JP 3-28, Civil Support - Federation of American Scientists

Chapter I
b. Homeland Security. HS, as defined in the National Strategy for Homeland Security (NSHS),
is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist acts within the United States, reduce America’s
vulnerabilities to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do occur. However,
the NSHS addresses HS beyond this definition and includes law enforcement, chemical, biological,
radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosives consequence management (CBRNE CM), and disaster
preparedness and relief missions. Either DHS or DOJ will usually be the federal agency with lead
responsibility, supported by DOD when requested. The NSHS addresses a very specific and uniquely
challenging threat — terrorism against the United States — and provides a comprehensive framework
for organizing the efforts of federal, state, tribal, local, and private organizations whose primary functions
are often unrelated to national security. The NSHS complements the National Security Strategy (NSS)
of the United States and provides a framework for creating and seizing opportunities that strengthen our
security and prosperity. The Secretary of Homeland Security is responsible for ensuring the preparedness
of the Nation to prevent, respond to, and recover from threatened and actual domestic terrorist attacks,
non-terrorist security threats (e.g., drug and migrant smuggling), major disasters, and other emergencies.
I-2
CIVIL AUTHORITIES
“Those elected and appointed officers and employees who constitute the
government of the United States, the governments of the 50 states, the
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, United States
possessions and territories, and political subdivisions thereof.”
c. DOD Role in Homeland Security. DOD protects the homeland through two distinct but
interrelated missions — HD and CS. While these missions are distinct, some department roles and
responsibilities overlap, and operations require extensive coordination between lead and supporting
agencies. Figure I-1 illustrates a notional relationship between HD, CS, and HS with examples of the
types of operations that can take place for each mission. The HD, CS, and HS missions are separate,
but have areas where roles and responsibilities may overlap and/or lead and supporting roles may
transition between organizations. DOD serves as the federal department with lead responsibility for
HD, which may be executed by DOD alone (e.g., ballistic missile defense) or include support provided
to DOD by other agencies such as DHS or Department of Transportation (e.g., Federal Aviation
Administration support to DOD/North American Aerospace Defense Command). CS is the overarching
term for DOD’s support to US civil authorities (DHS or other agency) for domestic emergencies and
for designated law enforcement and other activities. HD and CS operations may occur in parallel and
require extensive integration and synchronization. In addition, operations may transition from HD to CS
to HS and vice versa (e.g., maritime security) with the lead depending on the situation (annotated by the
arrows in Figure I-2) and USG’s desired outcome. While the lead may transition, a single agency
has the lead at any given time for a particular activity. However, in the areas of overlapping
responsibility, the designation of federal agency with lead responsibility may not be predetermined. In
time-critical situations, on-scene leaders are empowered to conduct appropriate operations in response
to a particular threat. For example, the MOTR protocols provide guidance for maritime security which
can transition between HD, CS, or HS.
JP 3-28