CIVIL AFFAIRS SUPPORT TO DOMESTIC DISASTER RELIEF OPERATIONS


A new concept is being introduced into military doctrine that has been
termed by the 1993 version of FM 100-5, OPERATIONS, as Operations Other
Than War (OOTW).  This element, within the "Range of Military
Operations," provides for the use of military forces in some
nontraditional roles; such as peacekeeping, nation assistance, and
support to domestic authorities.  Some of the types of OOTW missions
that have seen a great deal of emphasis are Humanitarian Assistance (HA)
and Disaster Relief Operations (DRO).  The important aspect of training
for and preparing to do these missions is that the tasks of providing
the assistance to people in need is the same in an overseas theater as
it is in a domestic scenario.

Disasters are suddenly occurring events which produce mass casualties
and cause extensive damage to personal property and the public
infrastructure.  These include events such as; Hurricane Andrew, Mt
Pinatubo volcano, the Northridge  earthquake, and the mid-west floods.
Disasters may be natural or man-made, and do not have to be connected to
any military operation.(l) Domestic disaster relief operations use
Department of Defense (DOD) personnel, equipment, and supplies to
promote human welfare, reduce pain and suffering, and prevent loss of
life or destruction of property from the aftermath of natural or
man-made disasters.  In domestic disaster situations, the coordination
of the response is through the direction of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) under the FEDERAL RESPONSE PLAN for Public Law
92-228.   As a supporting agency to the plan, the US Army is the DOD
executive agent.  The Army’s ability to rapidly deploy, and its
capability to operate in the most austere environments make it ideally
suitable for this mission.(2)

The statutory authority for federal domestic disaster relief operations
is the ROBERT T. STAFFORD DISASTER RELIEF ACT, 42 USC 5121.  It provides
for the declaration of an emergency or disaster by the President as well
as describes the amount and type of federal assistance available.  The
STAFFORD ACT authorizes the President to use DOD assets for the disaster
relief operation once a formal declaration is made.  The DOD Policy for
implementing the domestic disaster assistance, as outlined in the
STAFFORD ACT, is DOD Directive 3025.1, MILITARY SUPPORT TO CIVIL
AUTHORITY and Department of the Army Regulation 500-60, DISASTER
RELIEF.(3)

The fundamental principle for employing military resources is
recognizing that the civil government has the primary authority and
responsibility for disaster assistance within its respective
jurisdictions.  The National Guard has the primary responsibility for
providing military domestic disaster assistance within its respective
State and is employed under the auspices of a State Disaster Declaration
issued by the Governor.  A FEDERAL disaster is any event whose severity
or magnitude overwhelms the capability of the local and state
authorities to respond to the situation or where the disaster area
covers multiple state boundaries. (4)

In a disaster situation, the military role is well defined and by law is
limited in scope and duration.  Military resources temporarily support
and augment, but do not replace, the local, state, and federal civilian
agencies that have primary authority and responsibility for domestic
disaster assistance.  Domestic disaster relief operations are normally
conducted in stages; response, recovery, and restoration.  The role of
the military is most intense in the response stage and steadily
decreases as the operation moves into recovery and restoration.  The
military withdraws when the civilian authorities have regained the
ability to provide basic services and security to the affected
community.(5)

When a disaster has occurred, assessing the potential or real
damage, and the anticipated military support requirements
must precede the commitment of military resources.  This
assessment is usually shared by federal, state, local, and military
agencies.  This insures the commitment of resources and forces will be
appropriate for the mission and that they will be used efficiently.(6)
The US Army Civil Affairs units are mission tasked to prepare for and
conduct disaster relief operations and assistance to civil authorities
in both domestic and foreign situations.  As a US Army Reserve (USAR)
element of the United States Special Operations Command, Civil
Affairs units offer unique skills and abilities to the overall aspect of
disaster relief operations.  As a Reserve Component element, it relies
on its Citizen-Soldier status to better understand and empathize with
the political, economic, and social aspects of an affected community
which may not be as well appreciated by an Active Component element.  A
Civil Affairs unit is designed to be the interface between the military
and civilian agencies in the disaster area.  The military assists the
civilian community to help itself recover from the disaster and
reestablish basic services to its citizens.  Civil Affairs units advise
the military commander on the impact of military activities on the
civilian sector by translating civilian needs and requests into the
necessary military terminology and planning processes.  They assess
damage to the civilian infrastructure, assist in the operation of
temporary shelters, manage a Civil-Military Operations Center (CMOC) ,
and provide a liaison among the military and the various civilian
governmental, non-governmental, and private relief organizations.  Also,
as a USAR unit, it is not bound by individual state statutes or
regulations which would limit the scope of a non-federalized National
Guard unit in a multi-state disaster situation. (7)

