The United States is frequently charged with resonding to emergencies and requirements to reconstruct areas after disasters and wars. And we are occasionally self tasked with a nation building task such as our efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
This is very difficult and we do not do it very well. The military and various Federal agencies relearn the techniques frequently, throwing untrained people into a very difficult situation and telling them to figure it out on the fly. This is not the way to do it. This is the way we did it in New Orleans. And it is the way we did it in Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, and World War II.
EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND RECONSTRUCTION COMMAND
ERARC
I propose that we create a new major US Military Command that will focus on these important issues. It would be commanded by a four star General and have a large civilian component, including many agencies such as FEMA. This Command would train for emergency response and the nation building mission. It would be the major command for crisis and emergency response.
By creating a Command that focuses on Emergency Response and Nation Building we focus full time on these important issues. The Command would train and promote people based on their efforts and expertise in these areas.
Let us examine how we respond to emergencies. The Hurricane in New Orleans is a good example. The local and State response was poor. The Feds came in but were unfocused. It was not clear who was in charge and what they were doing. The new Command would be in charge day one, under the direction of the President.
This new Command would be the organization leading the rebuilding and development of Afghanistan and Iraq. Rather then tasking the best infantry trained General and conventionally trained troops to do the job we would task a General and personnel who were trained and experienced in these important issues.
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