Andrew Mitchell

fter being a bureaucratic foster child for several years, it seems the Office for Domestic Preparedness finally has found a permanent home in the Homeland Security Department.

Originally part of the Defense Department, the office's training and equipment grant programs moved to the Justice Department in 1998. But concerns about program duplication led to a plan to shift the office to the Federal Emergency Management Agency this year. When DHS was created, Congress moved the Office for Domestic Preparedness there-not to FEMA, but to the Border and Transportation Security division.

The office helps state and local governments prepare for attacks involving weapons of mass destruction. It has trained many thousands of first responders to plan for such events. Its training exercises are particularly well regarded. The office operates a training center at Fort McClellan, Ala., and has partnerships with the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Louisiana State University, and Texas A&M University, as well as the Energy Department's Nevada Test Site.

The domestic preparedness office's extensive working relationships with firefighters, sheriffs, police and others at the local level have fueled the rapid growth of its budget. With a staff of about 54, the office will distribute almost $1 billion in grants and other assistance this year (about half for equipment). Its budget is slated to grow to $3.5 billion in fiscal 2004.

Formerly the deputy director of the Office of Domestic Preparedness, Andrew Mitchell has been acting director since the spring of 2002. He came to the agency from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, where he headed the National Initiatives Branch and managed training programs for first responders on terrorist incidents. He has 25 years of experience in public safety, having worked also for Aspen Systems Corp., the National Criminal Justice Association and the Georgia State Crime Commission.