Defense Leaders Agree: U.S. Military Readiness Is at a Dangerous Low | RealClearDefense

Bottom Line Up Front: Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Hurricane season has started early in the Atlantic (Dolce, 2017) concurrently with 4,000 Troops deploying to Afghanistan and military readiness at its lowest in decades (Cooper, 2017; Samuel Ezerzer, 2017). The Federal response to Hurricane Katrina was less in poor planning by the Army and more in poor rhetorical analysis by John Q. Public. Fortunately, this frailty was foiled by first-responders, who donned the rhetorical mask of Information Operations in Defense Support of Civil Authorities (IO-DSCA) as a center of gravity, rendering ‘Army Strong’ only as strong as its weakest rhetorical link.

In the official US Navy blog, the Commander of US 3rd Fleet, Vice Adm. Nora Tyson (2015), rhetorically recounts IO-DSCA during her tour of duty as Commanding Officer of the multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5). She had received an alert order on August 28, 2005 from Commander US 2nd Fleet (C2F) to embark 4 MH-53s, proceed to the Louisiana coast, and prepare for relief operations in the urgent runup to the landfall of Hurricane Katrina.

Joint Publication 3-13 (2012) defines IO as, “the integrated employment, during military operations, of information-related capabilities in concert with other lines of operation to influence, disrupt, corrupt, or usurp the decision making of adversaries and potential adversaries while protecting our own.”

Joint Publication 3-28 (2013) defines DSCA as, “DSCA is support provided by federal military forces, DOD civilians, DOD contract personnel, DOD component assets, and NG forces (when the Secretary of Defense [SecDef], in coordination with the governors of the affected states, elects and requests to use those forces in Title 32, USC, status or when federalized) in response to a request for assistance (RFA) from civil authorities for domestic emergencies, law enforcement support, and other domestic activities, or from qualifying entities for special events...."

One might ask, “What potential threats to friendly-force IO-DSCA were identified during Hurricane Katrina?” For the answer, refer to the following alliterative admonishment coined by CJTF-Katrina Commander, Retired Army LTG Russell L. General Honoré, “Don’t get stuck on stupid, reporters” (Georgia Tech Office of Emergency Management, 2014; Nordquist, 2017). The General further donned the rhetorical mask of IO-DSCA with his final press, "You are part of the public message. So help us get the message straight...." Ultimately, the press became a cooperative hand in CJTF-Katrina’s public-message (GoArmy2003, 2008).

Vice Admiral Tyson effectively inspired all Bataan hands to join the multinational relief effort with Dutch, Mexican, and Canadian allies in supporting one of the largest national disasters in US history (Mayer, M. et al., 2011; Nbcnews.com, 2005). By anaphorically stylizing her blog with the language of leadership (Conger, 1991), Admiral Tyson aims to inspire John Q. Public to accept help from multinational “Partners who brought their ships and anchored alongside us in the Gulf. Partners who sent their Sailors ashore to work side-by-side with our Sailors. Partners who, like us, wanted to help their fellow man.” The Admiral further donned the rhetorical mask of IO-DSCA by raising the point, “…but we all recognize that it wasn’t enough”(Nordquist, 2016; Tyson, 2015).

List of References:

Cooper, J. (2017, Feb. 10). Defense Leaders Agree: U.S. Military Readiness Is at a Dangerous Low. Retrieved from http://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2017/02/10/defense_leaders_agree_us_military_readiness_is_at_a_dangerous_low_110787.html

Conger, J.A. (1991). Inspiring others: the language of leadership. Academy of Management Executive. Vol. 5 No. 1 Retrieved from http://homepages.se.edu/cvonbergen/files/2012/12/Inspiring-Others_The-Language-of-Leadership.pdf

Dolce, C. (2017, June 21). Strange Atlantic Tropics in 2017: Early Start and an Unusual Location for Formation. Retrieved from https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/strange-atlantic-tropics-2017-hurricane-season

Georgia Tech Office of Emergency Preparedness. (2014, Nov. 7). Lt. General Russell Honoré speaks at Georgia Tech: Don't Get Stuck on Stupid. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl-PBcVsb2k

GoArmy2003. (2008, May 14). Stuck on Stupid (Long Version). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEyT8uh8xT8

Mayer, M. (2011, Feb. 17). Accepting Disaster Relief from Other Nations: Lessons from Katrina and the Gulf Oil Spill. Retrieved from http://www.heritage.org/homeland-
security/report/accepting-disaster-relief-other-nations-lessons-katrina-and-the-gulf-oil

Nbcnews.com. (2005, Sep. 7). 90 Nations Offer Aid to Help U.S. with Katrina. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/id/9231819/ns/us_news-katrina_the_long_road_back/t/nations-offer-aid-help-us-katrina/#.WU5y9SMrJ65

Nordquist, R. (2016, Dec.24). Anaphora (Figure of Speech). Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/anaphora-figure-of-speech-1689092

Nordquist, R. (2017, April 18). What Is Alliteration? Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/alliteration-definition-1692387

Samuel Ezerzer. (2017, May 28). Bombshell 'Army Readiness is at 30% 'U.S. Army Chief of Staff. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2e3LJ-cipg

Tyson, N. (2015, Sep 2). Remembering Hurricane Katrina While Preparing for the Next Crisis. Retrieved from http://navylive.dodlive.mil/2015/09/02/remembering-hurricane-katrina-while-preparing-for-the-next-crisis/

U.S. Department of Defense. (2012, Nov. 27). Information Operations. Joint Publication 3-13. Retrieved from http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/new_pubs/jp3_13.pdf

U.S. Department of Defense. (2013, July 31). Defense Support of Civil Authorities. Joint Publication 3-13. Retrieved from http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/new_pubs/jp3_28.pdf