Summary | Team | Federal Role | Current Environment | Process | Case Histories

After a half century, the Department of Defense (DoD) is involved in a transformation. The changes are intended to streamline the DoD operations and to use its people, its most important asset, in the most effective manner possible. An emphasis on flexibility, maneuverability, and interoperability is also apparent in the creation of the Special Operations component.

DoD is continuing several concurrent operations, such as Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq), and Operation Noble Eagle (air operations over U.S. metropolitan areas). These are all a result of the War on Terrorism. The Department of Defense must work hand-in-hand with the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security.

The federal government allocates approximately 15% of its budget to defense, $400 billion annually. DoD employs more than 3.25 million people, including the National Guard and Reserve forces. Its presence is global: DoD operates in 150 countries, in every time zone and climate, and manages thousands of sites and hundreds of thousands of individual buildings. The sheer size of the Department, combined with the gravity of its evolving responsibilities, demands that it be managed and provided for completely and effectively. Ensuring that this takes place is the role of the Congressional Defense Authorization and Appropriation Committees.

The Defense Authorization and Appropriation Committees have long scrutinized military programs, resulting in a complex prioritization process for military spending. The Members of these Committees are forward-thinking and committed to bringing the latest in technologies and equipment to the armed forces. The defense industrial base is a partner in this process, facilitating the introduction of capabilities to the people who can bring these products and services to the military.

One area of expertise in our defense work that many current and prospective clients find surprising is in the area of healthcare. The Department of Defense provides care for 9.3 million beneficiaries, including active duty, veterans and their families. Much of this care (70%) is outsourced to the private sector. This means that each hospital in the nation is potentially important to the Department of Defense.

As health information technology has become a primary focus of the federal government, the Department of Defense has led the way in partnering with private sector hospitals and information technology companies to deliver cutting edge tools to clinicians to improve care, reduce costs and better track the medical information and history of patients and doctors’ performance.

Defense Team member David C. Thompson has been actively involved in healthcare IT with DOD for five years now and is a trusted partner. He currently serves on a DOD Red Team Industry Advisory Panel for the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA) system, a position appointed by the Under Secretary of Defense, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Force Health Protection and Readiness, and the Military Health System’s Chief Information Officer and Deputy Chief Information Officer.

Another area that our Defense Team has extensive expertise in is that of Homeland Defense and Civil Support. 

Section 1814 of the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act requires the Secretary of Defense to prepare a plan for coordinating the National Guard and others in responding to natural disasters/terrorist events, such as those in the Homeland Security Council’s National Planning Scenarios.

Further, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas Security Affairs (ASD/HD&ASA) is in charge of many of the domestic security actions of the Department of Defense. Working in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security, the ASD/HD&ASA is on the front lines of the domestic War on Terrorism. ASD/HD&ASA exists to protect American citizens at home and protect “critical defense infrastructure” against external threats. Critical defense infrastructure is defined as assets and associated infrastructure essential to protect and support military forces worldwide. This includes both public and private infrastructure.

The Department of Defense now has the authority to carry out missions to protect, prepare and respond to catastrophic events that threaten military and civilian populations (terrorist attacks, natural disasters, WMDs, Chem/bio events). The Department of Defense has indeed carried out these missions since September 11, 2001 as in the case of Hurricane Katrina. 

The nexus of the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services to protect from and respond to mass casualty incidents is something Carmen Group’s Defense Team has been working on for years.  In fact, much of the structure of the current ASD/HD&ASA’s office was based on input from our team members and their roles on advisory panels.