Civil Defense - Then and Now

CIVIL DEFENSE

As a child during the early 1960’s, the civil defense sign and symbol was as familiar to me as was the TV test pattern that came on at midnight on the weekends.  We did drills at school.  The drills weren’t for anything in particular like a tornado or dust storm or fire.  We did constant drills that led us all to the shelter where we would stay until we got the all clear.  I participated in drills until I was 15 years old, all the while in military dependent schools.  Almost all the schools I ever attended had shelters and the signs, and we always knew where the shelters were.  We just did. 

As a kid when we traveled to Memphis to visit my paternal grandparents, I noticed a lack of the civil defense signs throughout the city.  It seems like I remember seeing one civil defense sign at the old Poplar Plaza Shopping Center, somewhere by the old Lowenstein’s store.  I was concerned about this lack of signage.  What did these people know to do and where to go if the Communist Cubans sent missiles to the U.S.?  I wondered these things. 

We moved to Memphis in 1970, the place that had no civil defense shelters as far as I knew, yet.  Not where we lived, anyway, and not in the schools we kids attended.  I do not recall a single fire drill during my last two years of high school.  I eventually found out that some of the very old school buildings in Memphis had previous civil defense shelters at one time.  I supposed the civil defense program wasn’t in existence any longer since the war in Vietnam was slowly winding down; so maybe somebody figured that America didn’t have many threats anymore.  But the Cold War was still looming out there as far as I was concerned and Cuba was still a Communist country.  I knew all about nuclear fallout, how far out the radiation could disperse, what it would do to farmlands, to oil supplies, to the people who didn’t make it out, and then there was that notion of what we survivors would do to sustain.  I read the book, “Alas, Babylon” by Pat Frank, who wrote the book in 1959.  It is a tale of those fateful words that heralded the end when a nuclear holocaust ravages the United States, a thousand years of civilization are stripped away overnight, and tens of millions of people are killed instantly – but for one small town in Florida, spared, the struggle is just beginning as men and women of all backgrounds join together to confront the darkness.  Kind of like 9/11.  This book is as relevant now as it was back in my childhood.    

Everywhere I lived in Memphis and the surrounding area had no civil defense program that I could find, other than the American Red Cross teaching Disaster Preparedness classes and the City performing law enforcement drills in the event a mall or high rise was besieged by gunmen.  I took those Red Cross classes and volunteered my time in many disaster events.  They were lots of fun.  I took a course to become a Community Emergency Response Team member and even learned how to dig people out of crumbled buildings during light rescue.  Who knows, I may need that skill one day.  

I think I drove my daughters bonkers with all the preparations I made sure they took care of in the event of any type of disaster that could happened, to include war time scenarios.  My grandchildren have been raised with the knowledge to be survivalists if needed.  They, too, have had formal Red Cross training since they were 11 years old.  We all have emergency materials, first aid supplies, foods and water (to include rotated cans of smoked oysters and crackers for meditative times) in bins, stored in places within our houses that we hope still stands after a major disaster.  We have what we need to subsist here, in-place, for a while.  Do you? 

Do people not feel a need for this type of education, to learn how to join together and put their City back together after major devastation, regardless of how the devastation occurred?  I was taught these things starting at a young age, in elementary school.  All the children back then, even the school bullies, knew they had a role to fill if America crashed, if our Post crashed.  All of the children were involved in the effort to protect and survive.  They just were.  When did America stop teaching her citizens how to take care of themselves and their communities in the event of major disaster or devastation?  

Since the end of the Cold War, civil defense has fallen into disuse within the United States.  Gradually, the focus on nuclear war shifted to an "all-hazards" approach of Comprehensive Emergency Management.  Natural disasters and the emergence of new threats such as terrorism have caused attention to be focused away from traditional civil defense and into new forms of civil protection such as Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

 

Did you know - A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that announces that the country is in a state of emergency.  This means that the government can suspend and/or change some functions of the executive, the legislative and or the judiciary during this period of time.  It alerts citizens to change their normal behavior and orders government agencies to implement emergency plans.  A government can declare a state of emergency during a time of natural or man-made disaster, during a period of civil unrest, or following a declaration of war or situation of international/internal armed conflict.  It can also be used as a rationale for suspending rights and freedoms, even if those rights and freedoms are guaranteed under the Constitution.

Noteworthy are the ongoing states of emergency declared on November 14, 1979 regarding the Iran hostage crisis, that declared on March 15, 1995 with respect to Iran, and that declared on September 14, 2001 through Bush's Proclamation 7463, regarding the September 11 attacks.  President Barack Obama extended George W. Bush's Declaration of Emergency regarding terrorism on September 10, 2009, on September 10, 2010, on September 9, 2011, and on September 11, 2012.  President Barack Obama extended the Declaration of Emergency on November 12, 2013, citing continued conflicts in Iran. 

