Drills

Catastrophic disasters could hit millions of Americans in the coming years. What can the Army do?

This past summer, the Guard, primarily Task Force 46 out of Michigan, continued its three-year annual exercise for responding to a mass casualty attack, chemical or nuclear, in Detroit.

That exercise will rotate to other major cities in the coming years to build partnerships and planning with local, state and other federal agencies.

In part, that’s a reflection of lessons learned from other disasters.

Maj. Gen. Patrick Hamilton, 36th Infantry Division commander, noted that before Hurricane Katrina, many state leaders didn’t quite understand what the Army could provide.

“They started asking for stuff,” he said. “They didn’t really know how much but started asking for ‘stuff’.”

For example, he said he’d get a call for a dozen trucks, but not be told what the person was going to use them for.