**GAO-08-311**                      Published: Apr 16, 2008. Publicly Released: Apr 23, 2008.                  

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## Highlights

The high use of National Guard (Guard) forces for overseas missions has raised questions about its ability to support civil authorities in the event of a catastrophic incident. GAO was asked to assess two alternatives for providing funding and authority specifically for the Guard's civil support missions. Congress subsequently enacted a new approach for the Guard's civil support needs, which GAO also included in this assessment. GAO determined: (1) the extent to which planning to identify the Guard's civil support requirements has been undertaken, (2) the current funding approach for the Guard's civil support capabilities and how three approaches--modeled after the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), the Coast Guard, and that in the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act--could be applied to the Guard; (3) guiding principles to consider when developing and implementing funding alternatives, and (4) the extent to which the existing and alternative approaches are consistent with these principles. GAO synthesized guiding principles for military and civil support effectiveness from the literature and discussed alternatives with defense and homeland security analysts.

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## Topics

Homeland Security

Agency missionsCivil defenseCivil supportCombat readinessDefense capabilitiesDefense contingency planningEmergency preparednessstate relationsHomeland securityInteragency relationsMilitary appropriationsMilitary forcesMilitary trainingNational GuardRisk assessmentStrategic planningProgram goals or objectives