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Airlink announces a new Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action at the 2015 CGI Annual Meeting.

Government Publishing Office U.S. Congress House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure POST-KATRINA: WHAT IT TAKES TO CUT THE BUREAUCRACY AND ASSURE A MORE RAPID RESPONSE AFTER A CATASTROPHIC DISASTER Date(s) Held: 2009-07-27 111th Congress, 1st Session GPO Document Source: CHRG-111hhrg51326 Superintendents of Documents ID: Y 4.T 68/2 Related Items: Congressional Serial No. 111-53

For many, the last few days of wildfires and relocation have been a very unfamiliar experience. Beth Brinston has 18 years of working in disaster recovery planning. When she lived in California and Oregon, she went through three forced evacuations.

Taiwan is prone to many natural disasters, especially typhoons. This thesis adapts an existing stochastic prepositioning optimization model to create a tool for Taiwan military disaster recovery planners, and then uses experimental design techniques to systematically explore solutions. The goals are to minimize the expected number of casualties and unmet commodities demands, and to determine the average number of workers deployed in response to each scenario. A design of experiments methodology is applied to the optimization model to reveal how uncertainty in the parameters translates to uncertainty in objective function values. The approach can also identify the parameters with the greatest impact on the objective function, and result in more robust solutions. The analysis demonstrates that it is not always necessary to spend as much money and deploy as many workers as in the past in order to get the best results. Additionally, the approach shows how a decision maker, with more accurate and current weather reports, can refer to the path and intensity of typhoons while making rescue plans. In summary, this research shows that there is great potential for quantitative methods to improve the disaster-relief planning process.

Congressional Hearing Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Date: 2006-03-30 Room: 2154 Rayburn HOB

Congressional Hearing U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Title: THE NEED TO KNOW: INFORMATION SHARING LESSONS FOR DISASTER RESPONSE (Part 1) Date: 2006-03-30 Room: 2154 Rayburn HOB

Congressional Hearing U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Title: THE NEED TO KNOW: INFORMATION SHARING LESSONS FOR DISASTER RESPONSE (Part 1) Date: 2006-03-30 Room: 2154 Rayburn HOB

This slide presentation reviews the use of cloud computing combined with the SensorWeb in aiding disaster response planning. Included is an overview of the architecture of the SensorWeb, and overviews of the phase 1 of the EO-1 system and the steps to improve it to transform it to an On-demand product cloud as part of the Open Cloud Consortium (OCC). The effectiveness of this system is demonstrated in the SensorWeb for the Namibia flood in 2010, using information blended from MODIS, TRMM, River Gauge data, and the Google Earth version of Namibia the system enabled river surge predictions and could enable planning for future disaster responses.

During Hurricane Katrina, the levees in New Orleans failed, turning a potential crisis into a catastrophic incident. The public began to question the responsibility and requirements of the United States (US) government in responding to the total devastation of New Orleans as the media continually showed the death and destruction. The public wanted answers on how the Federal government was going to provide quick and timely assistance in evacuation, search and rescue, and distribution of supplies (food and water). To answer these questions for John Q. Public, a logical response could have been the activation of a federal agency that will stop the horrors shown on an hourly basis. The agency with the responsibility to answer these questions is Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through the direction of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The FEMA design, as a coordinating agency with the ability to task and synchronize the other federal agencies, was not able to respond to the widespread devastation. The President decides once again to call on the Department of Defense (DOD) to answer the call to assist in disaster response. This study will specifically focus on the logistical responses necessary to react to a catastrophic incident. An examination of the governmental laws and policies will provide the basis of the legal requirements in supporting the Defense of Civilian Authorities. These laws and policies will lay out the constraints that the President and DOD must work though in order to provide the type of response that the public was looking for in Hurricane Katrina. This paper conducted an examination of the National Response Plan (NRP) to determine which areas would fall under the purview of DOD. Focus of the investigation into the NRP also concentrated on the abilities of logistic units that can resolve some of the specified and improvised tasks of DOD.

