The Naval War College Ran a Pandemic War Game in 2019. The Conclusions Were Eerie

I would like to add some AAR thoughts from Katrina. I know we are comparing apples and oranges, but they are both fruits.

- The response was not unified or coherent. Now DHS has the role of being the unified controlling agency for all federal responses. It will work with all the Federal Cabinets, Agencies, Army North, and states to formulate a comprehensive and coherent plan. Katrina was a complete mess from a command and control perspective.

- The military understood it had responsibilities but was never told what they were. Now Army North is the HQs and combatant unified command for military responses with NORTHCOM giving overhead cover. Army North has experts in many fields and state of the art facilities. It also has down trace units who focus on their roles and missions. I think what Army North also brings to the table the ability to track various missions from planning and execution in a chaotic environment. They will provide LNOs to state EOCs to find out how Army North can support states. Another capacity Army North brings to the table is it's knowledge how to use Disaster Funds to resource missions and pay contracts. It is absurd to think FEMA knows all the budget requirements to support tasks and missions. The bottom line is the military and defense support for civil authorities.

- There was a failure in not planning and having the imagination to prepare for a catastrophic event. Many organizations will look at probability to determine the risk. Improbable means low risk. When I conducted risk assessment in the army, I sure as hell paid attention to the risks with potentially catastrophic results. As an example a tank rollover is catastrophic. I implemented controls like lower speed, tank commanders constantly monitor the terrain and give good driving directions to the driver, and conducting rollover drills.

Thank you for the interesting share brother Robert.