Military Support to Civil Authorities.

Historical precedence and Americans compassion for their fellow citizens as well as political necessity prevents Washington from ever turning its back on domestic disaster intervention. Throughout its history the United States Army has played a vital role in domestic relief efforts. Even with this long history of supporting civil authorities senior leaders are not well prepared or knowledgeable about the systems and laws that apply to domestic support operations. The challenge to commanders today is that there are a wide range and constantly changing litany of laws, Presidential Decision Directives, Executive Orders, Department of Defense Directive DODD and regulations that govern military support for domestic relief operations. The complexity and sensitive nature of these operations dictate that senior military leaders assigned to support them understand the legal and regulatory environment they are working in. This paper will examine the laws, policies and Department of Defense Directives that all senior leaders should aware of prior to deploying to support a disaster relief operation.