HomeMy WebLinkAboutCivil Defense in Region V by Bill Parker PRESENTATION
BY
BILL PARKER
REGIONAL DIRECTOR
OFFICE OF CIVIL Dm SE
REGION FIVE
DENTOIN, TEAS
AT
FOURTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
TEXAS CIVIL DEFENSE DIRECTORS
STEPHEN F. AUSTIN HOTEL
AUSTIN, TEXAS
FEBRUARY 3, 196+
I am grateful for the opportunity to come before you again at this - your annual
conference. Today, I should like to discuss briefly with you the very significant
and important progress which has been made in civil defense since I last met with
this particular group at your annual conference on November 19, 1962 - progress in
our national programs, but more specifically, progress in Texas.
At your last conference, I emphasised the need for awareness and readiness so that
we as a nation and as Texans might be prepared to meet any threat - under any and
all conditions.
I suggested some specific actions to be taken in order to develop such a state of
readiness - actions for individual cities and towns - for local government and
citizens. I specifically emphasized the need for you as Civil Defense directors to
"move out" on marking all buildings affording fallout protection for the public, and
I suggested at that time the need for advance planning to move shelter supplies into
these buildings - to recruit and train shelter managers for each public shelter -
and - to provide a monitoring capability for each shelter. Other areas of emphasis
and suggested actions included designation and equipping of interim control centers
for emergency operations and measures to assure a local capability for warning to
alert persons to any impending danger.
It is with a great deal of pride that I can report to you this morning a year of
outstanding accomplishments - both nationally and in Texas.
In a moment, I shall re- emphasize the importance of continuing our efforts - to a
maximum degree - on some of these same priorities - and give you some additional
information on the current status of other priority programs.
However, before I go into this - I cannot help but express the renewed confidence
and reassurance that I feel about the direction of Civil Defense efforts as we knew
them today.
Colonel Schon, Director of Federal Assistance in our National Office who will speak
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to you shortly, will deal with the status of our national legislation and I do not
want to trespass on his subject - except to make this one significant observation.
Since your last meeting, we have seen Civil Defense rise to a new staturs. And,
all of us should take new courage and feel new confidence as we work toward our
common objectives. The ringing endorsement by congressman Hebert`s Armed Services
Subcommittee - and - the subsequent approval by the United States House of
Representatives of H. R. 8200 - the aevelopment of a system of nationwide fallout
shelters - established a firm basis for our programs and policies. It has also
given us renewed public awareness and acceptance of the present concept of Civil
Defense.
With this as a base - I want to re -state our policy of a continued and firm priority
on the fallout shelter oriented Civil Defense program. Mr. Steuart L. Pittman,
Assistant Secretary of Defense, Civil Defense, has given us eight priority program
objectives that can be translated into reasonable actions and deadlines - both for
national accomplishment - and for Texas:
1. LICENSING AND MARKING EXISTING SHELTER SPACES
By July 1, the licensing and marking of 70 million shelter spaces should be completed
nationwide. To date, nationally, 64 million shelter spaces have been marked or
licensed. The Texas goal for July 1, based on the national goal of 70 million
spaces, is approximately 1,900,000 spaces. I am proud to report that Texas has
already licensed 1,800,000 spaces - or 62 percent of all shelter spaces identified
in the survey - and statistically almost all licenses to meet our total July 1 goal,
When I reflect on the level of progress just a little over a year ago - this is
indeed an excellent report. However - a word of caution. This total represents the
cumulative total for the - and it is essential that each. city - and you as
Civil Defense directors - individually - analyze your own situation and manage your
program to assure that licensing stays ahead of your stocking activities.
I know that some of you have more licenses than there have been stocks available.
But - others of you must obtain additional licenses in order to be eligible to
receive the stocks which are rightfully ycurs. Never give up on a potential
customer. Time and time again - through actual experience - we have proved that
building owners who did not sign a license on first contact for one reason or another -
have later come into the program. Sometimes this has been the result of a change in
attitude - and in other instances, a change in ownership or change in building
conditions that would permit some storage of supplies. Also, keep in mind that more
stocks have, and will, become available to stock licensed buildings. And so, as we
turn our attention to stocking - we must continue to license.
2. STOCKING SHELTERS
Shelter supplies already procured from Fiscal Year 1963 -64 appropriations are on
hand or in the pipelines to stock 50 million spaces nationally, and should be in
eligible shelters by July 1. And - this total does not include those additional
supplies to be procured from funds recently made available for 1964. Failure to
move these supplies expeditiously would invite a slowdown in our programs. Of these
50 million spaces, the Texas quota is approximately 1,360,200 stocked shelter spaces.
As of December 25, 1963, 778,000 or approximately 57 percent of our July 1 goal has
been reached in stocking. The 1,175 facilities in which these supplies have been
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stocked represent approximately 63 percent of the rated capacity of each building.
