Active Component Rapid Response Force; The Answer to the Military's Issues with Efficient and Effective Support During Response to and Recovery from I

Since September 11, 2001 (9/11) heavy emphasis has been placed on securing the United States and its interests from terrorism. However, little emphasis has been placed on the importance of efficient and effective response to incidents of national significance that do not fall into the realm of terrorist activity. Future references to an incident of national significance will be assumed to be natural vice terrorist related unless otherwise stated. Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, or Explosive (CBRNE) attacks or attacks against national security nodes are beyond the scope of this project. The events of Hurricane Katrina brought to light significant response and recovery issues associated with emergency situations within the Continental United States (CONUS) and the efficiency of the federal military actions associated with incident of this magnitude. Through April 2006 the mainstay of guidance for the use of active military forces (Title 10) has been Department of Defense (DoD) Directive 3025.15 Military Assistance to Civil Authorities (MSCA). This directive includes a myriad of enclosures and supporting documents which outline when, where and to what extent active military personnel can assist or support civil authorities. In an effort to streamline this effort MSCA is currently under revision and will soon be published as Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA - FINAL-FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY, Pre-Decisional). This new document attempts, in the researcher's opinion, to mitigate some of the recurring issues with the use of active component forces and to provide a more succinct document as foundation for a more efficient use of these forces.