In the response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the gas industry is now fully embracing it's new role. Right alongside the API, Chevron, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the industry moved quickly to capture the narrative in the early days of the invasion, going from disinformation blitz to policy wins within a matter of weeks.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This report presents an overview of the work done by Team Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) from 2012-2016 through three phases of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Robotics Challenge (Virtual Robotics Challenge (VRC), Trials, and Finals), as well as an extended research phase. It gives an overview of their general workflow for producing state-of-the-art robotics software, as well as focusing on the challenges and techniques used to move beyond the environments and tasks encountered in the DARPA Robotics Challenge. Namely, increasing walking robustness and task autonomy in the Atlas robot. This report is broken down into the four phases of IHMCs participation in the DARPA Robotics Challenge: Phase 1, Virtual Robotics Challenge; Phase 2, Trials; Phase 3, Finals; and Phase 4, Extended Research. As competitor in the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) the IHMC team was able to achieve second place in the final stage of the competition held in the summer of 2015. Previous to that the team was awarded first and second place in the two earlier stages of the competition: the VRC, and the DRC Trials.

The specific goal of this thesis is to provide a strategic guide which can be used as a basis by the Naval Supply Center (NSC), Oakland, California to formulate a natural disaster planning, preparedness, response and recovery program. The objective of such a program is to reduce the amount of damage caused by a natural disaster, enable effective response to a disaster and facilitate recovery. The plan must be consistent with the supply center's priorities and be within budget limitations. Further, the plan must address additional areas such as supporting other defense activities and responding to taskings from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Taiwan is prone to many natural disasters, especially typhoons. This thesis adapts an existing stochastic prepositioning optimization model to create a tool for Taiwan military disaster recovery planners, and then uses experimental design techniques to systematically explore solutions. The goals are to minimize the expected number of casualties and unmet commodities demands, and to determine the average number of workers deployed in response to each scenario. A design of experiments methodology is applied to the optimization model to reveal how uncertainty in the parameters translates to uncertainty in objective function values. The approach can also identify the parameters with the greatest impact on the objective function, and result in more robust solutions. The analysis demonstrates that it is not always necessary to spend as much money and deploy as many workers as in the past in order to get the best results. Additionally, the approach shows how a decision maker, with more accurate and current weather reports, can refer to the path and intensity of typhoons while making rescue plans. In summary, this research shows that there is great potential for quantitative methods to improve the disaster-relief planning process.

Taiwan is prone to many natural disasters, especially typhoons. This thesis adapts an existing stochastic prepositioning optimization model to create a tool for Taiwan military disaster recovery planners, and then uses experimental design techniques to systematically explore solutions. The goals are to minimize the expected number of casualties and unmet commodities demands, and to determine the average number of workers deployed in response to each scenario. A design of experiments methodology is applied to the optimization model to reveal how uncertainty in the parameters translates to uncertainty in objective function values. The approach can also identify the parameters with the greatest impact on the objective function, and result in more robust solutions. The analysis demonstrates that it is not always necessary to spend as much money and deploy as many workers as in the past in order to get the best results. Additionally, the approach shows how a decision maker, with more accurate and current weather reports, can refer to the path and intensity of typhoons while making rescue plans. In summary, this research shows that there is great potential for quantitative methods to improve the disaster-relief planning process.

Taiwan is prone to many natural disasters, especially typhoons. This thesis adapts an existing stochastic prepositioning optimization model to create a tool for Taiwan military disaster recovery planners, and then uses experimental design techniques to systematically explore solutions. The goals are to minimize the expected number of casualties and unmet commodities demands, and to determine the average number of workers deployed in response to each scenario. A design of experiments methodology is applied to the optimization model to reveal how uncertainty in the parameters translates to uncertainty in objective function values. The approach can also identify the parameters with the greatest impact on the objective function, and result in more robust solutions. The analysis demonstrates that it is not always necessary to spend as much money and deploy as many workers as in the past in order to get the best results. Additionally, the approach shows how a decision maker, with more accurate and current weather reports, can refer to the path and intensity of typhoons while making rescue plans. In summary, this research shows that there is great potential for quantitative methods to improve the disaster-relief planning process.