100 percent stocking would have made a total of 1,228,000 spaces. Of course, I
don't have to tell you that storage space, in many instances, is the big problem.
But - in many buildings, this can be overcome. For example, in seven of the forty
cities in Texas with a population of 25,000 or more, shelters have been stocked at
100 percent of the rated capacity of the buildings and fourteen have stocked in
excess of 70 percent of their rated capacity. Therefore, I urge that each of you
re- examine - building by building - those facilities which have not taken 100 percent
of their stocks - explore every possibility for using trapped water in the facilities -
and other available items wwhich might substitute for our supplies. Then - try your
best to move the additional required stock items into the building - try to achieve
100 percent of each building capacity. You have achieved steady increase in the
movement of supplies, and although we have yet to meet our stocking goal, I am proud
of your accomplishments in this area. It is extremely difficult to single out ou t-
standing accomplishments - for fear of overlooking locations which have, in their
own way, made significant progress. However, I would like to give special tribute
to seven cities which have been able to stock buildings to 100 percent capacity
Abilene, Baytown, Bryan, Big Spring, Denton, Odessa and Tyler. I do not mean to
imply that these cities have stocked all their eligible facilities - but it is
significant that each building stocked has been stocked to its full rated capacity.
This can only suggest the best possible personal contacts and relationships between
the respective Civil Defense directors and building owners. They have met the
challenge together. They found the ways and means to store the stocks. Different
cities have taken different approaches. Each is equally effective - as long as it
gets the job done. For example: Austin, Amarillo, Lubbock, Wichita Falls, and
Waco have proceded on a steady, systematic, day -to -day plan, placing stocks in
buildings as they are available through the warehouse. On the other hand - El Paso,
Fort Worth and San Antonio, while following the same procedure for a lot of their
stocking, have set cutstanding examples of a concerted, mass stocking effort by
means of a 1 - 2 or 3 day drive. Each of these directors can attest to the merits
of such an effort - not only in terms of stocking accomplishment, but also in
terms of public awareness and interest in Civil Defense as a whole. However, let
me say now, that I cannot praise too highly those of you who have gone about this
business on your own - quietly, without fanfare - but systematically drawing your
stocks and getting them into the shelters. Don't think for a moment that we do not
watch - with intense interest - the progress that each of you are making - city by
city. I cannot over - emphasize the import of this progress - not to just your
community - and the continuation of our long -range objectives, but to our overall
national defense. The job is not yet done - the stocks are available - let's get on
with it.
3. TRAINING FOR SPECIFIC SKILLS
The most critical training requirement to keep pace with shelter development is for
shelter managers - and monitors to use radiation detection equipment in the shelters.
The national goal is to develop a training capability = and reach a training level
of 500,000 trainees in these skills by July 1. Now, what does this mean to Texas?
It means that we need to be training shelter managers at the rate of 3,800 each
year and radiological monitors at the rate of 15,800 each year. This does not
represent our total requirement - nor is it the number of people we expect to have
trained by July 1 - but, rather, it represents the rate per year that we propose to
produce beginning July 1. Last year, I asked that you begin the recruitment and
training of shelter managers. Today, I am asking that you give this training
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requirement the same high level of priority that you have given to your licensing,
marking and stocking efforts. With a great deal of the logistical work behind us
on licensing, marking and stocking - with hundreds of shelters marked and equipped -
we must take the next major step to make these shelters operational by assigning
trained shelter managers and radiological monitors to each one of them. Texas can
be justly proud of the training already accomplished, and I would like to give
special credit to the State Civil Defense Office and the State Health Department
for their accomplishments in the training of radiological monitors and instructors.
Now, we have an added resource to our training capability. Instructor training
classes have been brought "closer to home" through our contract with Texas A & M
University and in cooperation with your State Civil Defense Office. Also, an OCD
agreement with the Department of Army provides Texas - situated training by Fourth
Army for radiological monitors. Forts Bliss, Hood, Sam. Houston, Sill. and Polk .
have training teams available and ready to conduct training at any location within
two hours travel time of the respective fort. Texas also boasts a number of
qualified instructors who have completed courses in radiological monitoring and
shelter management at OCD schools. Texas has the capability to train. The big job
ahead is to develop a trained organization - to recruit and instruct persons Li
those special skills necessary to make an operational shelter network. This job
begins with ycu end will greatly increase the overall capability of every Civil
Defense organization.
