Preparing for the Unthinkable: DOD Support to Foreign Consequence Management

The United States Government USG has been extremely active in preparing for a domestic WMD attack, especially after the 911 attacks in 2001, which has led to a robust capability to respond to WMD attacks within U.S. borders. Unfortunately, the USG has not invested as much time addressing the issue of a WMD attack in a foreign country and what the USG response would be. Although some work has been done, such as establishing joint doctrine and conducting multinational exercises, the USG and specifically the DOD and GCCs are not optimally prepared to conduct Foreign Consequence Management FCM operations. Therefore, the DOD and GCCs must work toward building a more robust capability and establishing the required relationships necessary to successfully mitigate the consequences of a WMD attack. FCM operations address very complex problem sets with no easy solutions. Such operations will inevitably involve dozens of agencies and organizations, not to mention one or more foreign governments that may not have even begun to think about such unimaginable events. Therefore, it is imperative that GCCs plan for their response to these events before they happen. A well thought out plan with a solid operational scheme will be an essential jumping off point for conducting FCM operations.