Mission Assurance

There have been a significant amount of studies and papers written on the individual yet interrelated disciplines of Continuity, Crisis Management, Emergency Management, Critical Infrastructure Protection and Pandemic Planning. However, to date none of them have taken a holistic look at covering those critical areas under a single unifying management and organizational construct. The proposed construct; Mission Assurance, would allow for comprehensive and integrative planning, to ensure both mission and personnel are taken care of in the event of natural or man-made catastrophe. This qualitative study utilized a "mix-methodology" of case study and ground theory to determine if the Mission Assurance construct could provide for better utilization of resources as well as enhancing disaster and emergency response programs. The results showed that while there are significant cultural, organizational and in some cases individual biases to overcome, Mission Assurance is a construct that could allow for enhanced resource utilization and provide for integrative planning in developing a coordinated all-hazards response.