 HISTORY OF CIVIL DEFENSE

The Federal Civil Defense Administration was organized by Democratic president Harry S. Truman on December 1, 1950, and became an official government agency on January 12, 1951.  The agency distributed posters, programs, and information about communism and the threat of communist attacks.

United States civil defense refers to the use of civil defense in the history of the United States, which is the organized non-military effort to prepare Americans for military attack.  Over the last twenty years, the term and practice of civil defense have fallen into disuse and have been replaced by emergency management and homeland security.

Identifying fallout shelters

President Kennedy launched an ambitious effort to install fallout shelters throughout the United States.  These shelters would not protect against the blast and heat effects of nuclear weapons, but would provide some protection against the radiation effects that would last for weeks and even affect areas distant from a nuclear explosion.  Some of the shelters were even located on the upper floors of skyscrapers.

Survivability in design: Civil Defense officials encouraged people to build in the suburbs away from key targets and to be conscientious of the needs of a nuclear age when building houses and other structures.

 Alerting the people:  A Thunderbolt siren in Wisconsin.

In order for most of these preparations to be effective, there had to be some type of warning for the population.  The United States embarked on creating systems at both the local and national levels to allow the communication of emergencies.  In 1951, President Harry S. Truman established the CONELRAD (Control of Electromagnetic Radiation) Plan.  Under the system, a few primary stations would be alerted of an emergency and would broadcast an alert.  All broadcast stations throughout the country would be constantly listening to an upstream station and repeat the message, thus passing it from station to station.  After broadcasting the message, all radio communications would cease except for two designated lower power AM frequencies (640 and 1240 kHz).  This was designed to prevent enemy planes from using transmitters as navigation aids for direction finding.  The later threat of ICBMs (which used internal guidance) made this obsolete, and it was phased out in the early 1960s.  In 1963, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created the Emergency Broadcast System to replace CONELRAD.  The EBS served as the primary alert system throughout the Cold War and well into the 1990s.  In addition to these, air raid sirens such as the Thunderbolt siren would sound an alert.

 

In 1979, President Carter signed Executive Order 12179 merging the successor to the Federal Civil Defense Administration (The Defense Civil Preparedness Agency–DCPA) into today's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  In 2003, FEMA was merged into the US Department of Homeland Security. 

Ensuring continuity of government:  Governments made efforts to exist even after an apocalyptic nuclear attack, something called Continuity of Government (COG).  Many city halls built Emergency Operation Centers in their basements.

Continuity of government is the principle of establishing defined procedures that allow a government to continue its essential operations in case of nuclear war or other catastrophic event.

Continuity of government was developed by the British government before and during World War II to counter the threat of Luftwaffe bombing during the Battle of Britain.  The need for continuity-of-government plans gained new urgency with nuclear proliferation.  Take a peek at a story about a possible myth of the German’s invasion of Britain.   http://dave-harris.hubpages.com/hub/World-War-Two-Britains-Secret-Defence

Countries during the Cold War and afterwards developed such plans to avoid or minimize confusion and disorder in the aftermath of a nuclear attack.

In the US at least, COG is no longer limited to nuclear emergencies; the Continuity of Operations Plan was activated following the September 11 attacks and has been in effect ever since.

The National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive created and signed by United States President George W. Bush on May 4, 2007, is a Presidential Directive which claims power to execute procedures for continuity of the federal government in the event of a "catastrophic emergency".  Such an emergency is construed as "any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions."  The directive, created by the president, claims that the president has the power to declare a catastrophic emergency. It does not specify who has the power to declare the emergency over.

United States Continuity of Operations Plan

The Continuity of Operations Plan was activated in US following the September 11 attacks and has been in effect ever since.

Each facility is counterpart to its peacetime equivalent. Camp David → Executive Office of the President

Cheyenne Mountain → North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)

Mount Weather → Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) (Used temporarily for Members of Congress in Sept. 2001)

Raven Rock Mountain Complex → The Pentagon (Department of Defense)

United States Strategic Command Center (Offutt Air Force Base) → United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM)

Unknown → United States Congress (The Greenbrier was to be used until 1992, when it was decommissioned)

Former site: National Audio-Visual Conservation Center (Mount Pony) → Department of Treasury/Federal Reserve (sold off in 1997 to the National Audiovisual Conservation Center)

Project Greek Island (Greenbrier Bunker - Exposed in press and removed from service)

 

Facilities - During the Cold War, the United States constructed bunkers to help provide survivability to military command and government officials.  Some have been decommissioned since the Cold War.  The ones that are still considered to be in operation are listed here.

