Project White Horse Forum

We do not need to debate who should lead FEMA after the 20th of January 2009. We have the man, the only person who has enough authority, command skill, talent and understanding of what is necessary to prevent the limping agency from a total disintegration right before the next hurricane season. General Russ Honoré is that man.

Please make your voice be heard: write to your congressman or congresswoman, send a message to Mr. Obama at www.change.gov , write to your local newspaper or TV station, forward this link.  Act and be an agent of change of which we have heard so much, and for which all of us have voted. For once, it is our unique chance to force selection to one of the most important posts in the nation of a man most of that nation knows and trusts, a man who proved himself, and who showed us all that, indeed, “it can be done,” and that we can start trusting FEMA again.  

http://www.honoreforfema.com/

There are two important days in a person’s life – the day one is born and the day they realize what they were born for.   When I stepped off the plane in New Orleans, I knew why I had been born.

Lieutenant  General Russ Honore (United States Army, Retired)

Commander Joint Task Force Katrina

 When Russ retired on February 29, 2008, following 37 years of active service with the United States Army, Joint Task Force Katrina did not become  just another line item on his resume, rather he continues to battle for the people of New Orleans AND indeed for all American citizens, speaking and consulting nationally on Building a Culture of Preparedness.

If you are fortunate enough to hear him speak (and you can – go to link above), you will recognize immediately that he’s not just talking about America’s commitment  to taking care of New Orleans, he’s describing a path for our survival in this century – survival on our own terms  - through better education, real  working health programs, self and community preparedness, but most of all through shedding the mantra of being victims trapped by events beyond our control and relearning the resilience that took our ancestors through the winter of 1776, across the Appalachians, and insured the survival of these United States through a terrible civil war.

Most people don’t think about the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the same context as a fighter squadron or combat brigade, but they should.  When severe, hyper complex disaster events strike, local professional first responders can be immediately overwhelmed,  Indeed, recent experience indicates that both rare events and those that may occur predictably -  but have potential for extremely rare severity – repeatedly overwhelmed traditional mechanisms for crisis planning, management and response.  Today’s society is extremely complex.  When complex systems fail, the results are catastrophically chaotic. This complexity makes it nearly impossible for traditional leadership and organizational structures to plan, let alone coordinate response efforts.  The entire community “system” becomes destabilized.  That environment  is for all intents and purposes a battleground and “Battlegrounds” require operational thinking, response and first and foremost, operationally experienced leadership. 

All emergencies are local, as the saying goes, but when disaster strikes and local authority needs assistance, that assistance must adapt immediately to the situation at hand, not barge in with a pre-scripted playbook declaring “I’m in charge, I have the plan! Do what I dictate.”

FEMA must become that adaptable operational arm that local emergency response leaders can count on. FEMA’s administrator  (that’s the title, but please read LEADER) must have a broad experience in directing an exceedingly complex entity whose actions transit from steady bureaucratic pace to stemming the chaos and unpredictability of a natural disasters, then solving the immense complexity of human and administrative process of recovery and rebuilding. It has to be a person with exquisite command and leadership skills.

We do not need to debate who should lead FEMA after the 20th of January 2009. We have the man, the only person who has enough authority, command skill, talent and understanding of what is necessary to prevent the limping agency from a total disintegration right before the next hurricane season. General Honoré is that man, but in the world where political debts are often paid with positions within the new government, his appointment depends as much on the new President as on us, the citizens.

Do your own “due diligence.”  Reference the sight above, watch and listen to the man (http://www.honoreforfema.com/video-of-honore/ ) read, reread the articles in PWH (http://blog.projectwhitehorse.com/2008/08/15/rc21-to-lead-part-4-interview-with-a-leader-general-russ-honore/ and http://www.projectwhitehorse.com/current.htm ).  I know you will be convinced as I am after fortunate and enlightening interface over this year in regard to the resilient community concept, that Russ Honore can make a real difference for America.  Please understand, Russ has not in any way implied or asked for me to do this.  I have spent the last ten years, in one way or another looking at “what happens when the other side doesn’t play fair – and worst case disasters are never fair.”  Response – survival requires adaptability.  Adapting in the face of chaos requires a symbiosis of leadership and a prepared followership.  I am convinced General Russ Honore is one half of that requirement and knows how to mold the other.

Please make your voice be heard: write to your congressman or congresswoman, send a message to Mr. Obama at www.change.gov , write to your local newspaper or TV station, forward this e-mail.  Act and be an agent of change of which we have heard so much, and for which all of us have voted. For once, it is our unique chance to force selection to one of the most important posts in the nation of a man most of that nation knows and trusts, a man who proved himself, and who showed us all that, indeed, “it can be done,” and that we can start trusting FEMA again.

“Don’t get stuck on stupid!”