Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

I think the Church (or cult) of Preparedness just got a new prophet.

Here’s a fascinating article about Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, whom you may or may not recall was a larger-than-life figure in the Katrina relief efforts. One of his more notable moments was “Chocolate” Nagin calling him a “John Wayne dude” who cut through the incompetence with a take-charge attitude, and telling reporters “Don’t get stuck on stupid!”.

(Actually, Chocolate said “Now, I will tell you this — and I give the president some credit on this — he sent one John Wayne dude down here that can get some stuff done, and his name is [Lt.] Gen. [Russel] Honoré. And he came off the doggone chopper, and he started cussing and people started moving. And he’s getting some stuff done.”

So, Honore retiring after almost 40 years of service. His plans?

“…he says he wants to spend the rest of his life creating a ‘culture of preparedness’ to prevent another post-disaster disaster.’

“’What happened in New Orleans could have happened anywhere on the eastern seaboard’”

“His next project is taking shape, but he wants to see civil defense classes for young people that would teach first aid and survival basics, such as how to purify water. We wants to lobby drug stores and other businesses to keep generators in case of a long power failure. He wants cities to stockpile food and water so they don’t have to rely on the federal government.”

I’d like to know his opinion of disarming disaster survivors at gunpoint ala Katrina. He’s a military man so while he can appreciate the use of firearms and violence he may also have that mindset of ‘only authorized personnel’. If he’s got a book project going on I’d be interested in reading it to find out some more about him.

He’s saying everything a fella like me would like to hear. Sadly, I don’t think it will matter. He would be the perfect face and voice for a pro-civil-defense lobby. However, I don’t think such a thing exists on any large scale. (Im sure there are small, hideously underfunded groups but none with very much clout or manpower.) Perhaps on a state level he could help grassroots organizations that are trying to appropriate federal funds for local preparedness projects. I’d hate to see him wind up being the pitchman for water purifiers or other product. The guy seems to have a bit of passion, I hope he gets to apply it as he’d like and not have his enthusiasm diminished.

It would be nice to put him in charge of something like FEMA or other relief organization. Presumably he could cut through the BS and spend more time on the problem at hand and less time worrying about how his necktie looks on camera like that last idiot did.

But a ‘culture of preparedness’? We haven’t had that for a long while, if ever. The closest we may have come was during the heyday of Civil Defense when the .gov stocked shelters and encouraged public participation in preparing for the day the Reds pushed the button. And even that was a token effort. No, the true ‘cultures of preparedness’ occur on much smaller levels. Local and state, mostly. The folks in Utah, home of the Mormons, probably have their act together regarding civil defense more than any other state. And even then that’s mostly due to religious groupthink. We all know that the Swiss have the high ground when it comes to civil defense with some other European nations (even excommunist ones) holding the top of the charts. The US is right down there in the basement. I suppose that since we’ve historically never really had occasion to use a civil defense program it never amounted to a very high priority. Even with the terrorist attacks of 2001 and the continued terrorist threat it seems like civil preparedness still gets short shrift.

Best quote from Honore: “In this new normal, with the possibility of terrorist attacks, natural disasters and industrial accidents, we need this culture of preparedness. A vast part of America still thinks ‘It cant happen where I live’ and they are dead damn wrong.”

Is it possible to create a ‘culture of preparedness’ without breaking the bank or becoming too heavy handed? I think so.

First of all, remember all those military base closings from years ago? Find a closed military base in each state and rehab it as a disaster staging point. Bring in National Guard engineers or the local vo-tech construction classes to update the buildings, add runways and helipads, and set up storage facilities. Create a point where supplies can be flown in and shipped out.

Next, take the out-of-date-but-still-good military items that would be relevant to a disaster and turn them over to the states for use in their programs. Bulk MRE’s purchased at the current .gov pricing schedule, vehicles that are otherwise no longer used, water treatment purification equipment, surplussed fuel tankers, etc, etc.

Offer incentives to citizens to prepare the way Florida does. Florida has a ‘no tax’ program every year, I believe, where you can buy hurricane preparedness gear without paying sales tax on it. I say take it a step further – tax credits for having generator, approved disaster shelter, advanced training, etc, etc. Any revenue lost through a tax break is offset by having one more family that doesn’t need .gov aid in a disaster.

Encourage civilian organizations to participate. This is already done with ham radio enthusiasts and private plane enthusiasts (ARES and CAP, respectively), it should be extended to other groups. Even the Boy Scouts would be an asset. Everyone gets an assigned role and everyone gets training in that particular role. Not everyone needs to be shoveling debris and bagging bodies…theres always going to be a need for runners, camp kitchen staff, sanitation orderlies, refugee processors, vehicle refuelers, etc, etc.

But, of course, we’ll never see anything like that coming out of Washington. You may, maybe, find it coming out of your state capital someday. You’re more likely to find it coming out of your county seat.

Also, there is, of course, no substitute for taking your own steps to be prepared, regardless of .gov participation (or lack thereof).

I’d be very interested to see what the future holds for Lt. Gen. Honore. I wonder if his statements aren’t some sort of positioning for a cabinet position when the administration changes, or if he genuinely believes what he’s saying. I would like to think the latter.