WASHINGTON—There will be no shortage of future disasters and it’s critical that the nation be properly prepared to respond to those impending events, said Paul Stockton, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs, during an event hosted by the Homeland Security Policy Institute. “Events of a very large scale, that’s what keeps me up at night,” he said during a June 17 seminar, “Strengthening Unity of Effort: Challenges and New Directions.”

“Because it’s not a question of if, but when – we’re overdue.”

For example, the potential scale of devastation that could result from an earthquake triggered by the New Madrid Fault line in the Midwest and Southwest region, that would involve multiple states. Stockton’s job, essentially, is to figure out how to build a strong unity of effort between the states and the federal government and ensure resources are allocated properly and the chain of command established.

Stockton emphasized that the federal government’s role is to support the states. Governors, he said, are the starting point for the unity of effort and should be considered sovereign bodies. The challenge is figuring out the best way the federal government can fulfill governors’ request for support. “How do we ensure that, when at the request of the governor, military forces flow into the state in response to a natural catastrophe?” he said.

Unfortunately, the government has experienced several failures when it comes to disaster response. “The federal government as a whole has made terrific progress since Hurricane Katrina and we’ve drawn on lessons learned from Katrina,” he said. “There were mistakes found and many remedied now, but not enough of them. Governors have a substantial opportunity to do better than we’re currently doing and establishing arrangements that are stronger and more appropriate for saving lives when catastrophe strikes.”

A significant element to building this unity of effort is promoting the strength and role of state governors, Stockton said. The establishment of a Council of Governors, which is designed to better coordinate efforts between states and the federal government, is a good start, he said. Establishing these relationships now is critical to future response, said Stockton. “I hate the idea when catastrophe strikes that we would spend a single minute drawing diagrams and figuring out who is in charge of what – it makes me crazy with hate,” he said. “Let’s figure it out in advance, let’s not be exchanging business cards.”

Stockton also emphasized the importance of adopting a comprehensive planning strategy. “We need better plans than we have today and more sharing of plans. When you look at state plans and regional plans, you want to know what governors have identified as gaps in state capabilities and most likely catastrophes. Where would they most likely request assistance, so I can plan for that more effectively? Their plans help me plan to be in support of that,” he said.

While planning for the most likely events is the most practical approach to disaster preparation, states cannot overlook the bigger possibilities. “This system we’re building for unity of effort also has to be all hazards. It’s not just natural catastrophes, but I think we need to be prepared for all hazards, including weapons of mass destruction,” he said.

It’s also critical to properly train personnel and conduct drills on such plans. “We need lots of training so people are ready to engage in collaborative work before the catastrophe strikes and then we’ve got to exercise it,” he said. “If you don’t exercise, it ain’t real.” Conducting drills ensures that people are familiar with how they operate together and it identifies areas that have problems, so it can be remedied before an actual event, he said.

No one hopes these plans have to be tested, nor this training needed, but it’s naive to think they won’t be needed eventually.