Non-Military Participation Key To Effective Disaster Response 

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By Linton Wells II and Timothy C. Lo 

The Defense Department is becoming more heavily engaged in missions such as post-war reconstruction, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

But the Pentagon usually is not the agency in charge of these missions. It supports the Department of Homeland Security domestically and the State Department overseas. Most contingencies, however, tend to rely on military equipment because it is functional, rapidly deployable and operated by trained personnel.

This approach has a downside, since military equipment is expensive, usually is committed to other operations and must be returned at the end of the mission.

Under a program called TIDES (transportable infrastructures for development and emergency support), the Defense Department is trying to understand how to better support populations in stressed environments. TIDES is part of a broader concept, known as STAR (sustainable technologies, accelerated research). The website is www.star-tides.net.

The project emphasizes information sharing and low-cost, transportable infrastructures — shelters, generators and other essential equipment — that can quickly be deployed during emergencies.
STAR-TIDES began as a collaboration among the American Red Cross, Johns Hopkins University, the office of the secretary of defense, the National Institute for Urban Search and Rescue, the Marine Corps, San Diego State University, and others. It is not a Pentagon-centric effort.

The National Defense University’s center for technology and national security policy sponsored a series of TIDES demonstrations during the past year.

The demonstrations focused on seven infrastructures — shelter, water, power, integrated cooking (combustion, solar, retained heat), heating/lighting/cooling, sanitation, and communications technologies. It is important to note that STAR-TIDES does not give assistance directly to stressed populations. It provides information to those in charge of the operation.

The first phase of the program began in mid-October 2007, on a cold, dark field with no power, communications or water. Portable commercial 3 kVA generators were assembled. Subject matter experts from remote sites used teleconferencing to help solve urgent problems. Inexperienced work crews erected seven shelters of four different types — none of which took more than three hours to erect. The cost of the shelters ranged from $200 to about $2,500.

Solar panels and generators rapidly recharged AA batteries for low power personal cooling and lighting systems, as well as handheld radios. High efficiency stoves, several kinds of solar cookers and insulated baskets were used for cooking, purifying water and heating. “Census-takers” used prototypes of lightweight biometric identity systems to develop credentials that could be produced in austere situations.

Private companies funded most of the demonstration’s costs. The government spent $20,000 and the private sector invested $800,000. The support by private entities was welcome, but the ground rules specified that participation in the demonstrations did not constitute endorsement by the government of any particular product.

Throughout the trial demonstration, members of the STAR-TIDES network also were able to contribute to real-world contingencies, such as the Southern California wildfires. Network members also examined ways to support deployed medical personnel in predicting cholera outbreaks in Bangladesh. Another project supported a review of alternative shelter designs for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Everything learned from STAR-TIDES is available online at www.appropedia.com/STAR-TIDES.
The early demonstrations yielded several conclusions:

Problems of stressed populations must be addressed through broad coalitions. The U.S. government must do a better job of sharing unclassified information with public and private partners outside the boundaries of “official” environments.

Information and communications technologies are not “techie” adjuncts to the major muscle movements of delivering food, water and shelter. They are the critical enablers of everything else that happens. Sensors and networks need to be on hand early and be independent of power grids.

Integrated cooking/heating/water pasteurization approaches have the potential to reduce fuel use by over 80 percent compared to open fires. “How to” procedures need to be documented.
Going forward, STAR-TIDES sees itself as a research effort that aims to improve information sharing and help the military learn about alternatives to the expensive equipment that it currently uses in emergency situations.

STAR-TIDES’ next steps will focus on building as large a community of interest as possible. STAR-TIDES also will be integrated into the Golden Phoenix training event in the San Diego area this summer. A key goal is to increase the participation of non-governmental organizations and other civilian partners.

Linton Wells is the force transformation chair and distinguished research fellow at the National Defense University. His email address is WellsL3@ndu.edu. Timothy Lo is a research associate at the center for technology and national security policy at the National Defense University. His email address is LoT@ndu.edu.

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