Military not the only solution to gaps in disaster response.

• Author: Farrell, Jr., Lawrence P.
• Position: PRESIDENT'S PERSPECTIVE

At a time of tightening budgets and competing priorities for defense and homeland security funds, one of the most contentious issues being debated at the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill is whether the Defense Department should take primary responsibility in disaster response and relief operations.

Clearly our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guard personnel provided timely and critically needed assistance in this season's hurricane onslaught. And it must be said military people performed admirably when other national, state and local institutions proved they were not up to the tasks at hand.

As I pointed out in last month's "President's Perspective," it is easy to see why, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, senior officials and policy makers have called for the federal government to make the Defense Department the lead agency for disaster response. Similar discussions are underway in Canada, where the military increasingly is being integrated into emergency preparedness.

When compared to most civilian agencies, the military stands out for its superb organizational skills, and its ability to prepare and execute meticulous plans, while ensuring leaders are held accountable for their performance.

We've heard scores of examples of the outstanding efforts by the military services and the National Guard in responding to Katrina, and later, to Rita and Wilma. For Katrina, the nation saw the largest, fastest deployment of military forces for a civil support mission in U.S. history. By September 10, military forces reached their peak at nearly 72,000--50,000 National Guardsmen and 22,000 active duty personnel.

During the recent NDIA Expeditionary Warfare Symposium, in Panama City, Fla., Navy Capt. Richard S. Callas painted a most extraordinary picture of the relief operations he conducted as the commanding officer of the USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), an amphibious vessel. The deployment by the military of equipment and specialist personnel in a domestic emergency is often the only way to get necessary relief to distressed citizens, as Callas noted. His ship, for example, was able to provide temporary shelter and medical care to victims of the storm and to displaced first responders.

"It boils down to this: It's the tactical movement of personnel and equipment," Callas said. "And that's exactly what we do, whether it's putting combat Marines on the beach, or putting the equipment of the amphibious construction battalions on the beach, it's still...