4. SHELTER ALLOCATION PLANS
Many of you have requested guidance to develop shelter utilization plans. There
are two good and practical reasons why we have not yet given you any written material
to assist you in developing such plans. (1) In terms of priority - and on the basis
of first things first - we wanted you to spend your time and efforts in getting
facilities licensed, marked and stocked before developing shelter use plans, and
(2) we wanted time to conduct a series of special studies along this line so that
we could - through trial and error, and on -the -spot experience - give you guidance
which would be sound and practical. Special prototype shelter use planning is
presently being conducted in 16 cities throughout the country. In Texas, we are
working on an assignment plan for the city of Fort Worth. It is a joint City- State-
Region. project. The final product will be a series of maps identifying the location
of shelters throughout the city, the concentration of day -time and night -time
population, and studies on the flow of traffic into the shelters, day or night. The
completed project will also include a narrative section dealing with the assignment
of responsibilities and will become a shelter use annex to the operational survival
plan. Cur goal for completion of the studies in the Region, and the analysis and
adoption of some of the systems by the National office should be complete by July 1.
We should then be able to give you a useful planning guide adaptable to your city.
5. SHELTER DEVELOPMENT FUNDS
As you know, legislation launching the proposed shelter development fund (H. R. 8200)
has passed the House of Representatives and is now pending before the Senate. Colonel
Schcn will discuss with us a little later the current status of the legislation and
proposed program implementation. I would like to point out, however, that consider-
able work has already been accomplished within the Region toward the development of
projects which would be eligible under the shelter development program.
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6. HCME SHELTER SURVEYS
Many of you have raised questions concerning an apparent de- emphasis on home
shelters. Let me assure you that there is definitely no lack of interest on this
subject. It is obvious to all concerned that the licensing, marking and stocking
of existing shelter space in buildings identified in the survey - while giving us
a tremendous start on the overall objective of a nationwide shelter system for the
total population - leaves us far short of our total requirements. We must utilize
the best available shelter space in existing buildings and dwellings, and exploit
every possibility to develop home shelters. For this reason, OCD is now developing
a highly systemized plan to advise home owners of the shelter potential of their
homes and how to improve it. This system is scheduled for completion to the point
where data gathering cards will be ready for distribution to home owners by July 1.
In substance, this system will make it possible for home owners to find out through
a data processing system what areas in their home provide the best shelter. More
details will be provided to you as the system develops and information is available
to us through the National office.
7. PROTECTION OF BROADCASTING STATIONS
By July 1, at least 175 commercial broadcasting stations should have received
federal assistance to protect their emergency broadcasting capability - or Firm
commitments to do so. This is a continuing program to eventually cover about 98
percent of the population with an emergency broadcast capability by all levels of
government for purposes of instruction and direction to the public. At this time -
in Texas - assistance has been provided for stations WFAA in Dallas, WBAP and KFJZ
in Fort Worth, and WOAI in San Antonio. We have plans to assist at least thirteen
additional Texas stations in obtaining adequate protection to assure continued
emergency broadcasting capability.
8. MILITARY SUPPORT ROLE
By July 1, The Department of Army and Office of Civil Defense should have completed
plans for using military organizations and resources to support civil authorities
in emergency situations - and by that time, each state should be engaged in laying
these plans for State use in a manner consistent with the plans of that state and
its local governments. This is the outgrowth of a directive issued last April from
the Secretary of Defense which laid the base for improved planning and preparation
to make those military units and resources which might not be earmarked for immediate
military operations during an emergency, available for critical survival operations
in support of civil authorities. We want to make it absolutely clear that the
development of these plans for strengthening our national capability to survive
a nuclear attack do not imply military takeover of civil authorities in an emergency,
and do not imply any impairment of the availability of military units to carry out
military missions. The objective is a more efficient and better coordinated use of
civilian and military resources which might be available, and where needed, to
relieve the damage of a nuclear attack.
We see these eight steps as minimum measures to achieve concrete results to make a
moderate Civil Defense program realistic and. operational.
Score of you - who do not have existing shelters in your communities - find it hard
to share the enthusiasm and feeling of progress in this shelter oriented Civil
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Defense concept. I must remind you, however, tY .at what we have done in making
use of what is available is but the first logical step. The future will reflect
our progress of today in all phases of the broad Civil Defense program. Remember,
shelter is but the base for all the other facets - warning, communications and the
rest.
I know, too, that others of you who have worked hard to license, mark and stock
your shelters - who recruit for trained shelter managers and monitors sometimes
get "down in the dumps" - and that your efforts are not always welcome or
enthusiastically received. Perhaps, all of us have felt - at one time or another -
that our efforts are not appreciated and wonder if they are, in fact, worthwhile.
To this end, let me remind you that only a few days ago, Secretary of Defense
Robert S. McNamara reported to the congress - that dollar for dollar, a nationwide
fallout shelter system could save more lives in a nuclear attack than any further
increase in the United States Air Defense or military strength. And, further that
the President has supported the proposed legislation now pending, recommending an
increase for Civil Defense, while decreasing the overall defense budget.
This recognition_ of Civil Defense purpose and priority does indeed put us on "firm
ground." And from this position, I know that I can look forward with ycu to another
year of achievement of our common goals. I know, too, that your next meeting will
again reflect outstanding progress - for the State - and the Nation.
END