We study the effectiveness of recovery strategies for a dynamic model of failure spreading in networks. These strategies control the distribution of resources based on information about the current network state and network topology. In order to assess their success, we have performed a series of simulation experiments. The considered parameters of these experiments are the network topology, the response time delay and the overall disposition of resources. Our investigations are focused on the comparison of strategies for different scenarios and the determination of the most appropriate strategy. The importance of prompt response and the minimum sufficient quantity of resources are discussed as well.

Josh Bowen, an instructor at the NAIT Faculty of Disaster and Emergency ManagementLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For a quarter century, Business Executives for National Security (BENS) has served as the principal channel through which senior executives can help build a more secure America. As a national, nonpartisan, non-profit organization, BENS has focused on adapting successful models and practices from the private sector to strengthen the nation's security. Coming four years after the September 11, 2001, attacks, the hurricanes of 2005 dramatized the frailties of our nation's disaster response system. As the disasters unfolded, BENS was contacted by numerous business executives seeking help in navigating the bureaucratic obstacles impeding them from providing private-sector goods and services to those in need. BENS tried to help, but, lacking established relationships with public-sector responders in the Gulf, successful outcomes were largely elusive. As the official reports concerning the disasters of the previous summer began to emerge in early 2006, much was said about improving government responses and even about reaching out to business to help. But while these reports were long on rhetoric and generalities, they were disappointingly short on specific plans of action. So BENS decided to get down to business. In June 2006, BENS chartered a Task Force [see Appendix A] comprised of senior U.S. business leaders closely tied to disaster response functions: telecommunications, retail and wholesale supply chains, utilities, manufacturing, real estate, financial services, management consulting and other key industries. The goal, said Task Force Chairman Duane Ackerman, was to ensure that as recovery occurs at the local level, [the efficient application of private-sector capabilities and resources] are preserved as the disaster escalates and local, state and federal officials are all at the scene together. The aim of the Task Force was to build up what U.S. Comptroller General David M. Walker, during his March 2006 testimony before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security a

For a quarter century, Business Executives for National Security (BENS) has served as the principal channel through which senior executives can help build a more secure America. As a national, nonpartisan, non-profit organization, BENS has focused on adapting successful models and practices from the private sector to strengthen the nation's security. Coming four years after the September 11, 2001, attacks, the hurricanes of 2005 dramatized the frailties of our nation's disaster response system. As the disasters unfolded, BENS was contacted by numerous business executives seeking help in navigating the bureaucratic obstacles impeding them from providing private-sector goods and services to those in need. BENS tried to help, but, lacking established relationships with public-sector responders in the Gulf, successful outcomes were largely elusive. As the official reports concerning the disasters of the previous summer began to emerge in early 2006, much was said about improving government responses and even about reaching out to business to help. But while these reports were long on rhetoric and generalities, they were disappointingly short on specific plans of action. So BENS decided to get down to business. In June 2006, BENS chartered a Task Force [see Appendix A] comprised of senior U.S. business leaders closely tied to disaster response functions: telecommunications, retail and wholesale supply chains, utilities, manufacturing, real estate, financial services, management consulting and other key industries. The goal, said Task Force Chairman Duane Ackerman, was to ensure that as recovery occurs at the local level, [the efficient application of private-sector capabilities and resources] are preserved as the disaster escalates and local, state and federal officials are all at the scene together. The aim of the Task Force was to build up what U.S. Comptroller General David M. Walker, during his March 2006 testimony before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security a

