Dept Of Defense: FACE Y2K ON YOUR OWN
Federal Computer Week -August 23, 1999
The Defense Department, expected to be the federal agency to respond to potential crises brought about by the Year 2000 problem, this month said it does not plan to react to all requests for help from state and local civilian authorities.
DOD adopted the position in an Aug. 12 message sent to all the military services by the Army's Director of Military Support (DOMS) in the Pentagon ...
The DOMS message goes even further, making it clear that even if civilian authorities ask for help, they may not receive it. "It should be anticipated and publicized that not all requests from civil authorities will be filled," according to the message.
The Pentagon, according to the message, also has tightened disclosure of its vast supply of resources, which includes food, engineering equipment, generators and water purification plants, that could help cities and counties that may be afflicted with Year 2000 snafus. "Any request for inventory levels of DOD resources from non-DOD activities will be denied," the DOMS message said ...
NAVY'S PLANS
The Navy, in its Year 2000 contingency planning and consequence management plan released this month, made it clear that it planned to centrally manage requests for help from communities outside its bases. The Federal Emergency Management Agency "will coordinate with [DOD] to prioritize such needs, and [DOMS] will task specific services to respond as required," the Navy plan said.
Local commanders can only engage in "unilateral emergency actions that involve the saving of lives, prevent great human suffering or mitigate great property damage, only when time does not permit approval by higher authorities," according to the Navy contingency plan. Pentagon officials could not be reached for comment ...
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SPEAKING OF "CONSEQUENCE MANAGEMENT"
NORFOLK, Va. [May 12, 1999] -- The Defense Department must be careful to prepare for possible Year 2000 problems while not alarming the public, a top Navy official said.
DOD commands worldwide must take prudent steps to ensure that Year 2000 computer date bugs in critical infrastructure systems -- electricity and telephones, for example -- do not cripple operations, according to David Wennergren, deputy chief information officer of the Navy.
But Wennergren, speaking here at the service's semiannual Connecting Technology conference, added that preparing for possible interruptions -- what he called "consequence management" -- needs to be balanced with preventing public distrust and worry -- what he called "perception management."
For example, as part of its Year 2000 consequence management efforts, Wennergren said a Navy base might bring in water tankers shortly before year's end to ensure that the base's water supply is not interrupted if computers fail.
But perception management would dictate against such a move "because people outside [the base] would want to do the same thing," Wennergren said.
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