Cheyenne Mountain Directorate - This bunker is the former home of NORAD.  Becoming fully operational on April 20, 1966, it is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  Currently, the military has the goal of placing the operations center on "warm stand-by", meaning that the facility will be maintained and ready for use on short notice as necessary, but not used on a daily basis.  In the event of an emergency determined serious enough, NORAD and USNORTHCOM would use the bunker for C4ISTAR of America's military.

Site R (Raven Rock) - Near Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, Site R is the emergency home for The Pentagon.  Vice President Cheney is reported to have stayed here after the September 11 attacks. 

Mount Weather - The Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center is a government facility located near Bluemont, Virginia.  It houses operations and training facilities above ground for the FEMA and contains an underground facility designed to house key components of the American government in the case of nuclear war.  During the September 11 attacks, a line of government cars and limousines with police escort was seen heading from Washington, D.C. to Mount Weather.  It has been suggested that Vice President Dick Cheney has been at Mount Weather from time to time, as it is the quintessential "secure undisclosed location".  Since September 11, 2001, Mount Weather has seen a dramatic increase in staffing and support.  

 

What can you do to protect you and your family in the event of any type of disaster?  Preparation is key. 

Emergency Food Supplies

During and after a disaster, it is important that you and your family (including pets) eat enough to maintain your strength.  The Centers for Disease Control and the American Red Cross recommend that each family store enough food to last for at least three days or up to two weeks.  You will need to have enough food on hand to eat at least one well-balanced meal each day, and more if you are working hard.  If activity is significantly reduced, healthy people can survive on half their usual food intake for an extended period and without any food for many days.  Food, unlike water, may be rationed safely, except children and pregnant women still need adequate nutrition.

If there is a power outage, foods stored in the refrigerator or freezer should be consumed first, then begin using your emergency food supplies.  Those foods should be non-perishable and require no refrigeration, minimal preparation or cooking, and little or no water.

 What to Store:

 Ready-to-eat canned foods like soups, vegetables, stews.  Avoid eating from cans that are swollen, dented or corroded.

 Canned juices, powered milk (store extra water)

 Dried fruits, nuts

 Staples like sugar, salt and pepper

 High energy foods like peanut butter, jelly, crackers, granola bars and trail mix

 Canned protein drinks, vitamin and mineral supplement tablets

 Comfort/stress foods: cookies, hard candy, sweetened cereals, instant coffee, tea bags

 Foods designed for people on special diets. Juices and soups may be helpful for ill or elderly people.  Nursing mothers may need liquid formula in case they are unable to nurse.

 Canned or dry pet food for pets

Also Keep on Hand:

 Alcohol-based hand sanitizer or wipes

 Manual can opener

 Disposable cups, plates and utinsils

 Utility knife

 Aluminum foil and plastic wrap

 Re-sealable plastic bags

How and Where to Store Food:

 Keep food supplies in a cool, dry place, out of the sun, if possible.

 Wrap perishable foods, such as cookies and crackers in plastic bags and keep them in sealed containers.

 Empty opened packages of sugar, dried fruits and nuts into screw-top jars or airtight canisters to keep them fresh.

 Rotate supplies and replace them frequently so they remain fresh.

 If packages do not have a use-by or expiration date on them, mark foods with a permanent marker to record date of purchase.

 Checklist of Items for A Basic Emergency Supply Kit

 Water, one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation

 Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food

 Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both flashlight and extra batteries

 First aid kit

 Whistle to signal for help

 Dust mask, to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place.  These can be found at stores Walgreens and Walmart.  

 Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation

 Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities

 Can opener for food (if kit contains canned food)

 Prescription medications and glasses

 Infant formula and diapers

 Pet food and extra water for your pet

 Important family documents such as copies of insurance policies, identification and bank account records in a waterproof, portable container

 Cash or traveler’s checks and change

 Emergency reference material such as a first aid book

 Sleeping bag or warm blanket for each person.  Consider additional bedding if you live in a cold-weather climate.

 Complete change of clothing including a long sleeved shirt, long pants and sturdy shoes.  Consider additional clothing if you live in a cold-weather climate.

 Household chlorine bleach and medicine dropper – When diluted nine parts water to one part bleach, bleach can be used as a disinfectant.  Or in an emergency, you can use it to treat water by using 16 drops of regular household liquid bleach per gallon of water.  Do not use scented, color safe or bleaches with added cleaners.