The ground shakes, buildings crumble, walls fall, and music swells in the opening moments of the 19-minute U.S. Army Corps of Engineers film, “Response to Disaster,” detailing the events of Great Alaskan earthquake (also known as the Good Friday earthquake) on March 27, 1964. “Beneath this rugged crust of Earth in our 49th state, Alaska, tremendous stress has built up miles below the surface,” the announcer warns beginning at mark  00:32  as the camera pans snow-covered mountains. At mark  00:50 . disaster strikes. At the Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, the base commander (starting at mark  01:20 ) explains the 8.5 magnitude earthquake. The film takes the viewer through the aftermath: burning oil, ships tossed out of the ocean, and homes, apartments, and buildings turned to rubble in and around Anchorage. At mark  02:54 , the damage is shown in Seward, Alaska, about 80 miles away, including damage to highways and harbors. Following President Lyndon B. Johnson’s declaration of the region as a disaster area, Office of Emergency Planning (OEP) Director Edward A McDermott is shown speaking from his office at mark  03:50 , pledging federal help to the Alaskans and commending residents for their desire to immediately rebuild. The Corps of Engineers, in association with the OEP — FEMA's predecessor — moved in to help the quake-stricken region. quickly to help communities in distress. Less than 10 hours after the calamity, Alaska District Engineer Colonel Kenneth T. Sawyer sent emergency to assess the damage. A survey of the damage continues throughout the film, including a scene at mark  07:20  showing nearly dry land where there was once a harbor. At mark  07:55 , the viewer is shown another scene from Seward, where railroad facilities slid into the ocean. Following footage showing engineers separating stable ground from still-unstable soil, the film takes us to scientists at the University of California-Berkeley, where at mark  09:45  they’re shown conducting experiments to determine what may have caused the quake. As clean-up continued, Governor William A. Egan visits Valdez at mark  11:30  during Independence Day celebrations, commending the Alaskan peoples’ morale and the assistant of the OEP and the Corps of Engineers, as the film continues to roll and show the viewer demolition and reconstruction efforts. As a result of the earthquake, 139 people are believed to have died — 15 in the earthquake and 106 from a subsequent tsunami, and the Corps spent more than $110 million on salvage, rescue, and rehabilitation operations. By the end of the film, however, fisheries are back in operation, children have returned to schools, tourism was resuming, and railways have been repaired. “Today Alaska is well along the road to recovery,” we are told by McDermott at mark  17:22  “It’s people look forward not merely to the restoration of what was but to the creation … of perhaps a new way of life in our 49th state.”  We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example like: "01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference." This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit  http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com

Congressional Hearing U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Title: THE NEED TO KNOW: INFORMATION SHARING LESSONS FOR DISASTER RESPONSE (Part 2) Date: 2006-03-30 Room: 2154 Rayburn HOB

In the wake of the destruction caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the press and policymakers have looked to the past for examples of federal responses to natural disasters that might serve as models for emulation today. Some Members of Congress have expressed an interest in creating a cabinet-level czar to administer Hurricane Katrina and Rita relief programs. Since the federal response to the flood of 1927 featured Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover as the director of the flood response and wielding immense executive powers, this episode in federal history may be of particular interest to Congress. This report describes the flood of 1927, and assesses the federal government's response thereto. In short, the federal response was an executive branch response. President Calvin Coolidge created a quasi-governmental commission that included members of his Cabinet and the American National Red Cross. This commission encouraged the public to donate funds to the relief effort. It also gave Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover near-absolute authority to organize and oversee its response. Hoover used this authority to weave together federal resources, American National Red Cross volunteers, and the private sector to carry out the relief and recovery program. The concentration of power and the blending of the governmental and private sectors in Hoover's hands enabled the relief effort to be carried out expeditiously and creatively. President Coolidge's empowerment of Hoover alone as director of the flood response clarified to federal, state, and local officials and the public who was in charge. However, this administrative structure was not without costs. There was little direct federal oversight of actual relief provision. So, for example, when local and state relief workers behaved illegally, they were not held accountable.

