Army Emergency Management Program - Federation of American ...

training (Ready Army), to include evacuating, sheltering-in-place, treating the wounded, and providing critical information
to first and emergency responders. These residents will take these actions well before the mass warning and
notification system is activated or the first unit is on the scene. Once the mass warning and notification system is
activated, past engagement through the Ready Army Campaign will have helped build the level of trust, knowledge,
confidence, and aptitude to follow the protective action recommendations quickly and effectively. This consistent,
positive messaging prior to an emergency extends to building the trust base required for effective EPI throughout the
response and recovery phases.
c. Continuity at all levels. As stated in chapter 2, successful response operations require continuity at all levels from
the highest levels of government (continuity of government) to all critical or essential operations (continuity of
operations (COOP)) to essential services, headquarters and staff functions, tenant organizations, and commercial
businesses (business continuity). The reason for the installation’s existence is to enable mission execution in support of
the national military strategy. The MEFs necessary to perform these missions reside in all manner of information,
expertise, capabilities, and facilities. It is not operationally or financially possible to sustain all MEFs all of the time in
an all-hazards environment. However, it is possible to mitigate the potential effects of these hazards to these MEFs
through a comprehensive, integrated continuity program. The same applies to all of the headquarters, staff, and
business functions that organize and maintain all of the necessary elements of operational readiness and community life
on the installation. All of these supporting functions make up the “normalcy” that the installation is striving to achieve
during the recovery phase. The sooner these functions are restored to normal operations, then the sooner the protected
populace can return to a semblance of normal, daily life after an emergency. This speed to recovery is enabled first and
foremost by an aggressive continuity program at every level.
d. Capabilities-based planning. As stated in chapter 6, the EM program employs a capabilities-based emergency
planning process as shown in figure 6–2 in order to effectively develop, employ, and sustain EM capabilities applicable
across all identified hazards. These EM capabilities must be flexible enough for use in all emergencies, including
unforeseen incidents, yet detailed enough to provide a course of action for installation commanders to proceed with
preplanned responses to any incident.
e. Core components. As stated in chapter 6, these EM capabilities shall consist of 6 core components common to the
Response to all emergencies, regardless of cause. These core EM capabilities include: (1) C3, (2) mass warning and
notification, (3) community preparedness, (4) first and emergency responders, (5) Public Health and Medical Services,
and (6) mass care. A capability is not deemed to exist until it is properly organized, manned, trained, equipped,
exercised, evaluated, maintained, and sustained. See table 2–2 for additional information.
18–2. Operational environment
a. Defining the operational environment. As identified in chapter 1, the operational environment in which the EM
program is employed is diverse and cannot effectively be condensed into a single description. The operational
environment includes a wide array of political and geographic environments, each having a unique mix of natural,
technological, and terrorism hazards. In order to ensure a common reference point within incident management
discussions, it is important to define the operational environment as best as possible so that the concepts described
below may be put in an agreed-upon scope and context understood by all parties.
b. Shared capabilities. Each jurisdiction maintains some or all of the EM Capabilities required to successfully
execute the jurisdiction’s EM plan. Many of these resources may be unique to only 1 or 2 jurisdictions (such as
Hospitals, HAZMAT Response capabilities, or EOD/bomb squad capabilities) yet may be required by neighboring
jurisdictions should an emergency occur. Response capabilities may be organic, external, or shared resources.
c. Compatibility and interoperability. The goal of the Army EM Program is to develop common standards, common
terminology, and common processes for meeting the compatible priorities of the Army and the surrounding jurisdictions
through the established and commonly understood processes of EM. At its core, this compatibility is achieved
through mutual adoption and integration of the principles and procedures identified in NIMS. Each of these jurisdictions
have their own distinct incident management requirements, but they must be able to effectively communicate and
operate together at the local level, including the ability to use common terminology, exchange data across disparate
information systems, and mutually support the efforts of other jurisdictions while maintaining necessary services and
capabilities for their own jurisdiction. The ability to plan individually for every eventuality in an all-hazards environment
does not exist within Army installations or local civil jurisdictions and both communities have therefore adopted
the concept of comprehensive, integrated EM in order to develop, exercise, and maintain those common NIMS
principles.
d. Response timeline. As Category 5 first responders initially assess the incident and make a determination that the
magnitude will overwhelm installation and local resources, the installation commander may deem it necessary to
request assistance from higher levels. Type I and II installation commanders must be prepared to address response
operations for Type 1–5 Incidents for a minimum of 4–6 hour while waiting for additional local, Army, State, tribal,
Joint, DOD, and/or Federal (or Host Nation) assistance. Type III and IV installations shall be reliant upon Federal,
State, and local (or Host Nation) assistance immediately.
Note. As defined within chapter 1, there are two basic geographical groups of installations; foreign locations (overseas) and domestic
locations. Installations may be further defined by their location relative to local civil jurisdictions and supporting resource providers.
158 DA PAM 525–27 20 September 2012