The current doctrine is in place to use US Army Civil Affairs
units to assist in the preparation and conduct of disaster relief
operations.  In most cases, however, Civil Affairs units are not
effectively utilized to conduct their assigned mission because they are
located in the Reserve Components.  Civil Affairs units have been an
underutilized or not even non-utilized in the past for missions which
are directly related to Civil Affairs operations.  Many after-action
reports have stated the need for Civil Affairs units to be in the
initial employment of forces.  Historically though, Civil Affairs units
have been brought into the operation in the later part of the cycle.
Many of the missions within the realm of Civil Affairs seem to be tasked
to Active Component Infantry units out of convenience.  Today, with the
downsizing of the US military forces, there is a greater need for more
effective utilization of Reserve Component units for viable missions
instead of just tasking the Active Component.  There is a need to better
utilize Civil Affairs, specifically, to perform roles that clearly fall
within their assigned mission and scope.  Humanitarian assistance,
disaster relief, and support to domestic authorities are ways to
accomplish these goals.  The long term survivability of Civil Affairs as
a functional segment of the overall Reserve Component force is directly
related to the better utilization of these unique citizen-soldier assets to
meet both the foreign and domestic disaster relief needs of the United States.

The biggest hurdle to USAR Civil Affairs units being employed in
response to domestic or foreign disasters is the National Command
Authority's reluctance to mobilize Reserve Component units except in a
major crisis situation such as Operation Desert Shield/Storm.  Under
current law, Federal Reserve Component personnel can be mobilized for
domestic disaster relief operations under two statutes; 10 USC 672(b)
which cover 15 days of Annual Training (AT) and 10 USC 672(d) which
covers volunteers. (8)   In a disaster relief operation, these statutes
have proved to be both inadequate and unresponsive.  The United States
can not continue to rely on "volunteer" support for these emergencies.
Volunteers, in the past, have provided the greatest level of support
when called upon, but the continued reliance on the volunteer system
violates our doctrine of employing trained units to meet mission
requirements.  Relying strictly on volunteers does not insure that the
best and most trained or prepared soldiers are utilized--only those who
may be available at any given time.  Gathering numbers of volunteers
together into a provisional unit requires an amount of stand-up time for
the personnel to learn their jobs and to work together as a functioning
team.  This is not the most efficient or effective manner in employing
these assets, especially in time-sensitive, emergency or disaster relief
operations.

If Title 10 USC is amended to allow for the mobilization of up to
25,000 Reserve Component soldiers, “a 25K Call-Up," for humanitarian
assistance missions and/or domestic disaster relief operations, Civil
Affairs Detachments, Battalions, or Brigades could deploy from home
station via military airlift or self-deploy using organic transportation
to the disaster area.  As units, they already have an existing
chain-of-command, a communications-coordination
network, equipment with trained and assigned operators, standing
operating procedures (SOPs), and experience, based on their training
program, to function as an effective unit in the disaster relief or
humanitarian assistance situation.  Since their mobilization and
employment would be for the stated purpose of providing humanitarian
assistance and disaster relief, in most cases, the immediate response
periods will usually not exceed 30 days, therefore, individual
Reservists probably would not be in jeopardy with their civilian
employer as previously feared.  During the response to the Hurricanes
Hugo, Andrew, and Iniki, as well as the major winter storms, and floods
in the past few years, the outpouring of support from within the local
communities to support those in need has been overwhelming.  This
popular support should translate to political support to allow the
President or Secretary of Defense to mobilize USAR soldiers for large
scale disasters while their use in some low intensity conflict situation
such as Somalia and Bosnia may not be as palatable. By using the
mobilization authority instead of relying on volunteers, the “25K
Call-Up“ would protect the Reservist or Guardsman just as any other
mobilization statute.  How better to demonstrate the importance of the
Reserve Components than to employ them to support people in need,
especially for domestic emergencies!

