Posted on 09/03/2005 6:32:11 PM PDT by freema
Congress Likely to Probe Guard Response By SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Another 10,000 National Guard troops are being sent to the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast, raising their number to about 40,000, but questions linger about the speed with which troops were deployed.
Several states ready and willing to send National Guard troops to the rescue in New Orleans didn't get the go-ahead until days after the storm struck — a delay nearly certain to be investigated by Congress.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco help from his state's National Guard last Sunday, the day before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. Blanco accepted, but paperwork needed to get the troops en route didn't come from Washington until late Thursday.
California troops just began arriving in Louisiana on Friday, three days after flood waters devastated New Orleans and chaos broke out.
In fact, when New Orleans' levees gave way to deadly flooding on Tuesday, Louisiana's National Guard had received help from troops in only three other states: Ohio, which had nine people in Louisiana then; Oklahoma, 89; and Texas, 625, figures provided by the National Guard show.
Maj. Gen. Thomas Cutler, who leads the Michigan National Guard, said he anticipated a call for police units and started preparing them, but couldn't go until states in the hurricane zone asked them to come.
"We could have had people on the road Tuesday," Cutler said. "We have to wait and respond to their need."
The Michigan National Guard was asked for military police by Mississippi late Tuesday and by Louisiana officials late Wednesday. The state sent 182 MPs to Mississippi on Friday and had 242 headed to Louisiana on Saturday.
Typically, the authority to use the National Guard in a state role lies with the governor, who tells his or her adjutant general to order individual Guard units to begin duty. Turnaround time varies depending on the number of troops involved, their location and their assigned missions.
One factor that may have further complicated post-Katrina deployment arose when Louisiana discovered it needed Guardsmen to do more law enforcement duty because a large portion of the New Orleans police force was not functioning, according to Lt. Gen. Steven H. Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau at the Pentagon.
Because the agreement that was already in existence for states to contribute Guard troops to Louisiana did not include a provision on their use in law enforcement, Blum said, Gov. Blanco had to get separate written agreements authorizing Guardsmen to do police-type duty.
Still, Blum said, this took only minutes to execute.
With many states' Guard units depleted by deployments to Iraq, Katrina's aftermath was almost certain from the beginning to require help from faraway states.
Republicans and Democrats alike in Congress are just beginning to ask why one of the National Guard's most trusted roles — disaster relief — was so uneven, delayed and chaotic this time around.
Sen. Chuck Hagel (news, bio, voting record), R-Neb., said the situation has shown major breakdowns in the nation's emergency response capabilities. "There must be some accountability in this process after the crisis is addressed," he said.
Democrat Ben Nelson, Nebraska's other senator, said he now questions National Guard leaders' earlier assertions that they had enough resources to respond to natural disasters even with the Iraq war.
"I'm going to ask that question again," Nelson said. "Do we have enough (troops), and if we do, why were they not deployed sooner?"
~~~~~
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., plans to make oversight of the Defense Department, the National Guard and their assistance his top priority when he returns to Washington next week from an overseas trips, spokesman John Ullyot said Friday.
Bush had the legal authority to order the National Guard to the disaster area himself, as he did after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks . But the troops four years ago were deployed for national security protection, and presidents of both parties traditionally defer to governors to deploy their own National Guardsmen and request help from other states when it comes to natural disasters.
In addition to Guard help, the federal government could have activated, but did not, a major air support plan under a pre-existing contract with airlines. The program, called Civilian Reserve Air Fleet, lets the government quickly put private cargo and passenger planes into service.
The CRAF provision has been activated twice, once for the Persian Gulf War and again for the Iraq war.
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On the Net:
National Guard units: http://www.ngb.army.mil/states/
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Associated Press writers Kathy Barks Hoffman in Lansing, Mich.; Barry Massey in Santa Fe, N.M.; Chuck Brown in Omaha, Neb.; Paul Davenport in Phoenix and Devlin Barrett in Washington contributed to this story.
"We could have had people on the road Tuesday," Cutler said. "We have to wait and respond to their need."
The Michigan National Guard was asked for military police by Mississippi late Tuesday and by Louisiana officials late Wednesday. The state sent 182 MPs to Mississippi on Friday and had 242 headed to Louisiana on Saturday.
Typically, the authority to use the National Guard in a state role lies with the governor, who tells his or her adjutant general to order individual Guard units to begin duty.
One factor that may have further complicated post-Katrina deployment arose when Louisiana discovered it needed Guardsmen to do more law enforcement duty because a large portion of the New Orleans police force was not functioning, according to Lt. Gen. Steven H. Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau at the Pentagon.
Because the agreement that was already in existence for states to contribute Guard troops to Louisiana did not include a provision on their use in law enforcement, Blum said, Gov. Blanco had to get separate written agreements authorizing Guardsmen to do police-type duty.
