Joint Field Office Activation and Operations - Federal Emergency ...

UNCLASSIFIED• Agenda.• Identify JFO Coordination Group members and potential members, based onNRP criteria.• Identify JFO Coordination Group agency and Incident Commander supportand coordination objectives.• Present jurisdictional limitations, concerns, and restrictions.• Develop a collective set of support and coordination objectives.• Establish and agree on JFO Coordination Group consolidated support andcoordination priorities.• Verify that Incident Commanders, Area Commands, EOCs, and coordinatingagencies have been informed they can “outsource” technical assistancerequests to the JFO rather than importing redundant tech specialists to eachICP/operations center (i.e., avoid unnecessary competition for scientific andother technical resources).• Agree on basic JFO section organization structure.• Agree on JFO Coordination Staff and JFO section personnel designations andoperations, planning, logistical, and financial agreements and procedures.• Agree on unified logistics approach to resource ordering (support) proceduresto follow.• Agree on cost sharing/mission assignment or authorization procedures.• Agree on informational matters.• Designate a JFO External Affairs Officer.• Identifying Additional JFO Coordination Group Members. During the initialJFO Coordination Group meeting, a key task is identifying all agencies,departments, and organizations that are or should be involved in developing andexecuting the wide-area strategy and/or in supporting the on-scene IncidentCommander. This analysis needs to include identification of the participatingNGOs and private-sector organizations. In many cases, initial planning andcoordination have occurred in Washington, DC, so the PFO/FCO/FRC shouldensure that the JFO staff are made aware of all the agencies to be involved in themission.• Clarifying Interagency Relationships. Similarly, during the initial JFOCoordination Group meeting, a second key task is clarifying an authoritativeinteragency relationship based on the NRP Annexes, considering the coordinatingagency identified in the NRP or by national authorities, and determining thecooperating agencies within the JFO Coordination Group. Establishing such aninteragency hierarchy may be more or less complex based on interagency playerfamiliarity with the NRP. Nonetheless, the JFO Coordination Group should attemptto insert discipline, responsibility, and rigor into the process in order to functioneffectively. In many cases, the JFO Coordination Group will discover thatinformation and concurrence of perception will smooth the process, both of which29Version 8.3Interim Approval April 28, 2006