Disaster Response Staff Officer's Handbook: observations, Insights, and Lessons

Federal forces supported state and local authorities during Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and in many other natural disasters in the past decade. Navy divers assisted local, state and federal authorities during the Minnesota bridge collapse of 2007. In 2008, U.S. Army North, U.S. Northern Command’s joint force land component command, deployed a two-star task force to command and control federal military forces in support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state of Texas during Hurricane Ike. National Guard units routinely deploy to assist their states with wildland fires, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornados, and oil spills, and to prepare for large scale incidents.