Figure 1. Functions of the National Response Framework (NRF)
Figure 2. Components of the National Incident Management System (NIMS)
Figure 3. Functional Components of the Incident Command System (ICS)
Out of the functions described in the table focusing on the NRF, the most useful and important one is definitely prevention of terrorist attacks and associated incidents. The Homeland’s main priority lies in protecting its people, which means that eradicating the possibility of endangering American citizens is the most crucial element of activities aimed at developing and maintaining emergency preparedness. The most safe way to ensure security and stability in the nation is not to respond to incidents, however efficient the response might be, but not to let terrorists enter the country or start their operations domestically in the first place. Thus, it is imperative that the United States government keeps investing the majority of financial resources and experts on gathering intelligence and creating emergency frameworks for assessing and preventing potential incidents. For instance, after the tragic events of 9/11, American authorities decided to issue an updated National Strategy for Combating Terrorism (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2008). It included sections on preventing the rise in numbers of new radicalized recruits by Islamic terrorist groups as well as disrupting the flow of terrorist-related materials and weapons across borders.
The most useful component of the National Incident Management System is preparedness. It is an essential aspect of efficient emergency management, which involves a cycle of “planning, organizing, training, equipping, exercising, evaluating, and taking corrective action to achieve and maintain readiness” (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, n.d., p. 2). Preparedness provides a foundation, which then ties all of the other NIMS concepts together. It implies massive collective effort and cooperation between the government, various agencies, as well as privately held organizations.
As for the Incident Command System, the most important functional area is Command. The organizational structure of ICS is modular, which means that emergency management and responsibility start with Command (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). Then, if there is a need, Command creates the other four sections with more specific tasks. Thus, it is evident that Command is the component, which ties the entirety of emergency response and recovery operations together by creating and directing communication and collaboration channels.
As for the most difficult function of the NRF, it is undoubtedly improving and strengthening the foundation of homeland security structures and procedures. On the one hand, an effective national response implies strict frameworks aimed at emergency assessment, response, stabilization, and recovery. On the other hand, however, the system has to remain flexible enough to use the intelligence collected and experience acquired to make improvements and crucial changes. Agencies have to evaluate their efficiency and performance constantly to ensure their strategies, processes, and regulations reflect their current environment.
Continuing to strengthen the foundation is a key function, which contributes to the development of a sustainable, long-term path to support the State’s prevention, response, and recovery efforts. The recent cyberbreach the United States has suffered at the hands of Russian, state-sponsored hackers has been unprecedented (Schneier, 2020). It has demonstrated that the U.S.’s cybersecurity protocols need updates. Schneier (2020) reported that hackers working for the Russian SVR had made alterations into Orion’s new software update, which was downloaded by more than 17,000 of the company’s customers. The list of organizations using Orion’s services include “all five branches of the US military, the state department, the White House, the NSA, 425 of the Fortune 500 companies, all five of the top five accounting firms,” and many others (Schneier, 2020, para. 5). The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has to put more emphasis on commissions tasked specifically with cyber-threat assessment and prevention in order to set up efficient frameworks, which would eliminate any opportunities for hackers to launch supply-chain attacks.
The NIMS component, which is the most difficult and requires changes, is resource management. For instance, American Immigration Council reports that the government has spent over $330 billion on immigration enforcement since 2003. Based on the statistics provided by the Pew Research Center in 2017, the fraction of unauthorized immigrants residing in the United States was 3.2%, which accounted for almost 11 million people (Budiman, 2020). With the number of illegal immigrants from Central America and Asia growing rapidly, it is apparent that the federal authorities waste billions. Thus, there is a larger issue of inefficient resource allocation. While border security is undoubtedly an important part of preventing terrorist attacks and maintains peace, the Department has to create a commission responsible specifically for tracking resource allocation and its return-on-investment across various agencies. This group of experts should be tasked to oversee how efficiently finances and critical infrastructure are used.
The least useful and rather difficult area is Finance because of the unpredictability of the emergencies that occur. Once responders actually arrive on the scene, they may find that there is no need for a separate finance unit due to the incident being small in scale. For instance, Command officers can direct the financial responsibility to the planning unit. On the other hand, the emergency accident can develop and lead to more destruction, subsequently resulting in more costs, which would require the Finance unit immediate deployment. The solution is in prior assessment of the scene by the Command staff before setting up the Finance Section.
References
American Immigration Council. (2021). The cost of immigration enforcement and border security. Web.
Budiman, A. (2020). Key findings about U.S. immigrants. Pew Research Center. Web.
Scneier, R. (2020). The US has suffered a massive cyberbreach. It’s hard to overstate how bad it is. The Guardian. Web.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Emergency management and the Incident Command System. PHE. Web.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (n.d.). NIMS: Frequently asked questions. FEMA. Web.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2008). National Response Framework. FEMA. Web.