Whole-of-Government Logistics During a Domestic Crisis Response

Over the past decade, our Nation has been faced with multiple natural and man-made disasters resulting in the need for unprecedented federal responses. Since 1980, the annual number of declared national disasters requiring a federal response has nearly tripled. Increased pressure comes from a twenty-four hour news cycle, social media and public involvement that have generated a zero-tolerance-for- failure environment. The success of any such emergency response is critically dependent on the effectiveness of coordinated logistics operations. Moreover, the unique challenges posed by threats that cross geographic, expertise, and social boundaries require whole-of-government solutions. Although progress has been made over the past five years, the federal government still struggles with its efforts to develop a coordinated mechanism for logistics response. Therefore, the federal government must improve its whole-of-government approach to providing logistics during a domestic response in order to enable the success of the emergency responders. Through clearly articulated doctrine, government-wide logistics standards, increased training and awareness and national exercises that deliberately challenge the logistics framework, the federal government can better ensure the success of domestic response operations.