The ability to manage and monitor assets provides undeniable benefits in accomplishing mission objectives. The value of these capabilities is exponentially greater in disaster situations. This thesis introduces the BLOS C2 capability as a method of improving disaster response and recovery by enhancing situational awareness (SA) as well as command and control (C2). Demonstrated overseas in support of U.S. military battlespace coordination, the BLOS C2 capability promotes seamless communication and data sharing by means of sensor data and a truly common operational picture. Using the proven model that has improved mission effectiveness for the U.S. military, this thesis uses the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other levels of government involved in emergency response as case studies for analyzing the BLOS C2 capability in an effort to fill gaps in interoperability and information sharing. After analyzing each of these case studies, the application of the BLOS C2 capability will be considered and evaluated for potential benefits. Once these evaluations are made, recommendations will be offered that are aimed at implementing the BLOS C2 capability at all levels of government. These recommendations will provide DHS with courses of action that could enhance SA and C2, and potentially improve response and recovery efforts in the event of a disaster.

In December 2007, the Head Start program was reauthorized and modified through the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007, Public Law 110-134. One of the provisions of this law added subsection 649(m) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9844) (Act), entitled "Program Emergency Preparedness," to address the preparedness of Head Start to respond in the event of a large-scale emergency. The Report to Congress on Head Start Program Emergency Preparedness is responsive to the requirements of section 649(m)(2) of the Act, which required that: "The Secretary shall evaluate the Federal, State, and local preparedness of Head Start programs, including Early Head Start programs, to respond appropriately in the event of a large-scale emergency, such as the hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, or other incidents where assistance may be warranted under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.)." To comply with this evaluation requirement, the Office of Head Start (OHS), with assistance from the Administration for Children and Families' (ACF) Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), developed and conducted a survey of the 1,622 current Head Start and Early Head Start grantees to learn what procedures grantees had in place for dealing with large-scale emergencies. In particular, the survey sought to collect information to respond to the three evaluation requirements described at section 649(m)(3)(B)-(D) of the Act: (1) an evaluation of the procedures for informing families of children in Head Start programs about the program protocols for response to a large-scale emergency, including procedures for communicating with such families in the event of a large-scale emergency; (2) an evaluation of such procedures for staff training on State and local evacuation and emergency protocols; and (3) an evaluation of procedures for Head Start agencies and the Secretary to coordinate with appropriate Federal, State, and local emergency management agencies in the event of a large-scale emergency and recommendations to improve such procedures. In addition to providing the results of the survey, this report also describes the Head Start Program Performance Standards related to emergencies and specific activities OHS has taken in recent years to help grantees prepare for and respond to emergencies, such as issuing Information Memoranda and Program Instructions and providing technical assistance resources.

A Performance Review of FEMA's Disaster Management Activities in Response to Hurricane Katrina, OIG-06-32, March 2006 http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_06-32_Mar06.pdf (Unofficial mirror of http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/241366-a-performance-review-of-femas-disaster.html)

/Circulars/Documents/MFMA Circular 102 - Emergency Procurement in Response to National State of Disaster/MFMA Circular 102 - Emergency Procurement in Response to National State of Disaster.pdf

The evolution of domestic disaster response within the United States has created a dissonance between the capabilities of response resources and public expectations. Resource shortages in a catastrophe will compel decision-makers in disaster response organizations at all levels of government to make difficult choices. Given America’s social contract, the ethical foundation for these choices should be common and consistent between the various actors. This research provides a primer on the abstracta (philosophical) and concreta (practical) issues impacting ethical choices about the allocation and distribution of food and water in response to a catastrophe. A single case study reviewing the Cascadia Subduction Zone provides a focused, threaded scenario to illustrate the interplay of the philosophical and practical issues. The research and application within the case study found that while the social contract creates both rights and expectations, government response cannot be assessed solely on the basis of quantifiable outcomes. The measure of effectiveness for response remains largely socially constructed due to the discursive framing by the various actors involved in disaster response. While a common ethical approach may be overly ambitious, this thesis recommends various procedural remedies to achieve greater consonance in ethical approaches.

