The Defense Support to Civil Authorities (DSCA) has received intense scrutiny regarding the military ability to effectively respond to the natural and human-made disasters after the Hurricane Katrina. The local, state and the federal government, as well as the media’s amplification of any perceived failures, have made it necessary for the Department of Defense (DoD) to review how it supports civil authorities when the need arises ( Noel, 2014) . The slow and inadequate response by the federal government during the Hurricane Katrina exposed the weakness of the national response plan and the contribution of the defense to civil authorities during such disasters. Despite the complexity that arose in the response weakness especially the military cross between Title 10, Title 32, and the state active duty forces, the Department of Defense was put to task to reexamine its abilities and capabilities when their contributions are required for such domestic disasters in the future and to rethink the roles of the military in the domestic emergencies.
Army forces provide support to civil authorities by giving the defense support in the time of domestic disasters. DSCA is the support provided by the United States Federal Military forces through the Department of Defense civilians, DoD contract personnel, and DoD component assets when the secretary for defense in coordination with the Governors of the state and the elected leaders request for the use of the forces in response to the domestic emergencies ( Tkacz, 2006 ). Military forces offer local support at the state and federal levels. While the role of the military is to take tasks of decisive actions such as defense from external attacks, offense, and stability, DSCA has distinct features which include saving lives, alleviating suffering and protecting the property. The DSCA mainly deal with homeland operations which require an emergency rescue and support.
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The Hurricane Katrina was one of the largest disasters in the history of the United States of America which made several people lose their lives. Many others were displaced and properties worth millions of dollars destroyed. The role of the military in the rescue operations has been greatly blamed for the losses. On September 14, 2005, the 9/11 Public Discourse Project issued a report notifying the identified failures of the military in the rescue operations. The military had no unity of command while dealing with the situation. No unified reporting system could allow for the coordination of the efforts of the local, state and federal agencies. Fixed communication systems failed, and a ready means of restoration could not be found. As required in the DSCA, the civil authorities are in charge, and they get the support from the military. This requires a coordinated communication between the military and the civil authorities and a failure in the communication was obviously the start of the problem. Also witnessed was lack of the situational awareness at all levels. This was because of the rare circumstances that the military deal with such domestic emergencies.
Having a centralized decision making by a single individual is necessary for an emergency operation. Critics on how the military responded to Hurricane Katrina has cited lack of centralized decision making as one of the reason for the delay to respond to the operation which required a quick response. The accountability of the military is centralized through a command authority running through to the president. The Department of Defense took long before sending the military to the ground, and by the time they arrived, severe destructions had been done. Flood had covered several miles, people had been killed, and many others had been displaced. Military affairs usually require a unique treatment and rapid and centralized decision making is an unusual occurrence, yet domestic emergencies require urgency and speed. As they arrived at the ground, coordination with the civil authorities was needed for the rescue mission to be successful. However, the coordination was lacking, with commands from different authorities coming in and causing more confusing as the situation was getting worse.
Similarly, confusion arose over who should take authority over the guard given that the president does not have the same discretion domestically when the military is involved. These considerations prevented the president from making quick decisions to deploy active duty military forces to secure New Orleans immediately. The question of whether the military is well trained and equipped to handle domestic emergencies as they do in foreign wars has been raised. The military is well trained to use force and weapons to eradicate the enemy. However, domestic operations such as Hurricane Katrina require sensitivity and care with the limited use of force to rescue individuals. This has been blamed on them for the many lives lost during the disaster.
The primary purpose of the DSCA is to save lives, alleviate suffering and protect property. The kind of the support that the military should offer civil authorities are defined by the federal and state laws. During this process, the military only provides support, but the civil authorities are fully in charge of the situation. When the civil authorities can continue without the support of the military, the military is allowed to leave. However, given a large number of people who lost their lives and the large value of the properties destroyed by the Hurricane Katrina, it can be viewed that DSCA never played its key roles of saving lives and protection of property.
Despite the various weaknesses noted in the DSCA purpose in the Hurricane Katrina rescue, the role of the military in the rescue process cannot be underwritten. Certain researchers who are in support of the work did by the military in offering support to civil authorities have mentioned has termed it as one of the largest peacetime deployments of equipment and personnel within the United States in relief efforts. The army commitment deployed to this effort was about fifty-one thousand soldiers ( Winslow, 2013) . It also included civilians, contractors, active components and national guards who were all working close to provide support to the civil authorities. U.S. Army Forces (FORSCOM) were deployed at various levels. These included one medical evacuation detachment with three helicopters which worked together with the civil authorities to evacuate 889 patients. The FORSCOM also established a task force care at Louisiana to enhance the distribution of timely and accurate information to those who were displaced by the Hurricane Katrina. Many people were evacuated and rescued in coordination between the civil authorities and the military.
In conclusion, certain weaknesses were witnessed in the DSCA role during the hurricane Katrina disaster. There was lack of coordination between the civil authorities and the military, a situation which slowed down the rescue process. Also, a communication breakdown between the military and the civil authorities created a challenge that slowed down the whole process. Certain laws that restrict the powers of the president when it comes to deployment of the military for domestic operations also played a factor in the failure. To enhance the future role of DSCA in response to a domestic disaster, certain legislations should be amended to give the president powers to deploy the military when the need arises immediately. The military should also be given addition training other than how to fight an external enemy, be trained on how to deal with domestic disasters and how to provide adequate and coordinated support to the civil authorities during such situations.
References
Noel, A. (2014). America’s Own Backyard: Hurricane Katrina and Military Intervention. Emergency as Security , 3 , 73.
Tkacz, S. R. (2006). In Katrina's Wake: Rethinking the Military's Role in Domestic Emergencies. Wm. & Mary Bill Rts. J. , 15 , 301.
Winslow, T. J. (2013). The DoD Role in Homeland Security: Past, Present, and Future . Army War College Carlisle Barracks Pa.