Republicans and Democrats alike in Congress are just beginning to ask why one of the National Guard's most trusted roles — disaster relief — was so uneven, delayed and chaotic this time around.
presidents of both parties traditionally defer to governors to deploy their own National Guardsmen and request help from other states when it comes to natural disasters. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A large portion of the New Orleans police force was not function, because they walked off the job. It says that many states' Guard units are depleted by deployments to Iraq. Is that a fact? Is Chuck Hagel asking the right question?
The National Guard and the rest of the military are the only ones doing anything to solve the problems in the disaster area. They work 24/7, no time card punching, they work until they drop.
The rest of the "government", FEMA and the rest of the bureaucrats will surely be punching the time clock and making sure that they get their overtime, when they are doing virtually nothing. They are a freaking disgrace.
Congress can probe Blanco, nagin and the rest of the Democrats in LA or they can shut up.
I have no use for them blaming the people that actually did their jobs and did them well.
Hot aired egotists that we all KNOW would have screwed up as badly as Blanco did because they haven't one tenth of the ability to respond as our NG, the President or others governors in MISS, Alabama and Texas to name some.
I fear that the inevitable outcome of this mess will be a move to repeal Posse Comitatus, and completely federalize disaster relief and policing efforts.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1476694/posts
Congress needs to investigate more than the Guard response.
Demand it.
It is my belief that the disastrous impact of Hurricane Katrina which devastated an area the size of Great Britain overwhelmed the first responders so hard that it was impossible for them to regroup since all of their assets particularly in NO was wiped out.
However, once the damage was being assessed it is my deepest and sincerest belief that President Bush and his administration was at the helm taking control and firing up the massive engines and might of America's Armed Forces to get this situation under some semblance of order and control.
No written preplanning can ever address the realities of national disaster preparedness and response.
America has been blessed so far by not having to endure such a battering of this magnitude but if we were to again, I'm sure that lessons learned today will help in the future to address and respond with greater effeciency and quickness.
I do believe that the Louisiana Govenor is not as capable a leader and lacked the bold steel hardened confidence that should have been needed for getting the job done.
Can we have our 700 boat Navy? And enough Transport capacity to actually get our Army somewhere quickly?
The first rule for emergency response units in incidents involving crossing state lines is "do not self-activate." You must wait to be asked. There are very serious liability (including your own personal medical treatment, if injured) consequences for failing to follow that rule.
And believe me, those waiting are chomping at the bit awaiting that green light to activate.
Don't you just love it. The National Guard was demeaned during the presidential election as a haven for people trying to avoid the war. Well, I believe, the Guard/Reserve units comprise 40%+/- of the military in our current war. Now, suddenly, they have found the Guard critical for domestic disasters. In fact, do to the incompetent politicians of Louisana, the poor citizens waiting for rescue would have been held hostage, at this moment, to looting, violence, rape and murder if the Guard/Military had not shown up. Now the politicians, from their comfy offices in Washington, DC, are going to investigate the heroes of this disaster! If the mayor had acted properly in alerting all the citizens and evacuating them in the many buses available before the flooding, most of the subsequent escalation and complication of this disaster would not have occurred.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am a proud but retired member of the Wis. Air National Guard.
God bless our troops.
I used to be with the units that are going, 20 years ago. If they have larger pant sizes now, they can have me back.
Hearings on the Katrina issue are pointless...as much as we humans would like to think so, we just CANNOT control the planet & nature. Sometimes nature just overwhelms us and no one is to blame for disasters. We just cannot appoint ourselves GOD and stop what is inevitable
The federal government can put into service cargo planes and civilian air craft, if they had where in the world could they have landed.
They were going to have to take down an interstate sign
just to land a larger helicopter on the bridge where they were having so much trouble. They could only land those that carried 10 people. The larger could transport 40 to 50 people.
"A friend of mine who was in the marines, army, police said that you just don't send out troops helter skelter without supplies and a plan of action. Heck, the wheels of the federal governemt are so huge that to get them moving in the same direction takes time." This is quite true. Yet, because of snafu's on Blanco's part AFTER the storm, there was a delay in releasing troops who actually WERE READY TO ROLL.
"No written preplanning can ever address the realities of national disaster preparedness and response." Then why bother to have one? Lousiana and NO have one. Everyone does. It wasn't followed. I've seen a mandatory evacuation done correctly-law enforcement went door-to-door and made people leave.
Thank you.
and you too, Thank you.
"New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco help from his state's National Guard last Sunday, the day before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. Blanco accepted, but paperwork needed to get the troops en route didn't come from Washington until late Thursday."
Just what paperwork is needed from Washington? I think that is BULL**IT.
There is no mention of paperwork for the Troops sent from Michigan.
Thanks for your service. Thanks for your good input. It's good to know how it works.
This is a bunch of bull shi-,and so is the Congress and Senate too.
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