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The social dynamics of informal networks are not well understood in the context of Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Response (HA/DR). Informal networks are what personnel typically rely on when formal organizational barriers constrain their ability to accomplish the mission. This study examines the use of Informal Networks to resolve logistics-related issues faced by Air Forces Special Operations Command (AFSOC) and Air Forces Southern (AFSOUTH) during their HA/DR to the Haiti Earthquake of 2010. A Content Analysis was conducted of the logistics-related Lesson Learned (LLs) reports submitted by these organizations. The purpose was to determine if there exist any patterns in the LLs that identify situations where it is more beneficial to leverage Informal Networks than to rely on the existing Formal Networks, and to provide insight into the Informal Networks present throughout disaster response organizations. The results suggest that Informal Networks provided successful resolution of issues more often than Formal Networks and they were also used more often than Formal Networks. Hopefully, such insight will enable Air Force leaders to improve their organizational communication during disaster response by properly leveraging their units' Informal Networks.

The social dynamics of informal networks are not well understood in the context of Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Response (HA/DR). Informal networks are what personnel typically rely on when formal organizational barriers constrain their ability to accomplish the mission. This study examines the use of Informal Networks to resolve logistics-related issues faced by Air Forces Special Operations Command (AFSOC) and Air Forces Southern (AFSOUTH) during their HA/DR to the Haiti Earthquake of 2010. A Content Analysis was conducted of the logistics-related Lesson Learned (LLs) reports submitted by these organizations. The purpose was to determine if there exist any patterns in the LLs that identify situations where it is more beneficial to leverage Informal Networks than to rely on the existing Formal Networks, and to provide insight into the Informal Networks present throughout disaster response organizations. The results suggest that Informal Networks provided successful resolution of issues more often than Formal Networks and they were also used more often than Formal Networks. Hopefully, such insight will enable Air Force leaders to improve their organizational communication during disaster response by properly leveraging their units' Informal Networks.

U.S. House of Representatives Congressional Hearing Committee on Transportation Date: 2009-07-27 Room: 2167 Rayburn HOB POST-KATRINA: WHAT IT TAKES TO CUT THE BUREAUCRACY AND ASSURE A MORE RAPID RESPONSE AFTER A CATASTROPHIC DISASTER

U.S. House of Representatives Congressional Hearing Committee on Transportation Date: 2009-07-27 Room: 2167 Rayburn HOB POST-KATRINA: WHAT IT TAKES TO CUT THE BUREAUCRACY AND ASSURE A MORE RAPID RESPONSE AFTER A CATASTROPHIC DISASTER

Congressional Hearing Committee on Appropriations Date: 2009-02-26 Room: 2359 Rayburn HOB

This paper presents a case for the adoption of an information-centric architecture for a global disaster management system. Drawing from a case study of the 2010/2011 Queensland floods, we describe the challenges in providing every participant with relevant and actionable information. We use various examples to argue for a more flexible information dissemination framework which is designed from the ground up to minimise the effort needed to fix the unexpected and unavoidable information acquisition, quality, and dissemination challenges posed by any real disaster.

/Circulars/Documents/MFMA Circular 105 - Withdrawal of MFMA Circular 102 Emergency Procurement in Response to State of Disaster/MFMA Circular 105 - Withdrawal of MFMA Circular 102 Emergency Procurement in Response to National State of Disaster.pdf

/Circulars/Documents/MFMA Circular 105 - Withdrawal of MFMA Circular 102 Emergency Procurement in Response to State of Disaster/MFMA Circular 105 - Withdrawal of MFMA Circular 102 Emergency Procurement in Response to National State of Disaster.pdf

Considerable public scrutiny has been focused on the Federal Government's, especially the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) supposed inadequate, misdirected, and slow response to the acquisition needs required for responding to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This seemingly failed response quite possibly cost the Federal Government billions in wasted taxpayer dollars and has affected the livelihood of thousands. Analyzing what went wrong and examining available acquisition concepts, organizations, processes, and technologies that could be leveraged for future disaster responses is the focus of our MBA project. The project's product provides some proposed solutions to assist FEMA's acquisition mission, along with some recommended technologies for executing these solutions.

