Coast Guard reservists put their lives on hold to respond to natural disasters such as floods and manmade threats such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks. With the prospect of more of both kinds of disasters (including a biochemical attack), much can be done to make the call-up of reservists more efficient.
Prologue—June 2005
Detective Jo Ann Phillips of the Central City Police Department was having a busy morning. The District Attorney's office was clamoring for more conclusive evidence on their lead suspect in a string of armed robberies. She was about to turn to her partner when the phone rang.
"Detective Phillips," she said.
"BMI Phillips? This is YN2 Smithfield from Integrated Support Command Central City. Atlantic Area is standing up three disaster assistance response teams for deployment to south Florida for Hurricane Grant. Have you been following the news about the hurricane?"
Phillips, a Coast Guard reservist, had been following the storm. The National Hurricane Center in Coral Cables, Florida, had predicted that Hurricane Grant would make landfall somewhere between Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Savannah, Georgia, within the next 72 hours. The governors of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina each had declared states of emergency in advance of the storm's arrival. Phillips didn't deploy for Hurricane Floyd but knew that the Coast Guard had brought reservists from as far away as St. Louis to work with federal, state, and local officials in providing disaster relief. Although she did not know if she'd be called up, she had packed her sea bag just in case.
YN2 Smithfield continued. "You're being involuntarily recalled. Looks like they're expecting to need flood-punt coxswains down there. We should have orders generated in about an hour and faxed to you so you can inform your employer. Just a heads up that your disaster assistance response team is to report to its facility at 0700 tomorrow. Yours is the first DART to fly out from Central City Airport. A C-130 from Air Station Elizabeth City is due to arrive at 1030. I know that's a lot and it's pretty sudden—have any questions?"
"Any idea how long we'll be deployed?" "Don't know. The orders are for 30 days but that could change depending on the nature of this hurricane. I, hold on ... okay, I'll tell her. My SN/YN said your orders have been signed. We're sending a copy with my electronic signature to you via e-mail right now. I gotta go, plenty of calls to make." He hung up.
Phillips clicked her e-mail and found that the message with orders had arrived. She printed a copy and went over to her lieutenant's office. The door was open.
"Boss, do you have a moment?" she asked.
The Coast Guard is a first-responder during natural and manmade disasters, and was called to duty numerous times throughout the 1990s: Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the midwest floods of 1993, and Hurricane Floyd in 1999. All grabbed the nation's attention and focused the national eye on the federal government's role in responding when the level of damage has overwhelmed the resources of state and local governments. The basic philosophy of emergency management is to keep the response at the lowest level possible. Local governments—cities and counties—are the first on the scene. If the scope of the disaster overwhelms their capacity to respond, they can turn to the state for assistance. A state governor can declare a state of emergency that allows the state to release funding and resources such as the state's National Guard. When a state has exhausted all its resources, its governor can request that the President issue a presidential disaster declaration through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
On 11 September, the Coast Guard responded immediately to the chaos following the two terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center by helping evacuate Manhattan. Later that day, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta authorized the involuntary recall of the Coast Guard Ready Reserve. Ultimately, more than 2,000 members (more than a quarter of its Selected Reserve strength) participated in Operation Noble Eagle. Since 9/11, the Coast Guard has conducted more than 30,000 port security patrols, more than 3,000 air patrols, and maintained more than 124 security zones. Coast Guard Sea Marshals have escorted more than 1,000 vessels, and four of its six port security units (PSUs) were activated to provide security in New York, Boston, Seattle, and Los Angles/Long Beach.
The Coast Guard responds to disaster situations on its own or as a response resource tasked by FEMA under the aegis of the Federal Response Plan (FRP). The FRP details response responsibilities in 12 annexes called emergency support functions (ESFs). The type of disaster will dictate whether the Coast Guard gets tasked as a component of ESF-I (Transportation) as part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, ESF-10 (Hazardous Materials), or as a member of the U.S. military.
When disaster occurs, the Coast Guard calls on its Selected Reserve to provide a large portion of its response personnel. In April 1998, eight Coast Guard disaster response units (DRUs) crewed by a blend of active-duty personnel and reservists from across the Midwest responded along the Red River of the North when it flooded its banks. Many of those who went north that year had gained invaluable experience from flood response operations during the Midwest floods of 1993. More recently, the Coast Guard deployed four DRUs in April 2001 when the Mississippi River once again flooded. Reservists also have provided surge support for other missions such as Operation Sail 2000, when 600 reservists mustered to New York Harbor.
The irony is that the Coast Guard was heavily engaged in disaster response at the same time as its reserve numbers dropped dramatically as part of the post-Cold War draw down. Coast Guard Selected Reserve strength went from 12,123 at the end of fiscal year (FY) 1990 to 7,965 by the end of FY 2000, just below its authorized strength of 8,000. The biggest drop was from the end of FY 1992 to the end of FY 1994, when the number of drilling reservists went from 11,232 to 7,197.
