Technology and Social Structure as Factors in Preparing For War

Homeland Security and FEMA 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are two federal government’s institutions that deal with numerous types of services to the American citizens. The Department of Homeland Security, which was founded via the Homeland Security Act of 2002, is mostly a top-rank agency of the U.S. whose primary mission is to prevent and thwart any threats of terrorism in the country (Department of Homeland, Security, 2009). In contrast, the FEMA is part of the DHS whose central role is to protect the United States from all forms of hazards, including natural calamities and acts of terrorism, and mitigate the loss of property and life in the wake of a risk. Therefore, in this context, the paper will look at the relationship between DHS and FEMA. 

Origin of the Department of Homeland Security 

The primary goal of DHS is to curb, prepare for and respond aptly to national crises such as terrorist attacks and natural calamities (Streissguth, 2012). The agency is approximately associated with the agencies of interior affairs in other nations. On September 9/11, the United States encountered something never before witnessed in its whole history: a shocking terrorist act on its soil, resulting in the deaths of thousands of Americans. In the aftermath of the attack, President Bush gave a directive to establish the Office of Homeland Security and authorized it to manage security activities in the nation. The Department of Homeland Security was on record formed on November 25, 2002. The agency was envisioned to merge each policymaking organization with homeland security into one body. While the DHS officially began its operation in 2003, it took a couple of months before each different department was consolidated within the agency. 

Today, DHS employs more than 250,000 workers throughout its many directorates. The department is coordinated from the Oval Office via the Homeland Security Council. The formation of Department of Homeland Security was thereby out of a need to manage every aspect associated with the domestic affairs of United States. Currently, there are 22 departments under DHS, with one of these agencies is the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). 

Relationship Between FEMA and DHS 

Haddow, Bullock, & Coppola (2014) posit that the founding of DHS signified a landmark transformation for the federal community, particularly for emergency management. The Carter Administration formed the Federal Emergency Management Agency in 1979 with the intention of consolidating all emergency management process in the federal government under one department. In 2002, FEMA was transferred, as well as other 22 agencies, into the recently formed DHS. The merging of all antiterrorism agencies follows the similar reasoning that first created FEMA in 1979 (Haddow et al., 2014). FEMA is under the Department of Homeland Security, as it offers monetary aid and more technical assistance to people and the society to recover from the damages stemming from natural disasters. In the wake of FEMA's consolidation with DHS, FEMA's first test was during the Florida hurricanes in 2004. During the four tornadoes that devasted Florida, FEMA once more received approval for its response and making prompt emergency declarations (Department of Homeland Security, 2009). In recent incidents, especially in responding to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, FEMA was supported by each of the aspect and each power of the DHS. The main benefit to FEMA of being part of the DHS is the adequate funds available to FEMA via other DHS mechanisms. These relationships form combined effects that were never available to FEMA as a separate department (Haddow et al., 2014). Within the DHS, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is supported by tools that have wide-ranging duties and abilities, such as search and rescue, communications, intelligence, law administration, and property safety. In the past, when FEMA became part of DHS, most of its donations were moved to other branches of Department of Homeland Security. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, for instance, FEMA coordinated virtually all DHS funds, both those intended for natural disasters and those designed for anti-terrorism efforts (Trainor & Subbio, n.d.). 

HSPD-5 

HSPD-5 is abbreviated Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5. This directive claims that the U.S. must be capable of operating under a unique national incident management system. The HSPD-5 has had a significant effect on domestic disaster response (Department of Homeland Security, 2003). The purpose of the directive was to better the response to emergency events by carrying out a cohesive approach. Since its launch, emergency response agencies have attempted to enhance their communications, training, and equipment to create room for a more integrated approach. Before President Bush' directive, most emergency response entities in adjacent jurisdictions lacked hands-on communications (Department of Homeland Security, 2003). This would have facilitated the communications between emergency responders during multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional reactions with mobile radios. HSPD-5 was an order that needed departments to work in partnership on disaster preparedness, response, search, and recovery. This assisted in filling operational gaps between agencies and enhancing response capacity. 

HSPD-5 is the directive that needed to set things in motion. National Management Systems (NIMS) and the National Response Framework (NRF) were influenced by the order (Alperen, 2017). NIMS better capacity of various institutions to work in collaboration. This encompasses such things as utilizing the same terminology. On the other hand, according to Alperen (2017), NRF incorporates each of “the federal, state, tribal, and local procedure into one multi-disciplinary, all-hazards approach.” To emphasize inhibition, response, and recouping from a national occurrence, DHS is ordering in HSPD-5 Article 16 under its tasking to coordinate the NIMS and NRF (Alperen, 2017). This implies that DHS should ensure it updates these documents at all times as living documents and set their standards. HSPD-5 dealt with DHS obligations and duties concerning acts of terrorism which had not received adequate attention. A most significant aspect of this Presidential Directive was the precision given to “Four Situations” that require to take place for the assumption by DHS of general Federal incident management coordination tasks. 

HSPD-8 

HSPD-8, short for an essential purpose of Homeland Security Presidential Directive 8 on domestic readiness was to form the foundation that was adopted too and used by stakeholders of every kind at every public and private level (Department of Homeland Security, 2003). The HSPD-8 was delivered as a complement directive to Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 to determine policies cementing America's preparedness to prevent and respond to national acts of terrorism. Indeed, developing metrics for assessing readiness is required in a world of limited resources. Given the capability to execute strategies to deal with every possible incident, HSPD-8 stakeholders were expected to identify whether resources are most needed based on preferences, targets, and metrics. By definition, resource inevitably implies funds. Thus, HSPD-8 became a means of measuring and justifying funding, on top of homeland security policies and practices (Department of Homeland Security, 2003). 

However, in 2011, ex-President Obama delivered Presidential Policy Directive-8 (PPD-8) thereby replacing HSPD-8, which had achieved much but suffered impediments and ceased in its effectiveness. Maybe the single most fundamental step the Obama Administration took at this point was to make as transparent as possible to Americans not only regarding the need for, but also the setbacks experienced in applying a national preparedness plan (Department of Homeland Security, 2011). 

References 

Alperen, M. J. (2017). “National Incident Management System (NIMS) And National Response Framework (NRF).” Foundations of Homeland Security , 367-371. 

Department of Homeland Security. (2003). Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5. Management of Domestic Incidents . 2003. Retrieved from https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=441951 

Department of Homeland Security. (2009). FEMA: In or Out? Retrieved from https://www.oig.dhs.gov/assets/Mgmt/OIG_09-25_Feb09.pdf 

Department of Homeland Security. (2011). Presidential Policy Directive/PPD-8: National Preparedness . Retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/presidential-policy-directive-8- national-preparedness 

Haddow, G. D., Bullock, J. A., & Coppola, D. P. (2014). “Emergency Management and the Terrorist Threat.” Introduction to Emergency Management , 305-362. 

Streissguth, T. (2012). The security agencies of the United States: How the CIA, FBI, NSA, and Homeland Security keep us safe . Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers. 

Trainor, J.E., & Tony, S. (n.d.). Critical Issues in Disaster Science And Management: A Dialogue Between Researchers and Practitioners. Retrieved from https://training.fema.gov/hiedu/docs/critical-issues-in-disaster-science-and- management.pdf