The U.S.
Department of Defense announced Monday that
Missouri will be one of 10 states to host
National Guard Homeland Response Force units
to help coordinate federal response to a
terrorist attack.
The Defense Department
will place one unit in each of the 10
Federal Emergency Management Agency regions.
Missouri is located in Region VII, which
administers FEMA programs and coordinates
federal disaster response in Missouri, Iowa,
Kansas and Nebraska.
The units will include about 570 personnel
composed of chemical, biological,
radiological, nuclear and high-yield
explosive response specialists, as well as
command and control and security forces.
According to a news release from Rep Ike
Skelton’s (D-Mo.) office, the Missouri
Homeland Response Force will be established
in Fiscal Year 2012. The units will be ready
to respond within six to 12 hours of an
event, bringing medical, search and
extraction, decontamination, security, and
command and control capabilities to bear in
a regional response.
“I am very pleased Missouri will host a
National Guard Homeland Response Force.
Keeping Americans safe is our number one
priority, and this new Homeland Response
Force is part of DoD’s efforts to improve
emergency response,” Skelton said.
According to the DoD announcement, the move
came about following the 2010 Quadrennial
Defense Review — a congressionally mandated
report put together every four years that
highlights changes and challenges in
national defense strategy. The 2010 report
calls for improved coordination with
civilian officials and providing resources
for large-scale emergency response.
Gov. Jay Nixon applauded the move in a
statement released on Monday afternoon.
Nixon said the move “will create as many as
90 new full-time National Guard positions
under the leadership of Adjutant General
Stephen L. Danner, and reaffirms our state’s
commitment to supporting and encouraging the
United States military here at home.”
Scott
Holste, a Nixon spokesman, said officials
were still reviewing the best community to
base the new unit in. The new units should
be established between September 2011 and
October 2012.
The DoD announced in June that Ohio and
Washington would host the first two units,
and are slated to be established in FY 2011.
In addition to Missouri, Massachusetts, New
York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Texas, Utah and
California will host the remaining homeland
response forces. The DoD announced in June
that Ohio and Washington would host the
first two units, and are slated to be
established in FY 2011.
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