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

Chapter I
support to civil authorities. DOD provides CS in order to reduce suffering, save lives, prevent or
mitigate the destruction of property, manage the consequences of an attack or a disaster, or prevent
terrorist incidents by supporting law enforcement. Civil authorities are more likely to request DOD
support when civilian response capabilities are overwhelmed or exhausted, or when DOD’s unique
capabilities and operations can offer an essential, decisive, time-critical contribution in order to achieve
the USG’s desired outcome to threat or incident.
b. Although the leads for HD (DOD) and CS (e.g., DHS and DOJ) are different, the distinction
between the two operational activities may not easily be defined or discerned. There may be cases
where HD and CS events take place concurrently, or the main threat and therefore the agency lead,
transitions from one agency to the other. Therefore, the need to establish workable and effective
interagency relationships and partnerships, in advance of a crisis or contingency, is critical. For example,
DOD may support DHS activities in the maritime domain, requiring continuous coordination between
department-level, operational, and tactical organizations conducting operations. The MOTR Plan acts
to mitigate overlap issues between HD and HS activities by providing a method for interagency integration.
To fully develop and verify such relationships and partnerships, an active interagency coordination
program, backed-up by annual joint and interagency exercises or operations, is required.
4. Homeland Security Directive
Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-5, Management of Domestic Incidents, sets
forth roles and responsibilities of the Federal government for domestic incident management by establishing
a single incident management system.
a. National Response Plan. The National Response Plan (NRP) was a result of HSPD-5: a
single, comprehensive approach to domestic incident management built on the template of National
Incident Management System (NIMS) (see below). The NRP is an all-hazards plan that provides the
structure and mechanisms for national-level policy and operational direction for incident management to
ensure timely and effective federal support. The NRP is applicable to all federal departments and
agencies that have primary jurisdiction for or participate in operations requiring coordinated federal
response. The NRP identifies how federal departments and agencies will respond to state, tribal, and/
or local requests for assistance (RFAs). The NRP and the NIMS are designed to improve the Nation’s
incident management capabilities and overall efficiency. During incidents of national significance or other
incidents requiring significant federal support, the NRP (based on the NIMS) works to integrate the
capabilities and resources of various governmental jurisdictions, incident management and emergency
response disciplines, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector into a cohesive,
coordinated, and seamless national framework for incident management. A basic premise of both the
NIMS and the NRP is that incidents are generally handled at the lowest jurisdictional level possible. In
the vast majority of incidents, local resources and local mutual aid will provide the first line of emergency
response and incident management.
(1) The NRP provides the framework for most, but not all DOD support to civil authorities
and describes the policies, planning assumptions, concept of operations, response and recovery actions,
and responsibilities for 31 federal departments and agencies, and the American Red Cross (ARC).
DHS is the executive agent for the NRP coordination, management and maintenance. The NRP is
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JP 3-28