FEMA Reservists: Training Could Benefit from Examination of Practices at Other Agencies Page: 1 of 35
This text is part of the collection entitled: Government Accountability Office Reports and was provided to UNT Digital Library by the UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
GAO
Accountability * Integrity * Reliability
United States Government Accountability Office
Washington, DC 20548
March 22, 2013
The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson
Ranking Member
Committee on Homeland Security
House of Representatives
Subject: FEMA Reservists: Training Could Benefit from Examination of Practices at Other
Agencies
Dear Mr. Thompson:
Hurricane Sandy made landfall on October 29, 2012, in New Jersey, leaving extensive flooding,
loss of life, and property damage across the eastern United States in its wake. Within 3 days of
the hurricane's landfall, more than 2,300 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
personnel were working to support response operations, including search and rescue, power
restoration, communications, and logistical support in states affected by the storm. Hurricane
Sandy was one of 46 federal major disaster declarations in fiscal year 2012. From fiscal year
2007 through fiscal year 2012, there have been 422 federal major disaster declarations in which
FEMA has obligated $39 billion in major disaster assistance payments.1
Within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), FEMA is tasked with leading the nation in
mitigating, responding to, and recovering from major disasters, both natural and man-made. To
carry out its mission, FEMA relies heavily upon its Reservist Program, an on-call reserve
workforce that is deployed when needed to assist disaster survivors. As of February 2013, there
were 6,795 reservists, who constituted 36 percent of FEMA's disaster workforce. In April 2012,
FEMA announced that it was transforming its reservist workforce, formerly known as Disaster
Assistance Employees. Among other things, the transformation to the Reservist Program
transitioned reservist assignments from a regionally based structure to a nationally managed
program.
We have identified several challenges related to FEMA's reservist training practices.
Specifically, in May 2012, we reported that FEMA's reservist training was not consistent with
key attributes of effective training and development programs that could help to ensure that its
training and development investments were targeted strategically. We recommended that FEMA
establish a plan to ensure all reservists have opportunities to participate in training and are
qualified and that FEMA develop a systematic process to track training costs.2 FEMA officials
agreed with the recommendations. In October 2012 the agency launched the FEMA
Qualification System (FQS) and the Incident Qualification Certification System (IQCS) to track
reservist training and qualifications.3 According to the officials, they anticipate that IQCS will
1This includes obligations for Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, and Hazard Mitigation, only for major disaster
declarations declared from fiscal years 2007 through 2012.
2GAO, Disaster Assistance Workforce: FEMA Could Enhance Human Capital Management and Training, GAO-12-
538 (Washington, D.C.: May 25, 2012).
3FQS establishes qualification and performance standards for FEMA's disaster workforce, including reservists. IQCS
is the information system managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), originally used to track training andGAO-13-250R FEMA Reservists
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This text can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Text.
United States. Government Accountability Office. FEMA Reservists: Training Could Benefit from Examination of Practices at Other Agencies, text, March 22, 2013; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc302279/m1/1/: accessed March 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.