Several training and operational recommendations need to be addressed to
better utilize Civil Affairs in meeting humanitarian assistance and
disaster relief training and mission oriented operations within the
United States as well as overseas.  Civil Affairs soldiers must be able
to effectively coordinate their efforts with those of the American Red
Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which are the
primary civilian agencies tasked to provide humanitarian assistance and
domestic relief in the United States.  Three recommendations to better
prepare for actual emergency or crisis operations are: standardized
disaster or emergency management training programs through resident and
nonresident instruction; a training, coordination, and operations
association between the military and civilian agencies; and a way to
quickly deploy and employ Reserve Component Civil Affairs elements to
provide foreign and domestic humanitarian assistance or disaster relief
support.

STANDARDIZED TRAINING PROGRAM

The military element with the explicit mission of preparing and
conducting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations is
Civil Affairs.  One of the stated missions of Civil Affairs Commands,
Brigades, and General Purpose Battalions is to plan and conduct
humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, noncombatant evacuation, and
displaced civilian operations in a theater of operations and to train
other governments to be able to support their citizens’ needs through
the development of disaster response plans (9).  Civil Affairs soldiers
could have an additional skill identifier (ASI) awarded to designate
those Civil Affairs soldiers trained or with specific experience in
disaster or emergency services through working with FEMA, the Red Cross,
or other similar relief agencies.  Since Civil Affairs soldiers provide
the link between the military and the civilian government or agency, the
ASI would be used to validate the joint training and experiences
necessary in disaster relief operations.  FM 25-100, TRAINING THE FORCE,
and the various training support literature stresses the importance of
training on a task in the same manner as the task is to be
executed--train as you will fight.  In the humanitarian
assistance/disaster relief arena, the best way to train to perform the
task during an emergency situation is to train on the respective task or
tasks during scheduled training periods.  There is no standardized
training on these subject areas in the military training system.  Where
does the military go to get training support packages--the American Red
Cross and FEMA!   Other relief agencies are also available, but the
training support system of the Red Cross and FEMA can best meet the
needs of the military which needs a standardized, distributable training
package.

The Red Cross and FEMA provide several training programs in
emergency management and disaster services to the civilian population.
These are standardized, nationally approved training programs.  These
programs are targeted to those persons responsible for domestic
emergency actions at the local, state, and national level.  These same
training programs parallel the Army Training and Evaluation Program
(ARTEP) mission training plans for Civil Affairs units from the Command
to the Detachment level.  There is no need to "reinvent the wheel" in
developing training programs for the military to perform humanitarian
missions when the civilian "experts" already have a viable system in place.  A
two-phased training program can be established using the existing
standardized programs.  The FEMA Independent Study Program provides a
no-cost method of gaining an overview of general emergency management
processes and procedures.  These correspondence courses provide a
vehicle to provide training in a group or individual study manner and
provides an excellent foundation for more "hands-on" instruction.  The
American Red Cross disaster services training program provides this
support.  These courses are taught in a resident or classroom setting by
certified Red Cross instructors.   This training is at no cost to the
unit and it covers basic, intermediate, and advanced level instruction,
to include staff exercises, based on the needs of the audience.  Many of
the instructional programs are either 4, 8, or 16 hours in length.

Since 97% of the Civil Affairs units are assigned to the Reserve
Components, this fits well into their weekend or Inactive Duty Training
(IDT) mode or can be combined into a standardized two week Annual
Training (AT) period.  This training provides Mission Essential Task
List (METL) training to the Civil Affairs units and it also provides a
trained manpower pool from the "Citizen-Soldiers" in the various local
communities for the local Red Cross Chapters to use as volunteers in
case of emergencies in which Reserve Component units are not mobilized.