The ability to manage and monitor assets provides undeniable benefits in accomplishing mission objectives. The value of these capabilities is exponentially greater in disaster situations. This thesis introduces the BLOS C2 capability as a method of improving disaster response and recovery by enhancing situational awareness (SA) as well as command and control (C2). Demonstrated overseas in support of U.S. military battlespace coordination, the BLOS C2 capability promotes seamless communication and data sharing by means of sensor data and a truly common operational picture. Using the proven model that has improved mission effectiveness for the U.S. military, this thesis uses the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other levels of government involved in emergency response as case studies for analyzing the BLOS C2 capability in an effort to fill gaps in interoperability and information sharing. After analyzing each of these case studies, the application of the BLOS C2 capability will be considered and evaluated for potential benefits. Once these evaluations are made, recommendations will be offered that are aimed at implementing the BLOS C2 capability at all levels of government. These recommendations will provide DHS with courses of action that could enhance SA and C2, and potentially improve response and recovery efforts in the event of a disaster.

Hurricanes Gustav and Ike devastated the region that our University serves. Near the start of the semester, only one of the ten scheduled class days could be completed and administrators asked students and faculty to "continue the learning process" online via Blackboard©, our Electronic Delivery System (EDS). The Student Storm Survey© (SSS) examined student reaction to shifting from "brick-and-mortar" to "online" instruction on EDS as well as other storm-related decisions. A small majority of the respondents reported that they wanted to work on EDS assignments, though most failed to complete them while the University was closed; most disagreed that such assignments helped them return to school. With respect to the University's decisions about when to close and reopen, overall, students were satisfied with these decisions, but those whose homes suffered the most damage were the least content. Suggestions for improving EDS effectiveness to continue learning, and making more informed decisions about school reopenings after future emergencies are presented.

Although it is impossible to predict the future, the operational environment of 2025 and beyond may require additional military support to the United States Government's agencies in Foreign Disaster Relief (FDR). Global climate change, urbanization, growing natural resources scarcity, and other factors will increase the need for humanitarian assistance (HA) and disaster relief. At the same time, the Department of Defense (DoD) is undergoing budget and force reductions. The confluence of these factors and interaction of these variables in the current and future operational environment may require increased FDR capability and support from the military. Options for how the DoD will address FDR should be explored. Given the unique capabilities of the United States Army Reserve (USAR), congruent with FDR, the USAR may be best suited for the primary role in FDR missions. This monograph explores the current and future environment and provides analysis of the USAR to serve as a DoD option with a primary responsibility in FDR.

The U.S. Military, chief among them the U.S. Army and National Guard, has gained an enormous amount of civil support experience since the birth of the United States. However, in supporting Joint and Service publications there is little reference to the relevant disaster research studies that would either support or shape this experience. This study investigates U.S. Defense Support of Civil Authorities doctrine and related disaster research, which is supported by 60 years of social science and related ethical studies, in an effort to find feasible ways to coalesce the two methodologies. The study focuses on the loosely defined U.S. Government lexicon of vague and overlapping terms that contrast with social science definitions. It then discusses disaster relevant philosophy and ethics, followed by a discussion of the disaster response process and the information gaps between myth and reality.

This slide presentation reviews a system that uses the SensorWeb connected to the cloud computing, assist in disaster response, specifically flood warning in Namibia.

The main thesis of this monograph is that these same basic guidelines for maximizing interagency cooperation and for focusing military capabilities on establishing security and providing for the establishment of basic services that underpin the counterinsurgency warfighting model can be successfully transferred to the task of providing support to civil authorities during disaster response operations. Although the method of infliction in these two cases may be different, the result is the same: the capacity of the government is damaged, and the military is called to respond in order to provide security and sustenance to the populace in order to re-establish normalcy and thereby reaffirm the legitimacy of the society's governing institutions. The purpose, therefore, is to demonstrate how the proper use of military assets, in close coordination with civilian governmental and non-governmental authorities during the planning and execution of disaster relief operations can have a positive impact on the timely restoration of expected levels of societal function following a disaster.

