Disaster response agencies fight to maintain preparedness as sequestration continues.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: Homeland Security News

The triad of budget cuts, continuing resolutions and the government shutdown may be leaving the federal bureaucracy less prepared to respond to catastrophic man-made or natural disasters, government representatives said.

Lt. Gen. Jeffrey W. Talley, chief of the Army Reserve and commanding general of the Army Reserve Command, said at the Association of the United States Army conference that his organization's chemical companies have faced some pressure.

The Army is downsizing, he said. It was noted in the halls of the Pentagon that units specializing in chemical weapon decontamination never had to be deployed in Iraq and haven't seen action in Afghanistan.

"Maybe you can get rid of those capabilities," he was told.

"Lucky for me, the commandant for the chemical school in the Army and others jumped in and said, 'You know what. ... We need those to provide federal special capabilities in the homeland because they are well trained and very well equipped."

Reserve forces are relatively inexpensive to maintain, he said. The commercial-off-the-shelf equipment the units use mirror those that are found in first responder chemical response teams, which can help during national emergencies. The reserve's chemical companies are also increasing their presence at Army North and at U.S. Northern Command, he noted.

"It provides a tremendous insurance policy to the unknowns in the future," Talley said.

Lt. Gen. William E. Ingram Jr., director of the Army National Guard, said he is handling similar questions as budgets diminish.

Why do you need tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles for homeland defense missions? he has been asked.

"It's not the tanks and Bradleys we need, it's the organization," he must explain to those looking to cut costs.

A brigade combat team organized into squads, platoons, companies, battalions and the equipment they have such as trucks and radios are valuable during a catastrophe. The same formations that are used in war fighting are used in a domestic response, Ingram said.

"It allows that formation to be used literally the next day before the wind stops blowing to assist locals in doing cordon search, checkpoints ... as well as provide medical help," he said.

"Honestly, the training for our combat formations really pays off in the homeland," Ingram said.

But "with budgets diminishing, we are...