Many of the civilian oriented disaster services training fits into
the types of military oriented activities Civil Affairs units do on a
routine basis.  Planning for all military operations always begins with
an estimate of the situation.  Training in damage assessment procedures
teaches the soldiers how to conduct a standardized assessment of the
disaster situation and to put this assessment into a series of reports
that will help develop a plan or course of action to direct the relief
effort.  Mass care operations train the soldiers how to organize or set
up emergency shelters and mass feedings for large numbers of displaced
persons or evacuees.  The military has always been proficient in
sheltering and feeding large numbers of military personnel in both
garrison or field conditions and providing for their basic comfort,
health, and welfare needs.  In emergency mass care situations, the only
difference now is the  military unit is sheltering, feeding, and providing
for the needs of displaced civilians versus soldiers.

Training in assistance to families, teaches personnel how to interview
people affected by a disaster and assisting them in meeting their
immediate and long term needs.  This is very similar to the interview
processes that take place during a soldier’s inprocessing into a unit,
birthmonth personnel audits, and processing for overseas movement (POM)
activities.  Since the majority of the Civil Affairs soldiers are
Reservists or Citizen-Soldiers, they are more familiar with the various
civilian support agencies and their respective operations.  Civil
Affairs soldiers can better direct those in need to the places to get
relief.  Active Component soldiers can provide similar assistance in a
disaster, but since most active duty family support in similar
situations comes from installation or military oriented providers they
may not be aware of the similar agencies in the civilian environment.

The training received through the Red Cross and FEMA opens the lines of
communication between the military and the civilian agencies.  FM
100-19, DOMESTIC SUPPORT OPERATIONS, emphasizes the importance of mutual
understanding, communication, coordination, and liaison between the
military and civilian agencies as a key to success in providing
effective and efficient domestic emergency response or support.  This
understanding will allow for an easier transition into working together
during actual emergency situations because all agencies in the disaster
response have a level of appreciation for the other's goals, objectives,
and methods.  Therefore, the better each responding agency works with
its counterparts, the quicker and more efficiently any disaster
assistance will be provided to those in need.

TRAINING AND OPERATIONAL ASSOCIATION

One of the successes in preparing Reserve Component units to be combat
ready is the Directed Training Association (DTA) program.  The DTA
program, outlined in FORSCOM Regulation 350-4, TRAINING UNDER CAPSTONE,
links similar type Reserve and Active Component units in a training
support association.  The Active Component unit provides the trainers
and their respective knowledge and experience to train their Reserve
Component counterparts.  This program is designed to raise the level of
training readiness of the Reserve Component unit and its soldiers in
meeting their wartime mission.  The DTA aligned units may not have been
in the same wartime chain-of -command or "CAPSTONE trace" but the spirit
of the program was to insure trained and ready forces, while at the same
time showing the Active Component soldier the capabilities of their
Reserve Component "brothers-in-arms.”

A similar program can be established for Civil Affairs Brigades,
Red Cross, and FEMA Regions.  Currently there are nine Civil Affairs
Brigade Headquarters, eight Red Cross Regions, and ten FEMA Regions
which can be grouped into training and operational associations to
provide disaster relief assistance within specified geographical areas.
This association would be established so that the training assistance
from either or both civilian agencies would be provided to the Civil
Affairs partner.  This training would include classroom instruction,
drills, and training exercises at various levels.  This includes the
respective subordinate units or elements of these agencies.  This
program would support a Civil Affairs Battalion or Detachment training
with their local Red Cross Chapter or  Emergency Management Agency.

Since operational and contingency plans development and review are a
mission requirement of all agencies, the Civil Affairs units and its
soldiers could assist the local chapters and field offices in reviewing
and developing emergency response plans to meet the needs of their
respective communities or areas of responsibility.  This fits well into
the Civil Affairs mission task of assisting local, state, and national
level governments in their respective operational theater.  In this
manner, Civil Affairs soldiers get the necessary training and
experience, through supporting their local agencies, they will need to
provide humanitarian assistance overseas, while at the same time, the
Red Cross and FEMA get additional support in meeting their respective
mandates.  This allows the Civil Affairs unit to effectively train to
meet its "wartime” or METL task under nation assistance overseas by
providing domestic assistance at home.

