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Paramilitary Provision of Adequate Disaster Response and Advancement of Public Health: The Case of the Texas State Guard and Operation Lone Star

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 February 2017

Ralph Jay Johnson III
Ralph Jay Johnson III*
Affiliation:
US Army and University of Texas–MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to LTC Ralph J. Johnson III, 1st BDE, 1 Southern Trng Div, 75th Trng Cmd, 10949 Aerospace Ave., Houston, TX 77034 (e-mail: ralph.j.johnson16.mil@mail.mil).
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Abstract

Objective

This article reports on State Defense Forces (SDFs) as tools for providing coordinated, disciplined, trained, and uniformed volunteers to augment civilian disaster response and advance public health.

Methods

This report draws on and describes the example of the Texas State Guard’s Medical Brigade and its Operation Lone Star.

Results

Although SDFs have downsides, since they are largely self-sufficient, they are far less expensive and burdensome yet nonetheless effective alternatives.

Conclusions

Future avenues for further inquiry are suggested. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:412–416)

Keywords

State Defense Forcespublic healthOperation Lone StarTexas State Guard
Type
Brief Reports
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , August 2017 , pp. 412 - 416
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2017 

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