The Virginia Military Institute hosted a conference on the role of the National Guard and Reserves in homeland security. Lots of great discussion, but I guess my biggest take-way is how little has changed since 9/11; how much there is left to be done; and how little momentum there is get where we need to be. The policies for managing the reserve components and flexibly employing them for disasters are not there yet. Establishing requirements for defense support of civil authorities is still in its infancy. Finally, there are no prospects that the Pentagon will have adequate resources to maintain the kind of reserve components we are going to need in the future. I did not walk away from the conference with a lot of optimism.
Security Debrief is a blog dedicated to homeland security, terrorism and counter-terrorism, intelligence and law enforcement that provides context to the debates, policies and politics that are playing out in Washington, D.C.
