Homeland Defense: DOD Can Enhance Efforts to Identify Capabilities to Support Civil Authorities during Disasters

In addition to its primary mission of warfighting, the Department of Defense (DoD) plays an important role in civil support. Four years after the poorly coordinated national response to Hurricane Katrina, issues remain about DoD's progress in identifying its capability requirements for supporting a coordinated civilian-military response to a catastrophic domestic event. This report addresses the extent to which DoD has done the following: (1) identified and addressed its capability gaps for its civil support mission; (2) clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and relationships and identified appropriate levels and types of personnel to assign to the FEMA regions; and (3) shared and tracked information concerning its civil support requirements response process with civil authorities. To do this, GAO analyzed DoD civil support guidance and plans and met with DoD and FEMA officials regarding the support that civilian authorities may request during a catastrophic incident. GAO recommends that DoD update its civil support guidance to reflect current doctrine; clearly define roles, responsibilities, and relationships for personnel assigned to manage civilian requests for assistance; conduct a staffing needs assessment for Defense Coordinating Officers; and establish an official system to track requests for assistance across DoD that is accessible to DoD's interagency partners. DoD concurred with GAO's recommendations.
Report to Congressional Requesters.