If federal, state, and local officials want the Pentagon’s help for the upcoming hurricane season, they need to be snappy about major storm predictions, so DOD officials told lawmakers last week. According to Paul McHale, assistant homeland defense secretary, a week would be nice. However, he urged diligence in making predictions to avoid a rash of false alarms. McHale told reporters a day earlier that the Defense Department is “better prepared than at any point in our nation’s history to move [disaster response] assistance as rapidly as is humanly possible.”
While the Pentagon has signaled its intent to scale technology, field new systems faster, and work more with nontraditional vendors, a new report identifies persistent manufacturing capacity, resourcing, workforce, and modernization challenges that could hinder its ability to deliver on those goals.