The Sinews of Preparedness

Recently, many MSM article and blog postings have discussed the postponement of NLE V [National Level Exercise] by the Administration and DHS. There are enormus implications that can be implied by this postponement. The most critical is that this Administration, like all before it, fails to understand that the sinews of preparedness are built with exercises, from table tops to full scale exercises, and with the personnel including appointees that will actually be called on to run the civil domestic crisis management system or be in the chain of command for civil crisis events. Failure to be prepared only makes it more likely that military dominated organizations, which tend to ad hoc despite extraordinary funding, will drive the crisis response with huge implications for the civil sector and federalism. Essentially, NO administration since the dawn of the nuclear age has created an adequate White House Domestic Civil response organization and chain of command. During the days of the Federal Civil Defense Program created by Public Law 920 of the 81st Congress [repealed in 1994] the reality was no civil domestic crisis response planning and preparedness just turn it over to the military post attack. This was UnConstitutional, lazy, and not in keeping with the democractic (actually US is a Republic) traditions of our society. The nuclear priesthood enjoyed their power in their secret temples and had no one to watch over what they were planning. See Plans D and Other than D which died on the formation of FEMA in 1979! If accomplishing creation of such a system is just is too difficult from a public administration standpoint the day in which the ambitious military takes over civil crisis management and response comes that much closer.