 Fire Extinguisher

 Matches in a waterproof container

 Feminine supplies and personal hygiene items

 Mess kits, paper cups, plates and plastic utensils, paper towels

 Paper and pencil

 Books, games, puzzles or other activities for children

The more you prepare for an emergency in advance, the quicker you will be able to recover and get life back to normal.

 Emergency Water Supplies

In an emergency, having a supply of clean water is critical to survival.  You will need enough clean water for you and your family's needs for drinking, food preparation and hygiene.

Minimum Water Needs:

 Store at least one gallon per person and pet per day.

 Store at least a 3-day supply of water for each member of your family.

How and Where to Store Water:

 In a cool, dark place in your home, in each vehicle and in your workplace.

 Preferably in store-bought, factory-sealed water containers.

 In food-grade quality containers made for storing water and available from sporting goods and surplus stores and other retailers.

Avoid:

 Store-bought water past its expiration date.

 Storing water in containers that can't be sealed tightly.

 Storing water in containers that can break, such as glass bottles.

 Storing water in containers that have held toxic substances.

 Plastic milk bottles and cartons --they are difficult to clean and break down over time.

Alternate Emergency Water Sources Inside and Outside Your Home

If a disaster catches you without an adequate stored supply of clean water, you can use the water in:

 Your hot-water tank

 Pipes and faucets

 Ice cube trays

If you need to find water outside your home, try:

 Rainwater

 Streams, rivers and other moving bodies of water

 Ponds and lakes

 Natural Springs

Water from these sources must be made safer before using.  Do not ever drink flood water.  Avoid using water with floating material, an odor or dark in color.

 

Emergency First Aid Kit

In any emergency, you or a family member may be cut, burned or suffer other injuries.  A first aid kit containing some basic supplies is essential to keep on hand.  Taking a first aid class or purchasing a first aid manual will give you the knowledge you need to treat minor injuries.  By simply having the following supplies, you can help you stop bleeding, prevent infection, and aid healing.

Things you should have:

 Two pairs of Latex or other sterile gloves (if you are allergic to Latex).

 Sterile dressings to stop bleeding.

 Cleansing agent, soap and antibiotic towelettes to disinfect.

 Antibiotic ointment to prevent infection.

 Burn ointment to prevent infection.

 Adhesive bandages in a variety of sizes.

 Eye wash solution to flush the eyes.

 Thermometer

 Prescription medications you take every day such as insulin, heart medicine and asthma inhalers.  You should periodically rotate medicines to keep them fresh.

 Prescribed medical supplies such as glucose and blood pressure monitoring equipment and supplies.

Non-prescription Drugs:

 Aspirin or non-aspirin pain reliever

 Anti-diarrhea medication

 Antacid (for upset stomach)

 Laxative

Other things to keep on hand:

 Cell Phone

 Scissors

 Tweezers

 Petroleum jelly or other lubricant

 

Health & Medical Services During a Disaster

Emergency Medical Coordination Center - The Memphis and Shelby County Health Department is the lead agency for coordinating the identification, staffing, resource needs of, and the response to the health and medical needs of the community following a significant emergency or catastrophic disaster including:

•Disease outbreaks

•Major transportation accidents

•Natural disasters

 •Technological disasters

•Terrorism

The department has established an Emergency Medical Coordination Center from which all medical aspects of the Emergency Operations Center will be coordinated. Telephone capabilities and an amateur radio system, which is self-powered, can be activated during a mass casualty incident / disaster.

 

For further information on training and preparedness, to include first aid and CPR training, you can reach the American Red Cross at http://www.redcross.org/ or the Memphis, TN Chapter at http://www.redcross.org/tn/memphis

Public Health Emergency problems in Shelby County -   https://www.shelbycountytn.gov/index.aspx?NID=1070

Shelby County Sheriff’s Office of Homeland Security - http://www.shelby-sheriff.org/le/hs.html

The Department of Health Tennessee Disaster Support Network - http://health.state.tn.us/ceds/TNDisSup/keyword.html

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training is a free program designed to educate citizens about how to prepare for emergencies that might impact their area and trains them in basic disaster preparedness skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue and disaster medical operations. CERT members are vital to a community in time of crises, especially when professional responders are not immediately available.  For more information about the CERT program and training, go to https://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/.

Civics Class

Civics is a branch of political science that focuses on the role of citizens in their governments.  In many nations, it is a fundamental part of instruction for school students, ensuring that every citizen has at least a basic knowledge of it.  The study of civics may be combined with economics, because political and economic systems are often closely linked, and understandably both can be key to succeeding in society.