When an actual emergency occurs, the Civil Affairs Brigade Headquarters
would be alerted when their respective Red Cross and/or FEMA region is
alerted.  The Civil Affairs Brigade would coordinate the employment of
its subordinate battalions to assist in the emergency response.  The
emphasis would be on employing at the lowest level of response needed,
but with the capability of expanding as the need arises.  If the
situation elevates to the point of employing large military units to
provide disaster response, such as after Hurricane Andrew, the Civil
Affairs Brigade could provide the necessary liaison among the military
commander and the various private volunteer organizations and
non-governmental organizations.  In this manner, all of the available
assets for disaster response can be quickly brought together to
alleviate the suffering of people in need.

CIVIL AFFAIRS QUICK-REACTION TEAM

A Civil Affairs Quick-Reaction Team should be established in Civil
Affairs Battalions or Brigade Headquarters.  This team would be trained
and the necessary equipment on hand and prepared for deployment within
12-18 hours.  The key to this concept is to identify, train, and prepare
this Quick-Reaction Team just like an Active Component type unit.  Many
Civil Affairs Battalions and Brigade Headquarters have a majority of
their unit members within one hour's commute of the Reserve Training
Center or home station location.  The individual soldier’s equipment is
usually stored at the Reserve Center as well as the bulk of the unit’s
assigned or TO&E equipment.  Once the personnel are identified as team
members, they would receive an official letter of notification to give
to their respective civilian employers in advance of an actual
mobilization order.  This advance alert notification insures that the
employer understands the urgency of the Reservist leaving work with
little or no-notice in the event of an emergency situation.

The Quick-Reaction team would have received the necessary training
to perform disaster response or other related humanitarian missions.
This training would include military related subjects, emergency medical
or first aid training, disaster operations procedures from existing
civilian or non-governmental agencies such as FEMA, the Red Cross, and
the Salvation Army, and strategic communications procedures.  They would
have been processed in accordance with FORSCOM Regulation 500-3-3, 
with only the final personnel actions held in abeyance until actual mobilization.
All other requisite preparation for deployment would have been accomplished in
advance, such as weapons qualification, physical fitness tests (APFT),
HIV screening, and general immunizations.  The higher headquarters would
periodically inspect or exercise the team to validate their readiness in
advance of a mobilization order.  The team's equipment could be
prepackaged or prepared in such a manner to facilitate quick loading.
This would include prepositioning air load items or other blocking,
bracing, tie-down items as needed.  Necessary supplies, such as food
(Class I), fuel (Class III), medical supplies (Class VIII), and repair
parts (Class IX), could be preloaded and secured in the battalion,
separate from the remainder of the battalion’s operational equipment and
supplies.  Periodic inspections of the individual and team equipment
would be performed to rotate supplies and to validate the team's
readiness for immediate deployment.  Vehicle and personnel manifests for
USAF or other carriers would be set up in advance and inspected or
"quality checked" to save time.  Upon notification, through  command
channels, the team members would be notified through the alert roster to
assemble at the requisite time and place.  The Full Time Unit Support
(FTUS) personnel would begin the assembly and load out process while the
Reservists begin to arrive at the Reserve Center.  Transportation to the
emergency site would be coordinated through the US Transportation
Command and the team would be given the load and “wheels-up" times.  The
team members would finalize their mobilization or active duty call-up
procedures and be ready to load the equipment on aircraft or road march
to the disaster site if appropriate.  The FTUS personnel would then
access the mobilized Reservist into the active duty personnel system at
the closest entry computer terminal while the team is heading to the
disaster location.  This allows the soldiers to quickly move to the
disaster site without having to go from home station to a mobilization
site enroute.  The Civil Affairs team can be quickly employed in the
disaster situation instead of the slow mobilization process currently in
effect.