Improving the Call-Up Process
Limited resources means that the Coast Guard should always be on the lookout for ways to improve its response capability. It can do this by:
- Creating permanent units dedicated to disaster response. Responding to a disaster often requires the mobilization of trained units on short notice. Some disasters have a high impact but a low frequency of occurrence. For example, a terrorist or weapon of mass destruction incident involving the release of a hazardous material or contaminant into a coastal environment could necessitate the Coast Guard to coordinate containment, removal, and disposal of the spilled product. The Coast Guard should prepare to respond by creating permanent disaster assistance response teams (DARTs), under reserve commanding officers, that are crewed primarily by reservists with the sole mission of training for disaster response operations. The Coast Guard's six PSUs already have proved that reserve-crewed units work. And DARTs also should be able to respond to a wide range of incidents, including a weapon of mass destruction or a terrorist attack in a waterway or port, as well as the traditional calls after a flood or hurricane.
As a way to hone their skills and focus their response, each DART should report to one of the Coast Guard's two area commands and have a specific geographical area of responsibility. Its members would learn the unique characteristics of their unit's area of responsibility such as what types of disaster threats exist and what capabilities local agencies have at their disposal. DART members also would train with such local response agencies as county sheriff's departments, marine rescue squads, and National Guard units. Having trained DARTs available for immediate deployment to a disaster area would eliminate the stress on routine missions performed by active-duty units when a disaster emergency develops.
After 9/11, the Coast Guard announced the creation of Maritime Safety and Security Teams (MSSTs). Their missions will include protecting military operations, enforcing security zones, defending waterside infrastructure, interdicting illegal drug smuggling, and providing shore-side protection. The first MSST was commissioned 3 July 2002 in Seattle, Washington.
- Using involuntary recall when necessary. Every Coast Guard reservist, as a member of the armed forces, is subject to involuntary recall. Harbor defense command units and PSUs are equipped, staffed, and trained for such eventualities, but these units are oriented toward deployment overseas in support of national security commitments. The Secretary of Transportation, with the President's approval, has the authority to involuntarily recall reservists to augment active forces "during a serious natural or manmade disaster, accident, or catastrophe." This is a unique authority among the seven reserve components. The Secretary may, "without the consent of the member affected, order to active duty." More than 2,000 Coast Guard reservists experienced involuntary recall following 9/11, and mor than 1,400 remain recalled to active duty. Two weeks before the end of 1999, then-Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater authorized the Coast Guard involuntary recall authority for up to 1,000 reservists if needed for any year 2000 (Y2K) computer-related emergencies. The Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 protects reservists against loss of job or job placement in their civilian careers.
- Developing a recall database. The Coast Guard must have an efficient method of recalling its reservists in time of need, no matter the hour or day. This would be aided by an accurate and up-to-date information database of the skills—military and civilian—held by Coast Guard reservists and active-duty personnel. The recently created Coast Guard Reservist Skills Inventory is a step in the right direction. Such an information source could be a Coast Guard-wide skills and deployment database modeled after the system used by FEMA—the Automated Disaster Database (ADD). FEMA uses ADD to deploy its on-call employees when their skills are needed during a presidentially declared disaster. It contains personal information (names, address, phone numbers, etc.), job titles and proficiency levels, special skills such as a foreign language, work and deployment histories, and, most important, deployment availability. Having this resource would be especially useful when reservists are slated to mobilize away from their units to another Coast Guard District or Area.
Conclusion
The Coast Guard, like the other services, downsized in anticipation of a peace dividend that did not materialize. From 1994 to 1998, the Coast Guard cut 4,000 billets and reduced its budget by $400 million. Since 9/11, the Coast Guard has been pushed to the limit performing its homeland security missions. Our elected officials also have begun to see the value in a well-funded Coast Guard. President George W. Bush's request for an additional $282 million in funding for the Coast Guard in FY 2003 would bring the service's homeland security budget up to $2.9 billion, the largest spending increase it has ever experienced. Overall, the Coast Guard could receive an extra $900 million to $1 billion in FY 2003, a 20% increase in its annual budget. Part of this proposal would add between 5,000 to 6,000 active-duty members and 4,000 reservists over three years. In June, President Bush included the service in his proposed Department of Homeland Security.
There is an old adage that goes, "Failure to plan means planning to fail." The Coast Guard has demonstrated that it has a vital role in the federal government's emergency response/homeland security efforts, and that it will remain Semper Paratus when the call comes.
Lieutenant Teska served on Coast Guard active duty for five years. He works for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region VII in Kansas City, Missouri, and is a reservist assigned to the Eighth Coast Guard District planning and readiness branch.