Guard to help military industries in risk assessments.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: SECURITY BEAT: Homeland Defense Briefs

The National Guard stood up six teams this year to assist the defense industry in assessing its critical infrastructure needs.

The purpose is to seek out single points of failure that could shut down manufacturing in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack, said Lt. Col. Tom Leonard, chief of the mission assurance branch, J-3 future operations division at the National Guard Bureau.

The Guard is uniquely qualified for the job since its units are based in the communities they serve, he said.

"The [Defense Department], in my mind, has not been as quick to act on this topic as [it] should have been," Leonard said at the Infragard conference. The National Guard created the program on its own and the teams are currently conducting pilot assessments. "We are probably a year ahead of the Department of Defense on this," he added.

The joint requirements oversight council identified the need to carry out such risk assessments.

One example is the case of the Army base at Fort Polk, La., which lost power for three days in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita last year. The single point of failure was a...