Students of this discipline, civics, look at both the duties and entitlements of citizens, ranging from paying taxes to receiving health care.  They may also examine some of the larger ethical issues involved in politics, along with the workings of specific systems of government. 

At a basic level, civics informs people about the societies they live in, and how they can interact with the government.  On a more advanced level, this field can involve an exploration of the social issues of a society, and look at the way in which history, social norms, economic policy and other factors influence the health of a nation and its government.

Think about the ways that laws affect the everyday lives of people.  Think about everything that affects you from the time you leave your home in the morning until you get to school.  Remember that laws cover both big issues, such as the number of days students go to school, and small issues, like what people must do at a crosswalk. 

How would life be different without the laws you experienced this morning?



We live in a Representative Democracy, which is a political class of elected representatives who are trusted to carry out duties for the electors - these may be responsible to any group in society, or none, once elected.

Civics needs to be taught again, starting in the elementary schools.  We need to build back up our citizenship, which is detrimental to the well-being of the future of America. 

Today's Grandmother

 

Back when my grandson was in grade school with his siblings, he asked me to come have lunch with him for Grandparents Day at school.  His little sisters asked my Mother to be their guest.  That day I traveled the hallways making my way to his classroom and passed children lining up for lunch.  They were saying in not-so-hushed tones, “It’s a soldier.”, and they would want a high-five.  Walking into my grandson’s classroom , I got the same thing and lots of high-fives.  In the cafeteria, I sat with my grandson and his buddies who asked me all kinds of questions that come from boys who are just starting to have testosterone flow through their bodies.  “Do you drive tanks?”  “Do you fly jets?”  “How many push-ups can you do?”  “Do you have your own gun?”  Their minds came up with all kinds of questions, wanting to know everything they could.  They thought being a soldier was so cool.  My grandson just beamed because his grandma wears combat boots.   

I retired USAF/ANG as of 2006 and left the total workforce in 2009.  I have worked or volunteered my time all my life.  I had been a non-card carrying civilian for five years of my entire life, so I really don’t know much else other than the military.  My grandchildren’s other grandparents parents were retired and home bodies by then.  I did not fit the mold of anybody else’s grandmother.  (In actuality, I didn’t fit a mold to be anybody’s mother either, but I did it twice.)  My three grandchildren in school would call me every Veterans’ Day to thank me for my service.  I loved those phone calls.  My military girl friends who were also grandmothers had their grandchildren leading the same type of life, calling them on Veterans’ Day, inviting them to their schools, hanging out with our military families on Family Day at the Base.  We didn’t just raise our children out there, we raised a lot of our grandchildren there, as well. 

My grandchildren know the value of being an American citizen, even if they did not learn it in their public schools.  They keep up with what’s going on in the world because they know, in their own way, that grandma will know what to do if sh#$ hits the fan. 

My youngest grandchild was born after I totally retired.  I am now a full-time grandmother and I am enjoying every bit of it.  The youngest knows that grandma was a soldier, but she doesn’t really know what that means.  I’ve always been her Pee Wee since she learned how to say that name for me.  She has seen pictures of me in uniform, but she will never know the other life I lived that her nephew and nieces lived through with me.  This is a whole new life for me, and for the youngest grandchild. 

When I was a kid, whenever we came to see my paternal grandparents at their mid-town apartment in the city, I always viewed my grandmother as a beautiful Southern belle who always wore pretty dresses, wore pretty make-up, had good-smelling perfume, and would cook my favorite southern food (sweet potato casserole with marshmallows).  All my grandmother’s friends, who were also grandmothers, dressed in her same style.  My grandmother would take us kids to the zoo or we would go to Court Square to feed the pigeons and squirrels.  I never really knew anything that my grandmother did other than clean the apartment, buy groceries and take care of grandpa.  I don’t think she ever sweat; that wasn’t lady-like.  When she passed away in 1970 at the age of 70, she was still a Southern belle who smelled good and had perfect make-up.  I still never heard of my grandmother being anything more than a grandmother.  That was my definition of a grandmother back then. 

 

Here I am now, a second-generation grandmother.  I am calling it that because there is a reasonable age disparity between my three older grandchildren and the youngest one.  The oldest three saw me in my active, bad-a$$ mode.  The youngest grandchild thinks of me as a play toy.  I’m more her size, so she likes to play with me.  I take her to museums and book stores, and we pretend-play a lot. 

I am so lucky to be able to have grandchildren at all their ages, and this has given me the opportunity to live out and build another phase in my long life.