimizing the damage and recovering from domestic chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or high-yield explosive (CBRNE) mass casualty attacks. The Department of Defense will be prepared to provide forces and capabilities in support of domestic CBRNE consequence management, with an emphasis on preparing for multiple, simultaneous mass casualty incidents. DoDs responses will be planned, practiced, and carefully integrated into the national response. With the exception of a dedicated command and control element (currently the Joint Task Force Civil Support) and the Army National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Civil Support Teams, DoD will rely on dual capable forces for the domestic consequence management mission. These dual capable forces must be trained, equipped, and ready to provide timely assistance to civil authorities in times of domestic CBRNE catastrophes, programming for this capability when directed.
Improve national and international capabilities for homeland defense and homeland security. The Department of Defense is learning from the experiences of domestic and international partners and sharing expertise with Federal, state, local, and tribal authorities, the private sector, and US allies and friends abroad. By sharing expertise, we improve the ability of the Department of Defense to carry out an active, layered defense. (emphasis mine)
