Retired Army logistics officer compares government’s responses to Katrina and Helene

Cynical Publius is one of the contributing authors for The Federalist. He’s a retired Army officer,  having specialized in logistics during his career. When Hurricane Katrina hit, he was a U.S. Army colonel serving at the Pentagon. He was tasked as a shift officer for the National Military Command Center (NMCC) for hurricane support. He played a role in the military’s response to Katrina. Publius spells out clear differences between the federal government’s responses to these hurricanes and their aftermath.

From The Federalist:

Let’s compare Katrina with Helene. In Katrina, a three-star general was placed in command, along with the two-star commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division, with a full Airborne Infantry Brigade task force of the 82nd, a corps-support logistics command of thousands of soldiers, a signal battalion, a combat support hospital, robust Army engineer assets, and countless other support units. All of these units were on standby orders days before Katrina hit.

In contrast, a week after Helene hit, a tiny 1,000-troop Airborne Infantry Battalion task force of the 82nd (one-third the size of a brigade) was given a warning order under the ground command of a mere one-star general. These forces are without the medical, engineer, corps-level logistics, signal/communications, and Division/Army HQ command and control capabilities that defined Katrina support.

How about the Marines? In Katrina, they sent 2,600 Marines, under the command of a two-star Marine Division commanding general. For Helene, near as I can tell after extensive web research and quizzing my followers on X, the USMC has not been tasked to send a single damned Marine.

The Navy is probably not a fair comparison since New Orleans is an ocean port and the mountains of North Carolina are not, but after Katrina, the Navy sent a carrier task force and a hospital ship, along with 63 aircraft. For Helene, the Navy has sent 10 helicopters.

Coast Guard? Yes, they are a blue-water force, but they have riverine capabilities that would make a huge difference in the hills of North Carolina. In 2005, they sent 43 aircraft that conducted search and rescue operations almost immediately after Katrina made landfall. In Helene, the Coast Guard disestablished its area command, but it did find time to help a handful a people and rescue five pets.

The Air Force’s airlift capabilities are largely strategic, but in Katrina, they were busy evacuating thousands of injured and displaced people. After Helene, it seems they are mostly busy repairing their own airfields and not much else. This is curious, seeing as their C-130s could be working closely with the parachute riggers on Fort Liberty to prepare essential supplies for airdrop. Guess not.

The folks trapped in the hollows of North Carolina’s mountains need helicopter support most of all, to receive essential food, water, and construction and medical supplies, and to evacuate the stranded, the elderly, the sick, and the injured. If you review the links I included above, you’ll see that hundreds of active-duty helicopters were involved in Katrina. As for Helene, if you look at the DOD’s press releases, it looks like 28 active-duty helicopters are thinking about maybe getting involved as of Sept. 30.

Additional Reading:

Publius, C. (2024, October 4). Comparing Helene to Katrina suggests Americans are left to die because Democrats run the White House. The Federalist. Link.

Category: 2024 Election, Government Incompetence, Military issues, Society