Military Base and Port Community Resiliency Initiative

Leaders from key sectors of the Greater New Orleans region will meet on Tuesday, December 3, 2013 to address gaps in national domestic response capability by including regional best practices as part of a template to be shared by America's strategic military base and port communities. The symposium will include National Service Awards presentations, with special guest LTG Russel L. Honore’ (U.S. Army, ret.) as the keynote speaker.

The symposium will be attended by leaders from area ports, U.S. Coast Guard, police and responders, National Guard, private and community sector leaders including Capt. Peter Gautier, Commander of the US Coast Guard Sector New Orleans; Tanya Lin Jones, Sprint Emergency Response Team Manager; LTC Jerry Sneed, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety & Director for the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management; Port Fourchon Harbor Police Chief Jon Callais; Janet Pace, Executive Director, Volunteer Louisiana/Office of the Lieutenant Governor; MG Glenn H. Curtis, National Guard Adjutant General and others to be announced.

LTG Russel L. Honore’ (U.S. Army, ret.) will provide a keynote address, “The Culture of Preparedness in the New Normal,” and present the National Service awards to local nominees.

Senator Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.) is the Honorary Chairman of the Initiative, and cochaired by Hon. Asa Hutchinson, Advisory Board Chairman of the Ready Communities Partnership.

The Military Base and Port Community Resiliency Initiative goal is to help America's strategic military base/port community leadership identify their best practices for a template to reinforce national resiliency during the first 72 hours of a large scale disaster by leveraging best practices. The template is designed to help protect critical infrastructure and supply chains, and train local Crisis Response Officers (CROs) from the private sector and community sectors to help support the vulnerable/special needs dependents of military, law enforcement and first responders.

A symposium summary will be developed based on the December 3 transcript of best practices and recommendations to form the basis of the Greater New Orleans Model.

Corporate sponsors include Sprint, Priority5, Germane Systems, Indigo Vision, and American Integration Contractors.