Pentagon shares some lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina

Senior Defense Department officials on Thursday outlined some of the critical lessons the Pentagon has learned from Hurricane Katrina that could help improve the federal government's response to future domestic catastrophes.

The officials told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee that the department is still in the midst of completing a full report, but that some of the issues that need to be addressed are already evident.

"U.S. military forces executed the largest, fastest, most comprehensive and most responsive civil support mission ever," said Paul McHale, assistant secretary of Defense for homeland defense, in written testimony to the committee. "In a domestic relief operation unprecedented in scale, over 72,000 federal military and National Guard forces flowed into the Gulf Coast region over a 12-day period to assist fellow Americans in distress."

McHale testified along with Navy Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of U.S. Northern Command, and Army Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau.

According to McHale, the government should:

• Improve its ability to obtain accurate assessments of damaged areas immediately after a disaster.
• Establish a unified command and control structure to coordinate the efforts of multiple federal agencies when they converge on an affected area.

• Assure the ability to effectively communicate with first responders and emergency management personnel.

• Integrate the capabilities of active-duty, National Guard and Reserve forces through pre-event and on-location operational planning.

• Re-examine Defense roles and resources for responding to a catastrophic event.

"These preliminary observations, and others under review, form the framework for an in-depth analysis of our response to Hurricane Katrina and will enable DoD to better plan for the next catastrophic event," McHale wrote.

Keating said active-duty forces lacked the ability to fully know what National Guard forces were doing throughout the relief operations.

"If a tragedy occurs on a local level, the local and/or state leadership should retain command and control," Keating added. "They know the terrain, they have the personal relationships with responders, and they are familiar with the most likely challenges."

Keating also cited the need for mobile, secure communications that are "survivable and flexible" and have both voice and data capabilities.

Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, who commanded active-duty forces on the ground in affected areas during Katrina, also testified Thursday before the committee on a separate panel.

He said additional lessons include the need to: designate a single Pentagon official to communicate with the government's federal coordinating officer; train local and state employees to fill emergency management staffing shortfalls; pre-allocate space in state emergency operations centers for federal personnel; develop a continuity of operations plan for government functions; pre-arrange support contracts for required resources; acquire power supply capabilities; and secure commitments from industry on re-establishing critical services.