Once on the ground at the site of the emergency, the Quick-Reaction Team
would coordinate its efforts with the civilian relief agencies or governmental
officials, then provide an assessment to their chain-of-command which could 
identify the need for follow-on units, especially by type or function, that would
best serve the needs of the specific situation.  The Quick-Reaction team could also
be the advanced party for the remainder of the Battalion or Brigade
which could mobilize and deploy under the current FORMDEPS system.

CONCLUSION

Civil Affairs units have a great deal to offer to the National Command
Authority in meeting both the domestic and foreign needs of the US.
Because of their unique Citizen-Soldier’s knowledge, skills, and
abilities, they can bring more civilian-related capabilities and
experience to bear, than Active Component units, in certain
circumstances.  The Total Force Policy would be better served if Active
Component units were used for missions for which they are trained, while
using Reserve Component units where they are best suited, such as
short-term humanitarian or disaster response missions.  The Civil
Affairs units’ ability to provide humanitarian assistance is directly
related to the training and operational experience gained through a
working partnership with the Red Cross and FEMA. This partnership in
domestic situations translates into related skills and abilities in
working with similar local, regional, national, or even international
relief agencies in foreign humanitarian assistance missions.

This paper has sought to offer several ways to better prepare Civil
Affairs units in meeting their mission training requirements, to develop
ways to better employ these trained units to alleviate  human suffering, 
both for foreign and domestic emergency situations, and to better
utilize  Reserve Component forces during a period of the downsizing of
the overall US military force  and the shifting of missions within the 
Total Force.  Civil Affairs can be an important “combat multiplier" as well
as an economy-of-force element in many missions of the emerging
"Operations Other Than War" situations the military is now facing.  As
the requirements and the missions within the spectrum of OOTW become
more frequent, Civil Affairs should be integrated into these operations as 
early as possible and in a way to best utilize their skills and abilities.
Through the linking of Civil Affairs and the civilian agencies charged with domestic
humanitarian actions, the best interests of the United States can be
achieved.  The use of these unique capabilities of Civil Affairs supports the 
US national strategy and its supporting military strategy as the United States
continues in its role as a world leader through its ability to quickly deploy and
employ trained military forces anywhere in the world.  Now, these forces are 
seen as a national capability in providing foreign and domestic humanitarian
assistance and disaster relief roles as it was in purely military situations.

-----------------------------------------------

REFERENCES:

1. FM 41-10, CIVIL AFFAIRS OPERATIONS, p 8-4.

2. FM 100-5, OPERATIONS, P 13-5.

3. FM 100-19, DOMESTIC SUPPORT OPERATIONS, p 3-3.

4. FM 100-19, p 5-1.

5. FM 100-19, P 5-4.

6. FM 100-19, p 5-5.

7. FM 100-19, p 4-15.

8. FM 100-19, P 3-5.

9. Army Training and Evaluation Program (ARTEP) Mission Training Plans,

Additional References:

--FM 100-20, MILITARY OPERATIONS IN LOW INTENSITY CONFLICT, Chapter 5,
Peacetime Contingency Operations

--FR 500-3-3, FORCES COMMAND MOBILIZATION AND DEPLOYMENT PLANNING SYSTEM
(FORMDEPS) Vol. III, Reserve Component Unit Commander's Handbook (RCUCH)

--Air, Land, Sea Application Center, "Tactics, Techniques, and
Procedures on Foreign Humanitarian Assistance" Final Draft March 1994

--National Defense University, Institute for National Strategic Studies,
',CIVIL AFFAIRS: Perspectives and Prospects', June 1993--"The Federal
Response Plan for Public Law 93-288, As Amended,,, April 1992
--“National Military Strategy of the United States", January 1992
Center for Army Lessons Learned, "Operations Other Than War, Volume I,
Humanitarian Assistance", No 92-6, December 1992

--Center for Army Lessons Learned, "Operations Other Than War, Volume
II,
Disaster Assistance", No 93-6, October 1993

--American Red Cross, Disaster Services Program, "ARC 3000, Foundations
of the Disaster Services Program, January 1994