No abstract available

The Caribbean is predisposed to natural and man-made disasters and exacerbated by local conditions. Disasters can have debilitating economic and social impacts on small island nations. Civilian disaster response is quickly overwhelmed in large emergencies. Militaries fill this gap by providing unique capabilities to the disaster relief effort. Trinidad and Tobago's national disaster response involves the TTDF as a secondary responder. This thesis answered the question; what gaps exist in the ability of the TTDF to provide logistics support in response to Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations. This thesis examined Hurricane Ivan 2004, Hurricane Katrina 2005, Haiti earthquake 2010 and Hurricane Mathew 2016 against six criteria: the extent of damage and what was required; types of responses; who responded; elements of success; elements of failure; and the ability of the nation to respond. This study suggested amendments to the National Response Framework, areas for TTDF improved capability, areas for study, and implementation.

Debris management is a critical function of disaster response activities. Debris can represent a serious health hazard in its own right, can hamper emergency response, and, by clogging streams and waterways, promote flooding. During an actual disaster, time is a limiting factor for the formulation and testing of improved debris management approaches. The time to improve management and technical approaches is before disasters strike. This report proposes that research can be effective in improving emergency response regarding debris management. This study investigated three aspects of debris management: debris management in stream beds, hazardous aspects of debris, and the use of geospatial measurements and techniques to improve management. The state of the practice for each was established. Areas of research opportunities were then identified and discussed. This document can serve as a framework for a debris management research focus area, which will provide guidance for emergency management organizations and professionals.

The purpose of this paper is to answer the following question. What factors should senior United States government officials be familiar with, and take into consideration, when making time-constrained decisions regarding the type and extent of a United States government response to a Chemical, Biological, Radiological or Nuclear (CBRN) event overseas? In determining these factors, the author researched salient books, periodicals, published and unpublished papers, and credible Internet sites. The author also conducted telephonic interviews and electronic mail exchanges with government officials in the fields of Weapons of Mass Destruction terrorism and Consequence Management. The author argues that the United States has developed significant CBRN response forces, but is hamstrung in projecting a timely response to an event overseas by a fragmented decision-making process at the strategic level. The author also proposes that national interests drive the decision to respond to a foreign nation's request for assistance, and that interests are based predominantly on political and economic concerns.

NIST Manuscript Publication Search This report analyzes the global response of WTC 7 to fire-induced structural failures and the resulting sequence of component and subsystem failures to determine the events that led to the global collapse of the building. The analysis involved a finite element model of the entire building, which was developed in LS-DYNA. Preliminary work involved two-story and 14 story subassemblies. The 47 story global model was based on the original structural drawings as well as construction fabrication shop drawings for connections. The model included the primary structural components throughout the building, including exterior and core columns, floor framing beams and girders, floor slabs, column transfer truss structures, wind bracing truss members, and penthouse structures.

Government Publishing Office U.S. Congress House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure [ERRATA] POST-KATRINA DISASTER RESPONSE AND RECOVERY: EVALUATING FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY'S CONTINUING EFFORTS IN THE GULF COAST AND RESPONSE TO RECENT DISASTERS Date(s) Held: 2009-02-25 111th Congress, 1st Session GPO Document Source: CHRG-111hhrg62101 Superintendents of Documents ID: Y 4.T 68/2 Related Items: Congressional Serial No. 111-12

On March 11, 2011, the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami triggered overwhelming destruction and loss that had global implications. Because of the random nature of disasters, funding for response efforts is not currently included in the budget submitted for the Department of Defense. Thus, when the Department of the Navy responds to a natural disaster and provides humanitarian assistance, great fiscal costs are incurred, which must be accurately tracked and reported for reimbursement. This project investigates the response of the U.S. Navy following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The objective of this research is to analyze the operating costs associated with each DoN vessel and aircraft type. In order to determine the most cost-effective platform(s) the Navy should use when responding to a disaster, an in-depth analysis of all direct and indirect costs associated is provided. As a result, this analysis will provide senior leaders and policy makers with timely operational and financial policy recommendations to better prepare for unforeseen events in the future.