Hurricane Katrina: the Defense Department’S Role in the Response
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S. Hrg. 109–813 HURRICANE KATRINA: THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT’S ROLE IN THE RESPONSE HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION FEBRUARY 9, 2006 Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 27–028 PDF WASHINGTON : 2007 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 08:06 Mar 08, 2007 Jkt 027028 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 C:\DOCS\27028.TXT SAFFAIRS PsN: PAT COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine, Chairman TED STEVENS, Alaska JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio CARL LEVIN, Michigan NORM COLEMAN, Minnesota DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii TOM COBURN, Oklahoma THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware LINCOLN D. CHAFEE, Rhode Island MARK DAYTON, Minnesota ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah FRANK LAUTENBERG, New Jersey PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico MARK PRYOR, Arkansas JOHN W. WARNER, Virginia MICHAEL D. BOPP, Staff Director and Chief Counsel DAVID T. FLANAGAN, General Counsel THOMAS R. ELDRIDGE, Senior Counsel JOYCE A. RECHTSCHAFFEN, Minority Staff Director and Counsel ROBERT F. MUSE, Minority General Counsel DAN M. BERKOVITZ, Minority Counsel, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations TRINA DRIESSNACK TYRER, Chief Clerk (II) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 08:06 Mar 08, 2007 Jkt 027028 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 C:\DOCS\27028.TXT SAFFAIRS PsN: PAT C O N T E N T S Opening statements: Page Senator Collins ................................................................................................. 1 Senator Lieberman ........................................................................................... 3 Senator Levin .................................................................................................... 19 Senator Akaka .................................................................................................. 25 Senator Dayton ................................................................................................. 28 Senator Warner ................................................................................................ 41 WITNESSES THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2006 Hon. Paul McHale, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense, U.S. Department of Defense ................................................................................ 7 Admiral Timothy J. Keating, Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command ........................................................... 9 Lieutenant General H. Steven Blum, Chief, National Guard Bureau ................ 10 Lieutenant General Russel L. Honore´, Commanding General, First U.S. Army ...................................................................................................................... 43 Major General Bennett C. Landreneau, Adjutant General, Louisiana National Guard, and Director, Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness ........................................................................................................ 44 ALPHABETICAL LIST OF WITNESSES Blum, Lieutenant General H. Steven: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 10 Prepared statement with attachments ........................................................... 78 Honore´, Lieutenant General Russel L.: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 42 Prepared statement with attachments ........................................................... 91 Keating, Admiral Timothy J.: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 9 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 73 Landreneau, Major General Bennett C.: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 43 Prepared statement with attachments ........................................................... 109 McHale, Hon. Paul: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 7 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 63 APPENDIX Post-hearing letter for the Record from Lieutenant General Russel L. Honore´ dated February 21, 2006 108 Post-hearing questions and responses for the Record from: Hon. Paul McHale ............................................................................................ 159 Admiral Timothy J. Keating ............................................................................ 167 Exhibit 5 ................................................................................................................... 172 Exhibit 6 ................................................................................................................... 190 Exhibit 18 ................................................................................................................. 203 Exhibit 27 ................................................................................................................. 236 Exhibit B .................................................................................................................. 242 Exhibit C .................................................................................................................. 255 (III) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 08:06 Mar 08, 2007 Jkt 027028 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 C:\DOCS\27028.TXT SAFFAIRS PsN: PAT VerDate 0ct 09 2002 08:06 Mar 08, 2007 Jkt 027028 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 C:\DOCS\27028.TXT SAFFAIRS PsN: PAT HURRICANE KATRINA: THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT’S ROLE IN THE RESPONSE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2006 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:01 a.m., in room SD–342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Susan M. Collins, Chairman of the Committee, presiding. Present: Senators Collins, Warner, Lieberman, Levin, Akaka, and Dayton. OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN COLLINS Chairman COLLINS. The Committee will come to order. Good morning. Today the Committee will scrutinize the performance of the U.S. military, both National Guard and active duty forces, in the re- sponse to Hurricane Katrina. We will analyze the military’s actions on the ground, review the military’s work with other agencies in- volved in the response, and explore the relationship between the Guard and the active duty troops. In doing so, we will examine the fundamental issue of whether the U.S. military is properly struc- tured to meet the 21st Century threats to our homeland. There is no question that our men and women of our military shared much in common with the first responders helping the vic- tims of Katrina. That is, they performed very well under extraor- dinarily difficult and, at times, dangerous conditions. There is also no question that the military brought substantial resources to relieve the suffering of the Gulf region. From Meals Ready to Eat (MREs), vehicles, and communications equipment to the ships that became vital platforms for search and rescue oper- ations, we have heard throughout these hearings of the military’s enormous contributions to the relief effort. There is also no question, however, that the military was not im- mune from the conflicts, the confusion, and the lack of coordination that occurred across all levels of government and that may have prevented the response from being as quick and effective as it should have been. Furthermore, it is apparent that these problems existed not just between the military and other Federal agencies, but also within the military itself. The active duty military and the National Guard share many traits: Unmatched material assets, experienced and dedicated lead- ers, and highly trained personnel possessing courage and devotion (1) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 08:06 Mar 08, 2007 Jkt 027028 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\DOCS\27028.TXT SAFFAIRS PsN: PAT 2 to duty. Yet during Katrina, the active duty military and the Na- tional Guard at times seemed to be, to paraphrase Churchill’s fa- mous quip about England and America, two forces separated by a common mission. Katrina revealed a split between Northern Command, the com- batant command focused on homeland security and created in the wake of September 11, and the National Guard, which is under the command of its State’s Governor. The very institution that Ameri- cans look to as a model for a unified chain of command revealed itself to have fallen a bit short in that regard. Better coordination between the active duty forces and the National Guard must be en- sured before the next disaster strikes. I appreciate the appearance today of our first panel of very dis- tinguished witnesses: The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Home- land Defense Paul McHale; the Commander of Northern Command, Admiral Timothy Keating; and the Chief of the National Guard Bu- reau, General Steven Blum. I look forward to hearing their views on these important issues. The second panel of witnesses will describe military prepared- ness and