Walt Wayman wrote:
> And while we're on the subject of the gross incompetence of the folks at
> FEMA, this just in:
>
> "Not long after some 1,000 firefighters sat down for eight hours of training,
> the whispering began: 'What are we doing here?'
>
> "As New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin pleaded on national television for
> firefighters - his own are exhausted after working around the clock for a
> week - a battalion of highly trained men and women sat idle Sunday in a
> Sheraton Hotel conference room in Atlanta. . . .
>
> "The firefighters were told to bring backpacks, sleeping bags, first-aid kits
> and Meals Ready to Eat. They were told to prepare for 'austere conditions.'
> Many of them came with awkward fire gear and expected to wade in floodwaters,
> sift through rubble and save lives.
>
> "'They've got people here who are search-and-rescue certified, paramedics,
> haz-mat certified,' said a Texas firefighter. 'We're sitting in here having a
> sexual-harassment class while there are still victims in Louisiana who
> haven't been contacted yet.'"
--------------------------------------------------------
Unfortunately, I think there are two problems here:
1) A bureaucracy run rampant that decided these guys need useless
"training" before being deployed where needed.
2) Complacency in the recipients of the "training". These guys have
arrived and are self-sufficient. There is nothing stopping them from
going to New Orleans and helping out beyond their own submission to the
bumbling authority.
It's similar to the story of Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico who
took it upon himself to offer up his own National Guard to Governor
Blanco of Louisiana. A great humanitarian move from a state that's
hardly close by. But, according to the story I've heard, the Pentagon
bureaucracy had yet to approve this offer after some four or five days.
Unforgivable. But, on the other hand, why didn't Richardson carry
through anyhow. He owns and is in command of his own National Guard
troops. If he personally directs the commanding officer to get his
troops to New Orleans it will get done whether the Pentagon likes it or not.
The old business adage applies: Sometimes it is better to ask
forgiveness than permission.
Chuck Norcutt
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